If you are looking to join the games industry but aren’t sure about what your first steps might be after education, this is the event for you.
You’ll hear directly from speakers at some of the UK’s most acclaimed studios, including; Creative Assembly (Total War, Alien Isolation), Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed), Tonic Games (Fall Guys), Sumo Digital (LittleBig Planet), Lucid Games (Need for Speed), Team 17 (Worms), Splash Damage (Gears of War) and Studio Gobo (Disney Infinity).
Each studio will tell you about their Industry Internships, Graduate Schemes and Traineeships, telling you what to prepare for and expect. This is an essential event for anyone looking to break into games.
After each talk, join our lively Discord page to ask questions to the speakers directly and get even further insight and feedback.
By the end of this session you’ll:
Understand the pathway from education into your first job
Understand what entry level positions you can apply for
Know what kind of portfolio you’ll need to put together
Understand what help and support is available to you to build your confidence and skill
Connect to a wider community of game makers
Understand what your first day at the office will look like
Join the University of Glasgow Games and Gaming Lab to hear from a range of researchers about current academic studies, what a career in games research looks like, and how these studies can be applied practically for communities both inside and outside of games world.
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PANEL 1 Postgraduate Research Panel
11:30 – 12:15 (GMT)
With Lauren Watson, Francis Butterworth-Parr, William Kavanagh, Kirsty Dunlop, Monica Vazquez
In a panel chaired by Dr Matthew Barr of the University of Glasgow, hear about some of the exciting postgraduate games research that our Lab members are currently undertaking. From the relationship between video games and literature to the question of how video games should be preserved, this panel session will demonstrate the huge range of possibilities for studying video games at university!
Dr Matthew Barr
Dr Matthew Barr is currently Programme Director for the Graduate Apprenticeship in Software Engineering at the University of Glasgow and co-founder of the Ada Scotland Festival. Matt previously convened the University’s first Game Studies course and founded the international student game studies journal, Press Start. He is co-Director of the University’s Games & Gaming Lab, and serves as Vice Chair of British DiGRA and as a Trustee and Director of the Scottish Game Developers Association. Matt also sits on the BAFTA Scotland Committee and currently serves as the Games Jury Chair. His book, Graduate Skills and Game-Based Learning, was published by Palgrave in 2019.
I am an MPhil Research student at the University of Glasgow, following my interest in the field of video game studies that I gained during my undergraduate degree in film and television studies. My masters project on fandom and games preservation came about from years of interest in video game modding, repairing older consoles and game emulation. My love for retro-games and computers themselves probably started as a kid when my dad and I kept having to repair our Windows 95 PC to play 3D Realms games! The enthusiasm in gaming fandoms for preserving even the rarest games of the 1990s and 2000s era has been a great drive for me in my research as I strongly believe even the most niche communities of the internet have great insights into contemporary online culture. Being able to research a subject I have loved for so many years, as well as one that needs so much critical attention and research, is a privilege that I hope to continue working on for many years to come.
Kirsty Dunlop is a DFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, conducting practice-based research on interactive fiction and essaying. She is the poetry and nonfiction editor at SPAM Press (a publisher of post-internet poetry), and co-hosts the podcast URL SONATA. She writes electronic literature, poetry, short stories, collaborative work, and hybrid forms. Creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in Adjacent Pineapple, Dostoyevsky Wannabe, Wet Grain Journal, and other publications. Her most recent work is a broadside collaboration with the poet nicky melville, THE FACT THAT, published by GONG FARM.
Monica Vazquez is a GTA and second-year PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow working on the Technology of Immersion in Fantasy Literature and VR. She’s also a columnist for El Periodico de Catalunya and a published author, as well as the Chief Media Officer at the Center for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow. She directs and manages ‘Wicked Readings’, an academic fantasy horror reading group, and her didactive podcast ‘Trementina’. She’s currently working on her second novel and has started learning sword fighting.
PANEL 2 Game Studies in the Wild: Practical Applications of Games Research Panel chaired by Ruth EJ Booth 13:30 – 14:15 (GMT) With Gabriel Elvery, Charly Harbord, and Arthur Ehlinger
Games research allows us to explore the fascinating design, history and culture of video games. But once outside the University, what can games research do beyond the games industry? This panel will explore the practical applications of Games research in three key areas: live events management, emotional well-being, and uplifting indigenous languages and cultures. Join us to learn what happens when Game Studies breaks out of the academy!
