From 24 to 26 January, Instituto Superior Técnico hosted another edition of the Global Game Jam at Taguspark campus. This creative game development marathon, which challenges participants to create a complete game in just 48 hours, brought together participants from all over the world and was organised by the Técnico Game Lab.

The theme of the 7th edition of Global Game Jam was ‘bubbles’, an abstract concept that challenged dozens of teams to explore different creative interpretations.

Pedro Figaleio, a computer science and engineering student who attended the event for the first time, shared that ‘participating in the Global Game Jam is an advantage’ for those aspiring to work in the gaming industry’.

The Global Game Jam brings together participants from different areas, such as Computer Engineering, Arts and Cybersecurity. Gonçalo Silva, a computer science and engineering master’s student who chose Video Games, Interaction and Visualisation specialisation area, highlighted the dynamics of his team: ‘everyone has their role, even with members you don’t know, anything goes.”

The international competition has been part of the Games Lab’s agenda for seven editions, along with the Montra de Jogos (MOJO) that takes place every year, providing participants with an opportunity to develop technical and artistic skills in a competitive environment.

The Game Lab’s mission is to teach concepts related to Game Design and Development, support students who want to become game developers, promote and share research projects in this field, and promote the link between the academic community and video game companies.