Game jam powers down V&A display

V&A Dundee will bring down the curtain on a Summer of Games as it hosts its first ever game design jam, featuring creations inspired by the £80 million museum and its exhibitions.

Over three days, the venue will become a live design studio, open to game-makers, artists, programmers, musicians and sound designers as they are invited to work with Abertay University to create new projects inspired by V&A Dundee.

This could be a game based on Kengo Kuma’s famous architecture, the permanent Scottish Design Galleries, or the exhibition Videogames: Design/ Play/Disrupt.

Dundee has been home to a fourmonth programme of events called the Summer of Games since May, with a range of talks, design competitions and family activities arranged to coincide with the popular V&A exhibition.

The game design jam is intended to be a finale to the summer of activity and will take place from September 6, with the public invited to visit the museum to play the prototype games from 2-6pm on September 8.

Joanna Mawdsley, head of learning at V&A Dundee, said: “Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt has been a hugely exciting exhibition for us to put on, and visitors of all ages have had the opportunity to see behind the scenes of how games are made, from beautiful sketches to huge orchestral scores.”

Clare Brennan, a lecturer in visual arts practice at Abertay University, hailed the game jam as the perfect way to bring to a close an exhibition which has “shone a light on what games and game design mean in the modern era”.

She said: “I’m looking forward to seeing how our jammers respond to the theme and would encourage anyone with an interest in videogame development to get involved.”

The game jam will take inspiration from a quote by game creator and academic Frank Lantz: “Making games combines everything that’s hard about building a bridge with everything that’s hard about composing an opera. Games are operas made out of bridges.”

Game makers can register for the design jam as a group or join a team on the day.

Picture: Michael McGurk. The Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt exhibition will end with a game-making event.