Ruth EJ Booth Ruth EJ Booth is a multiple award-winning writer and SGSAH-funded academic of fantasy based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her poetry and fiction can be found in Black Static, Pseudopod and The Dark magazine, as well as anthologies from NewCon Press and Fox Spirit Books. Winner of the BSFA Award for Best Short Fiction and shortlisted twice for the British Fantasy Award in the same category, in 2018 she received an honorable mention for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year, Volume 10. In 2019, her quarterly column for Shoreline of Infinity, ‘Noise and Sparks’, received the British Fantasy Award for Best Non-Fiction.
Charly Harbord works at Abertay University as well as doing a PhD on RPGs to enhance second language acquisition focussed on Mandarin and English. She wrote a chapter in ‘Digital Games and Language Learning’ and is an Applied Game Designer in Residence for Women in Games. Charly founded ‘The Kilted Otter Initiative’ a research-based Gaelic Game Jam. She is looking forward to working on creating an app for Indigenous Languages with the members of First Nations.
The Kilted Otter Initiative is a research-based extended Gaelic game jam focusing on exploring Scottish heritage, culture and language and is open to anyone. Created by Abertay University staff from the School of Design and Informatics and supported by MG ALBA and Women in Games, the project aims to create collaborative experiences and make games design and Gaelic accessible to all. It will embed Gaelic within games ensure it is not lost from Scottish culture.
Arthur Ehlinger Currently conducting a PhD in Music at the University of Glasgow, his research investigates the world of live streaming and intends to act as a stimulus for greater scrutiny around this new medium. His latest work which focused on the socialites surrounding live streaming revealed an increasingly collective practice where a complex network of relationships is created between the different active parties. If this research has been conducted within a music paradigm, the findings can be transposed to other use of live streaming, including gaming.
PANEL 3 Paths to Research Panel with William Kavanagh 14:30 – 15:15 (GMT)
William Kavanagh I’m a Computer Science PhD student at Glasgow writing up my thesis on Game Balancing. I have been at the department since starting my undergraduate degree in 2013. In a few months I will be setting out, looking to start a career in development or research. Ideally continuing what I’ve done for the last four years, thinking about games in a basement.
Robin is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Game Design and Production at Abertay University, who left the games industry in 2007 to pursue a PhD in game character animation and joined Abertay as a Lecturer in 2011.
Dr David Farrell is (at least for the next week) a lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University where he teaches game design and researches the design of Applied Games. He’s interested in just about every aspect of game design practice. David currently leads the a small game dev team at GCU who are making LifeLab+, a gamey / app that has a mixture of playful challenges, self experiments, and games aimed at helping teenagers take charge of their health (trailer here: http://bit.ly/2019LLPT ).
Dr. Romana Ramzan is a Producer at No Code. Having spent over 10 years in academia, she was looking for a fresh challenge and ventured back into industry. Romana was one of the main founders, and organisers, of Scottish Game Jam, she was previously a Director of the Global Game Jam, she has served on the BAFTA Scotland Committee for Games and has been named as one of Develop Magazines ’30 Under 30’. In March 2014, Romana was awarded the Asian Woman of the Future Award at the Scottish Asian Women’s Awards and more recently Romana was named as one of the Top 100 Women in Games in the UK by MCV.
An introduction to TidalCycles with creator Alex McLean, and its playful, pattern-based approach to making live music with code.
Alex McLean Alex is a musician, software artist and researcher based between Sheffield and Munich. He is active across the digital arts, co-founding the Algorave and TOPLAP live coding movements, and the AlgoMech festival for algorithmic and mechanical movement. He created the popular free/open source TidalCycles live coding environment for music, performing with it at festivals around the world including Sonar, Glastonbury, STRP, Vivo, Transmediale, Ars Electronica and No Bounds. As a researcher he works part time as part of the PENELOPE project, investigating the structures of ancient weaves, and re-inserting weaving in the history of science and technology.
Creative Informatics supports creative individuals and organisations in Edinburgh and South East Scotland to do inspiring things with data. Find out about their funding and development opportunities at creativeinformatics.org
Make a small zine game book that takes readers on an adventure simply by turning the pages to make different choices. With a short introduction on how to fold your own zine and what you might take inspiration from as well as the opportunity to share your zine with others attending the workshop. Everybody is welcome and no previous experience is required!
Age: 16+
This workshop is held via a Zoom Call and spaces are limited – please register to attend
You’ll need:
Paper (one sheet of plain A4 is fine but whatever you have should work)
Something to draw/write with
Scissors
Computer/laptop & internet access to join the workshop
James Morwood
James loves experimenting with strange and playful creations as a member of Biome Collective as well as one of the game makers at Bit Loom who recently released their debut game PHOGS!.
