There’s no doubt that video gaming is one of the most popular and lucrative forms of entertainment, with revenue for the industry expected to exceed $100 billion in 2020!

With that in mind, we’ve created the first-ever student-led video game event here in Albania!
We had a great time collaborating with the community and came up with some fantastic ideas. As part of our ongoing commitment to student involvement, we wanted to share this experience with you.

This event was a great success, as students from various schools in Tirana competed to create the best game possible. Hazy Nebula Games hosted this three-day event. They kicked off the game jam with an introductory presentation introducing the students to the process and tools involved in developing games. Students were then divided into teams and assigned the theme “Enemies as weapons” to work on for the following days. The teams had a lot of creative freedom to explore their setting and create unique games. The event was organized to showcase students’ creativity and programming skills. The teams could use any gaming engine they wanted. The games were judged according to creativity, originality, graphics, programming, and overall gameplay. In the end, all the teams presented their games to a panel of judges, including developers and students from local activist groups like Girl Up Albania and Outdoor Ambassadors Tirana. We were impressed by the quality of the games produced in such a short period. All of the teams received certificates for their hard work and dedication.
The top three teams had the most engaging and original games. In the first place came the group Public Static Void with their game Switcher, a game built with the unity game engine, following the protagonist as he escapes from an old factory, beating waves of enemies by switching to their forms and using their abilities. Zombieuforia came in second, developed by a group with the same name using the Roblox game engine. The game, set in the zombie apocalypse, aimed to beat the king zombie using his minions against him. In third place came The Devians with their game Saviour of Midville, built using RPG Maker. The game is set in a medieval world where the main character can use mind control to add enemies to his side during battles.

This event was a great success and served as a platform for young game developers to showcase their talents and get inspired by the work of other developers. It was also an excellent opportunity for the participants to learn more about the game development process and become more familiar with game engines.

Hazy Nebula Game Jam was also a great way to promote game development in Albania and help to establish a thriving game development scene in the country.
 We’re already looking forward to the next game jam event!