The Wellcome Trust in Wired

There is an excellent Wired article on gaming and the Wellcome Trust:

The Wellcome Collection and the Wellcome Trust have expressed a commitment to gaming as a medium for bringing biomedical science stories to life through a series of commissions and grants of up to £200,000.

The Wellcome Collection -- the Wellcome Trust's exhibition space -- commissions games that can bring its exhibitions to life online. These games are specifically designed to "do the work" of the exhibition rather than simply advertise them.

"We need to think about how games might fit into the overall exhibition context or substitute for things that can't be displayed in the exhibition. It's about making the gaming element part of the programme rather than part of the communications process," said Danny Birchall, editor of the Wellcome Collection's website.

It also shows an interesting scientist/game developer collaboration - the game Axon - which is well worth a play!

Bristol Games Jam a Huge Success

We helped organise the recent Bristol Game Jam, part of the huge Global Game Jam, taking place in 44 countries with over 1500 games made (more about what a 'Game Jam' is here).  The event was a huge success with full attendance and lots of great games made.  For example this one (below) which is notable as it won a Bristol award for including accessibility functionality within its development (a sub-theme at this years event).

Made during the Global Games Jam 2012 in Bristol in around 15 hours. Play it here: http://globalgamejam.org/2012/super-space-snake-space Gather your friends (or foes) as this game is best played with 3 people. Guide Your Space Snake using either A, G or L, avoid the meteorites, eat the planets then eat your own tail to be crowned the Super Space Snake.

Tomas has written a longer blog post about it here.

Bag It & Bin It Educational Games Goes Live

Bag It & Bin It is an action puzzle game that sees you trying to help the good imp stop the naughty imp from throwing the wrong things down the loo and so into the sewer.  It’s got a kids mode in (because young kids find toilet humour a blast) and is a free download for iPhoneand iPad.  Here’s how it looks:

This was a project we were part of the design of.  The project also involved Wessex Water and Tool Box Design. There is a little more about this game here.

A Serious Game about Waste and Water

We've been working alongside ToolBox Design with Wessex Water on a game to help people understand what can (and can't) be put down the drain. Tomas has written a little about the project:

Above is an image of two critters in the most recent Wessex Water magazine that dropped though my letterbox. They are the stars of a new iPhone/iPod game that I've been working on along with the nice people of ToolBox Design. This cute little bundle of digitally-smelly fun is a game that as well as being enjoyable, also teaches the player about what waste you should and shouldn't put down the drain or flush down your loo. The serious message behind the game is that putting the wrong stuff into the sewer system not only risks creating a blocked drain for you (eew!) but can also have knock-ons that waste lots of water and could cause environmental damage. See here for more information.

Develop Panel for The Wellcome Trust

We're helping to put together an amazing panel of people to talk about games at this year's Develop Conference. Here is a summary of the information:

The Develop Conference is the UK’s main event for games development. This year, the Wellcome Trust is hosting a panel discussion that brings together fascinating voices from in and around industry. There’s also the chance for games developers to find out more about how to get funding for projects around a biomedical theme.

The event looks at the impact of games beyond the console and runs on Wednesday 20th July (11am-12pm). On the panel we have the outgoing Channel 4 Commissioning Editor for Education and founder of Makielab, Alice Taylor, along with Demis Hassabis, a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow who, before becoming a neuroscientist, made a splash in the games industry with games like the BAFTA-nominated Republic: The Revolution. Joining them are Phil Stuart of the multi-award winning Preloaded, and Jez Harris, an industry veteran whose works include Buzz! and the Harry Potter games. The panel is chaired by myself, Tomas Rawlings, games consultant for the Wellcome Trust.

After the discussion, a number of Wellcome Trust staff will be around to chat with developers about how they may be able to access Trust funding to create games. We have a number of schemes for funding games with a biomedical theme (please note the Trust’s engagement around biomedical sciences is predominately aimed at UK audiences).

Our Broadcast Development Awards offer up to £10,000 to a developer with an unsigned project idea, allowing them to develop it up to a state at which a publisher may fund the full title.

We also offer funds to create complete games too: the People Awards scheme offers up to £30,000 to small development studios to explore an aspect of biomedicine in an interactive or game form – particularly if the studio partners with a scientist or science institution.

Another option is the Society Awards, which offer grants of more than £30,000 for developers, again especially if partnered with a scientist or science institution. This is intended for those who wish to explore and engage society at large with an issue in biomedical science.

Funded projects for any of these schemes can take the form of virtual engagement such as via social games, websites, mobiles technology, casual games, ARGs (Augmented Reality Games) and the like, or be based around a physical location.

So for any developers at the conference, do come along to the session on Wednesday 20th July to find out more and talk to us. We may be able to work together to create great games that can inform, educate and engage.

Auroch's Tomas Rawlings' New Game Studio Launches

I'm really excited to say that our new game studio - 

Red Wasp Design

 - has officially launched today and we've announced our first project, which is in development as I write this.  Red Wasp Design is a new Bristol-based micro studio and our first title is a game based on the cult Call of Cthulhu RPG (role-playing game).  Why not follow us on 

Twitter

 or 

Facebook

?  This is from the initial press release.

An agreement between Call of Cthulhu impresarios, Chaosium and new development studio Red Wasp Design will see the award winning role-playing game (RPG), Call of Cthulhu, coming to a mobile platform near you. The first title, 'Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land' is set in the midst of World War One and pits a team of investigators and soldiers against an ancient enemy, older than humanity itself. This eldritch enemy is using the carnage of the great war to build an undead army amidst the battlefields of Europe. The game will be a 3D turn-based strategy/role playing game and will initially launch on iPhone and Android with more platforms to follow. As the game is still in development, release dates and price points are to be announced after the summer.

Call of Cthulhu was originally the title of a novella by cult horror writer H.P. Lovecraft which has, since it was published in 1928, captured the imagination of generation after generation of fans.