James has also organised regular Zine Jams including jams at A Maze. festival in Berlin, Arcadia festival in Dundee and an orange-based ‘Marmalade’ jam at Feral Vector in Hebden Bridge along with the amazing Claire Morwood. Throughout 2020/2021 these have become Virtual Zine Jams with an emphasis on relaxing in your own space and participating without a video call.
Biome Collective Biome Collective is a creative studio, community and co-working space for people to create, collaborate and explore new frontiers in games, digital art and technology.
We create world class interactive and multi sensory experiences for global audiences. Our unique and accessible games, interventions and installations span across digital, physical and cultural spaces.
Biome Collective attracts diverse independent creative minds and facilitates collaborative projects with partners from the arts, academia, games and business to respond to technological and cultural challenges through unique work that ranges from the delightful to the complex.
Panel Talk (Zoom Event) Mixed Realities: Virtual and Physical Interaction
Panelists: Mona Bozdog Foxdog Studios Laura E Hall
Chaired by: Yann Seznec
A discussion with artists and game designers who explore the cross-over between virtual and physical experiences, such as alternate reality games (ARGs) and interactive theatre and comedy.
Yann Seznec Yann Seznec is an artist whose work focuses on sound, music, physical interaction, games, and building new instruments. Recent projects include residencies at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Floating Cinema in London, Playable City Lagos, and Timespan in the Scottish Highlands. He has performed at The Roundhouse London, Mutek Montreal, Melbourne Recital Hall, Liquid Rooms Tokyo, Köln Philharmonie, Fak’ugesi Johannesburg, and more. Much of his work involves building custom instruments such as musical pigsties, slinky instruments, candle-based sound installations, electromechanical mushroom spore reactors, and more.
Mona Bozdog Mona is a Lecturer in Immersive Experience Design at Abertay University. Her research is practice-based and focuses on the convergence of contemporary performance practices and video games, particularly designing hybrid forms of storytelling, performative games, mixed-reality and immersive experiences and games for public spaces and heritage sites. Mona is currently working on a series of projects that investigate the potential of games for capturing, preserving and sharing lived experience and oral herstories.
Foxdog Studios Foxdog Studios, Lloyd Henning and Peter Sutton, are computer programmers turned live performers. They create comedy shows that put the audience in control of interactive games and DIY gadgets. Their live show, “Robot Chef”, was a sell-out at the Edinburgh Fringe and had viewers cook sausage and beans by controlling a robot on their phones (a highlight being firing a hotdog from a cannon).
The pandemic has turned their stage shows into interactive online pieces, streamed live weekly on Twitch, including “Escape The North” which was featured as part of the Guardian’s coverage of comedy streaming.
Laura E. Hall is an artist, writer, puzzle-maker, immersive environment and narrative designer living in Portland, Oregon. Her work focuses on the intersections between arts, culture, and technology, especially in gaming.
She is the founder of puzzle, game, and experience design company Timberview Productions, founder of Portland’s first escape the room game company, the award-winning Meridian Adventure Co., and the author of Katamari Damacy for Boss Fight Books and Planning Your Escape for Simon and Schuster’s Tiller Press. She proudly serves on the board of the Portland Indie Game Squad (PIGSquad), a non-profit organization supporting indie game development and community in Portland.
Panelists: Dr Carla Brown (Game Doctor) Elena Höge (Yaldi Games) Clare Duffy (Civic Digits Theatre Company) Max Scott-Slade (Glitchers)
Chaired by: Brian Baglow (Scottish Games Network)
What can games do for education and wellbeing? Join leading industry experts Dr Carla Brown (Game Doctor), Elena Höge (Yaldi Games), Clare Duffy (Civic Digits Theatre Company), and Max Scott-Slade (Glitchers) discussing their experience in gamifying learning methods for the development and wellbeing of children & families, as well as games for supporting health, with Brian Baglow of the Scottish Games Network.
More info coming soon!
Brian Baglow Brian is a writer, games and narrative designer, serial entrepreneur and university lecturer. He started his career in the games industry at the legendary Scottish studio DMA Design, as a writer designer for games including Grand Theft Auto, Body Harvest and Tanktics, before discovering a talent for PR, communications and marketing.
Carla completed her PhD in microbiology at University of Glasgow that focused on developing novel antibiotics from gut bacteria. Following her PhD Carla worked at several universities and museums designing interactive games and educational apps on antibiotics, infectious disease and science. She now is founder and CEO of Game Doctor Ltd, a Scottish company that develops data-driven games for use in health interventions and education.
Elena Höge Elena is passionate about blending learning and fun into meaningful entertainment. She founded Yaldi Games, a startup game developer working on their first title: “Wholesome – Out and About”, an open-world life simulator about nature, cooking and crafting.
