The Global Game Jam 2015: Our Top 5 Games from the Ateneo Site

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10635905_757360837683551_6060581810980738402_n The TMG crew had the big opportunity to attend this year's Manila Game Jam in Ateneo De Manila University. With around 120+ participants, they were all tasked to create a game under 48 hours and revolve their concept on a specific theme: 'What Do We Do Now?'. After all the pitching, coding, and sleepless nights, 32 games were created in the Ateneo site. Here's the crew's personal top 5 games list.

Carlos' Top 5

5. WaaDooWeeDouKen - Play Now!

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Putting the Street Fighter inspiration aside, this fighting game was quite a surprise in the event. If there was one genre I wasn't expecting in a Game Jam, it's a ragdoll fighter. To stay true to the theme, it felt like the developers kept everything about this game random. From gameplay mechanics, down to the elements in the stage. It was a great game that kept me at the edge of my seat because I had no idea what was going on, but I guess that was the idea.

4. Spontaneity - Play Now!

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I'm not putting this on my list because I've beaten every high score in this game(I'm bragging, yes), it's up there because of it's addicting nature and it's need of constant focus. The more mistakes I do, the more I sweat. I love a challenge, and would love to see what the developers can do with this rhythm-inspired game if given more development time.

3. Angry Wife - Play Now!

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This makes my list because of sheer concept alone. When the theme was announced on day 1, pitching started and the concept of the Angry Wife game stuck, resulting in us hellbent in looking for this game once the exhibit floor was available. You play as a husband with an Angry Wife. You don't know what you did or what happened, so what do you do now? How do you fix it? It lacks in gameplay and polish, but it's the best use of the given theme.

2.  Hugo - Play Now!

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There's a lot that made me appreciate Hugo. Was it the atmosphere established by the music? Or the need to find more about this lost soul unable to move on? "WHY DON"T YOU JUST MOVE ON".  I keep saying that on the screen, but it just doesn't happen for this guy. Gameplay is quite simple and you are left in this endless loop of despair, forever lost in this world. Oh, the feels. It sounds depressing I know, but it's great art style and presentation really stood out for me. Add more characters and story and I just might reach for a tissue.

1. RRR-GGG-BBB - Play Now!

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This could be one of the weakest application of the Game Jam theme but it's execution and gameplay was quite impressive considering that they created the game in less than 48 hours. It's complex platform gameplay wasn't punishing but inviting. Materializing what color objects you need in order to progress, I found myself having loads of fun, reminding me of a stage taken from Mario Galaxy 2. Only three stages were available, and the presentation(Textures,art,color) was not even close to done. What's important is it got me invested, and if there was more to it, I'd probably use the remaining time I had left in the Game Jam to complete it.

Miggy's Top 5

5. Passage - Play Now!

passage_still_0 Not a lot of games have you controlling two characters on one controller. The stained glass aesthetic and the mellow paced puzzle gameplay can make this a good game on a slow afternoon.

4. Impossible Love - Play Now!

2poster This level memorization based infinite runner was one of the most solid games at the event in terms of art style and gameplay. A simple concept with a mix of old school difficulty

3. Spellstrike - Play Now!

screenclip I love me a good battling card game.

2. WaaDooWeeDouKen - Play Now!

screen_shot_2015-01-25_at_6.10.02_pm It's ragdoll Street Fighter mixed with some random stage effects and hazards. Looking forward to a full version of this in some form in the future. Hopefully with slightly better and more responsive controls.

1. RRR GGG BBB - Play Now!

ggj03_0 A puzzle platformer where you summon colored blocks to stand on in order to progress. No doubt my favorite from the event. This is the kind of game I look for in indie puzzle games.

 

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This list of course is our personal favorites. Almost all the games found in the event floor showed a lot of potential with the given theme. The variety of genres in this site was also a big surprise since we saw a First Person explore game with Unreal Engine 4, platformers, a fighting game, a text adventure, a card game, and all the way down to even a board game!

Congratulations to all that participated! This event was one of many sites that participated in the annual Global Game Jam, with a good number of countries participating that weekend to celebrate games development. When the event concluded, 5,437 games were created world-wide. In that 5,437, 85 of those games were developed here in the Philippines, with 4 game jam sites organized this year.

If you'd like to pick your own personal favorites on any site in the Philippines or even in other countries, head over to www.globalgamejam.org and start playing.

Our full video coverage of the event is now up on our YouTube channel!We have a playlist all set and ready for you all to check out.