28.02.2023

ARC Academy students won an award at Hard Core Game Jam, Sofia

Students from ARC Academy won the award for Original art at Hard Core Game Jam, Sofia which was part of the Global Game Jam. We caught up with them to tell us more about how they decided to participate and what happened during the 48 hours of the Jam.

The idea to make a team and participate in Game Jam came from Krastyo Tomov. After a lecture on soft skills by Evgeniy Tenev, he asked his colleagues if they wanted to join, and they formed a team, including students from ARC Online.

A total of 10 people are gathered – two game programmers – Krastyu Tomov and Nikola Stoilov, one game designer – Tony Karidkov, five artists – Paul Mosku, Michel-Roksana Prodan, Ralitsa Miteva, Kalina Stanoeva and Dimitar Stoykov, one animator – Miglena Kostadinova and one sound designer – Hristo Penev. A real indie studio was born!

They prepared sketches in different genres before the Jam. Then, one of Kalina’s character designs went into use. So, the team had a character two hours after the Roots theme was announced. This heroine gave the game a name – Plumeria.

By the end of the introductory jam presentation, Tony already has the concept of the entire game. He devised the mechanics and left the vision and story to the artists.

“We decided to make a 2D platformer because we realized we would do best with that,” says Tony.

So when they got the theme, he started thinking about how to connect it to a 2D platformer. The player’s goal is to save a tree by going through underground tunnels and healing the roots infected by bugs.

Tony ensured everyone knew their tasks and the process ran smoothly, quickly, and efficiently. In addition, there was communication between artists, game designers, and developers.

The team worked almost non-stop for 48 hours. The students joke that Michelle saved the day by bringing a blanket, so they take turns sleeping.

In the final hours of the Jam, teams tested each other’s games and voted for their favorites. The ARC team won the award for Original art. (See part of it in the gallery.)

They plan to finish their game, and we wish them the best of luck!

P.S. We played it and we loved it!