Clare Duffy Civic Digits Theatre Company blends digital technology, gaming and live performance to create innovative and interactive theatre, and questions what it means to be a digital human in the 21st century. At the heart of everything we do, is our aim to create a digital future where we all can flourish. We aim to be an intersectionally-feminist organisation and we want to encourage young women to explore STEM subjects and careers.
The company was founded in 2018 by award-winning playwright Clare Duffy, after a chance meeting with ethical hacker, Rupert Goodwins. Civic Digits’ first production is The Big Data Show, telling the story of the first prosecuted hack in the UK (which was by Rupert Goodwins).
Max Scott-Slade Since founding his first games studio in 2007, Max has gone on to release over 30 titles including the critically acclaimed Plunderland and The Heist series (250 million plays). He’s brought his infectious energy and creativity to commercial gaming projects with partners including Coca Cola, Warner Brothers, Channel 4 and Deutsche Telekom.
In 2013 Max co-founded Glitchers with the intention of building games that have impact and value beyond entertainment. He’s been doing this most recently in the field of healthcare and fintech whilst winning countless awards along the way. Max also loves typography, cycling and is big fan of socially conscious games.
CodeBase runs Creative Bridge, a fully-funded, 10-week course (3 hours per week), specifically designed for creatives interested in building digital products. It consists of talks from leading creative entrepreneurs, workshops and business modelling sessions, taking participants through methodologies used by fast growing startups. The course will focus on your personal growth – we won’t be going through your current business plan, rather thinking more abstractly about best practice in building great products.
Panel Talk (Zoom Event) Game Design Panel with Shay Thompson
Panelists: Jon McKellan (No Code – Untold Stories, Observation) Dan Pinchbeck (The Chinese Room – Dear Esther, Little Orpheus) Malath Abbas (Biome Collective – Killbox)
Chaired by: Shay Thompson (BBC Sounds)
On the opening night of the festival, join the directors from award-winning games studios No Code and more with BBC Sounds presenter Shay Thompson, for a discussion around the creative processes behind game design, and the impact and meaning of games on our societies.
Shay Thompson ShayThompson is a presenter and video producer working in the games industry. Shay previously hosted McLaren’s Shadowcast and appeared in other McLaren Shadow Project related content on YouTube. Outside of that, Shay has also hosted panels and podcasts for Bafta and is currently appearing on the BBC Sounds podcast, Press X to Continue.
With over a decade of experience in the industry, working on genre-defining games such as Alien: Isolation and Red Dead Redemption 2, Jon formed his own studio No Code with business partner Omar in 2015. Since then, Jon has been the studio’s creative director, writer, and artist on their two critically acclaimed and BAFTA-winning games Stories Untold (2017) and Observation (2019). Having started out in User Interface design and Motion Graphics, Jon’s stories and vision merges his old role with his new, building exciting and surreal narrative experiences that often center around UI driven technology.
Dan Pinchbeck Dan co-founded The Chinese Room as an experimental mod team back in 2007, releasing their first commercial title, the cult Dear Esther in 2012. He went on to lead the team to produce three more multi-award winning, internationally renowned titles: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and So Let Us Melt. Since joining the Sumo family in 2018, TCR has released the technicolour adventure Little Orpheus, currently nominated for 2 DICE awards. Dan has a PhD in first-person shooters, which just goes to show it’s possible to get a PhD in anything these days.
Malath Abbas Malath Abbas is a game designer, artist and producer working on experimental and meaningful games in Scotland. Malath is a founding member of Biome Collective, a creative studio, community and digital space for people to create, collaborate and explore new frontiers in games, digital art and technology.
Malath has produced and created games and interactive installations including Killbox and Shpeel, as well as founding and directing the game festival Arcadia that aims to empower marginalised voices in the game sector. Malath volunteers on a number of boards as trustee and adviser including the Scotland based charity Scottish Game Development Association.
Jane McGonigal Keynote Fireside Conversation & Q&A
We’re delighted to welcome in our first ever Tinderbox PlayAway Festival with a conversation and Q&A with Jane McGonigal. Jane’s book ‘Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World’ was a major inspiration for some of Tinderbox’s work and we are so excited that she’ll be joining us for this event.
Jane McGonigal Jane McGonigal, PhD, is the Director of Game Research + Development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. She is the author of two New York Times bestselling books: Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully. Her TED talks on how games can make a better world have more than 15 million views. She has advised companies including Disney, Mattel, Nintendo, Riot Games, Activision and EA on how to create games that build real skills and help players develop emotional and social strengths they can use in their everyday lives. She is also the inventor of SuperBetter, a game that has helped more than a million players recover from symptoms of depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and traumatic brain injury.
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