I love game jams. During a game jam, you work your way up from a sketchy, overly ambitious design idea to a (barely) functioning mini-game, all in a few days. I have participated in quite a few since I caught the bug at my first Global Game Jam in 2011. Along with my partners-in-crime Manuel Kerssemakers (of Abbey Games) and Valentijn Muijrers (of the HKU), I have made many very silly things. We somehow won prizes for most of them.
I co-designed most of these games, and did music and sound design for all of them.
Dreamview Hotel — Global Game Jam 2017
At the Global Game Jam 2017, we almost failed to make a game. Day one left us with a prototype of an ambitious audio game set in a paranormal hotel. Turns out, the idea was interesting, but profoundly unfun. However, our artists Menno Stas and Celeste had already created some very evocative visuals, and my music — loosely inspired by the gorgeous soundtrack to Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel — was already done. So we decided to build the simplest game we could with the material we already had.
That game was Memory. The windows of the hotel would be the cards, and the player would open them one by one and match the right ones together. Not very exciting on its own — however, tech wizard Valentijn had brought a Tobii Eye Tracker to the party. Playing memory with your eyes turns out to be quite engaging. As an additional challenge, a white cat would slowly hop from window to window following the player’s gaze, and looking at it would immediately reset the entire board. When we demoed the game, a small crowd gathered and patiently watched until players ruined their own progress by ever so briefly glancing at that damned little furball.
Royal Tea — Global Game Jam 2016
It is no secret that I am a bit of a tea geek. So when the theme of 2016’s Global Game Jam was revealed to be ‘Ritual’, I wanted to do a game about a tea ritual. Somehow, I managed to convince the team that this was a good idea.
Manuel Kerssemakers, Valentijn Muijrers, Peter Klijn, Tim de Roos and myself imagined an ailing Asian Emperor suffering with all kinds of maladies. The player controls the Royal Healer, tasked with curing these afflictions — the cure of choice is, clearly, always tea. The game was controlled by handling actual china and touching real plants, connected to a Makey Makey device that converts electric currents into virtual keystrokes.
TORPEDA! — Global Game Jam 2015
Torpeda is the result of a misguided decision to purposefully break Rule #1 of game jams (keep the tech simple), and use as many gadgets as possible. The game requires a MIDI keyboard, an Oculus Rift VR headset, two laptops and a beamer.
Three players are put in ‘control’ of a Cold War-era Russian submarine. Each has unique input and output: one controls the vessel but can barely see; one has radar but no controls; one sees the surroundings in 3D through a VR periscope but has no idea of orientation. Made by Manuel Kerssemakers, Valentijn Muijrers, Niels Poldervaart, Norbert Laduczy and myself.
One Coffin — Ludum Dare 28, 2014
One Coffin revolves around a rather mischievous undertaker named Gravy. Gravy has figured out that maintaining a morgue is an unnecessary burden on his expenses. Instead, he takes the elevator down to his zombie-infested crypt and hacks a few of them to bits with his trusty shovel — then combines the right bits into a facsimile of the sadly departed. Created for Ludum Dare in collaboration with Valentijn Muijrers and his team.
TimeTrap Temple — Global Game Jam 2012
A game about adventurers cursed to crumble to dust in sixty seconds — unless they can acquire the precious Time Amulet. In-game, this terrible B-movie plot boils down to a particularly hectic game of tag. Designed for 3–4 players with keyboards or Xbox gamepads, created in 48 hours. Made with Valentijn Muijrers, Misja van Laatum, Eline Muijres, Pim Rats, and Wilbert Schuurman Hess.
TinyTanic — Ludum Dare 23, 2012
TinyTanic is a game about the importance of making friends — so they can fight for your life when the cruise liner you are on suddenly starts to submerge. Eventually, you’ll have to throw your newly acquired friends overboard too, as the dubious goal of the game is to be the last one sinking. Design, programming and art by Abbey Games; music and sound by Valentijn Muijrers and myself. After the jam, we polished the game and sold it to a Flash portal.