Global Game Jam

On Jan. 28 and 29, the Oklahoma Christian University Gaming and Animation Department participated in their third Global Game Jam.

Global Game Jam is an annual international competition to create a functioning game around a particular theme in 48 hours.

Gaming and Animation Professor, Jacob Touchstone, said Game Jam is akin to the Olympics for video game developers.

“It’s a global event where you’re throwing in your name to compete against a bunch of other artists around the world,” Touchstone said.

This year Oklahoma Christian produced five games: Demons & Descent, Another Bear, Missing Pieces, Ghosts Don’t have Bedtimes, and Ready for Tea.

In side-scroller Demons and Descent, players control an angel and fight their way through caves to a boss fight, while in Another Bear, players dodge obstacles as long as possible while simultaneously controlling two bears that react to the controls in opposite directions.

In an on-site vote, Another Bear was 2022’s Oklahoma Christian Winner and Missing Pieces was voted the most narrative-driven game.

Created by a team of six sophomores, a senior, and a freshman, Missing Pieces tells the story of a man dealing with Alzheimer’s disease who is struggling to remember his family. Isaias “Yisah” Munoz, the team art director, came up with the gameplay concept, and the team creative director, Jerome Waters, developed the story. Waters said he was inspired by the movie “The Father” in which a father deals with dementia.

Gabe Battaliou, the team story editor, said his grandmother had Alzheimer’s and the game portrayed it well.

“It’s very respectful,” Battaliou said. “(However), I can’t say how accurate it is as everybody’s dealing with Alzheimer’s is different.”

The Missing Pieces team reported a smooth experience developing their game. The same could not be said for Ghosts Don’t Have Bedtimes according to level-designer, Allen Rader.

“It was going pretty well, but all of the programmers on our team were working in a separate room than the artists,” Rader said. “That kind of caused some miscommunication about how things were going progress-wise.”

The Ghosts Don’t Have Bedtimes team ran out of time to finish the game before submission.

Ghosts Don’t Have Bedtimes consists of a child who sneaks out of bed as a ghost – via his bedsheet – and looks for a cookie. Along the way, he must navigate obstacles he would normally fear if he were not a ghost.

The fifth team, Ready for Tea, created a horror game. The all-female team decided on the genre before the competition, according to sound designer Lizzy McQuien.

“Before we even started our team was like ‘let’s make a horror game. We haven’t done anything like that before, so let’s try it,’” McQuien said. Throughout the game, players help Dolly search the house for tea party necessities while evading an uninvited guest – an intentionally creepy version of the player’s character.

“When the duality theme was announced, my brain instantly went to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” McQuien said.

McQuien said Game Jam was a tough but rewarding experience.

“Making a game in two days – I think that’s half the reason why people like to do Game Jam – trying to push themselves to do something they didn’t think was possible,” McQuien said. “It’s a really great experience, which is why I’ve done it for three years.”

Touchstone said pushing oneself is why Oklahoma Christian participates in Game Jam.

“The purpose for OC’s participation is that we like to invite alumni and current students to come together, outside of your comfort zone, and push yourself to just learn in this event,” Touchstone said. “If, at the end, you don’t finish the game, that’s okay, let’s talk about where you grew – growth is the main topic for discussion at the end of the event.”

To see or play Oklahoma Christian’s 2022 Game Jam games, click the corresponding links earlier in the article, or click here to see all of them at once.