Clearly, the most defining time the past week must have been the Global Game Jam this weekend. With almost 50 signed-up jammers, many of them present the whole 48 hours at Dock18 and six games that resulted officially and a whole more game sketches that can’t be found on the site, this second jam was clearly a success. Whoever didn’t make it missed an opportunity to exchange ideas and opinions on games, learn a new programming language or game engine and generally having a blast. Check out the awesome games of the participants over here, connect with @SwissGameJam over at Twitter to see what has happened and connect with the participants.

That is not to say that nothing else has happened the past week. Not at all. Mario von Rickenbach’s success with Mirage prompted a nice article over at 20 Minuten, right beside an article on Hollow Grounds, the new game by Jeremy Spillmann (which, unfortunately, is not online).

NZZ, which has quite different target audience compared to 20 Minuten has been writing about games as well – specifically games for the elderly. One of those has been produced at the ZHdK as a research collaboration with the University of Zurich and wants to find out whether gaming actually improves the cognitive performance of the player. With gamers of the first hour getting older and older, making games for the elderly has to be a winning strategy – better start now!

Getting attention for your app is always good, and winning an award for your hard work is a great opportunity go get such attention. The Swiss App Awards, held on March 21st 2012, will do just that. Upload your app over at swissappawards.ch until February 17th, have it judged by the panel and receive glory and fame!

One of those apps might well be Pingwin Adventures by Feinheit, a Zurich graphic design and web agency. In the well known tradition of flying penguins you have to collect fish by jumping over and under icebergs. Perfect for enjoying a chilly winter from within your cozy living room.

Up next

Whether you have been part of the Global Game Jam or not, don’t miss the opportunity to try out all games at the GGJ Play Party on February 3rd 2012, again at Dock18. Not to mention the fact that music will be provided by Cäsèr L. Böndelöder. In case that name made you curious, you might find out more over here …

First of all: kudos to Mario von Rickenbach for being a finalist at the IGF 2012 with his game Mirage, competing in Excellence in Visual Art. A well-earned achievement, we think!

Millform, the makers of Gbanga have landed an interesting contract. Teaming up with 400asa, they will create an alternative reality game called “Der Polder” playing in the streets of Zurich. The story is not yet set in stone, and 400asa are still looking for contributors in the open workshop at Perla Mode. Go check it out!

The weekly paper SonntagsZeitung devoted an article to women in the game industry – and mentioning also, apart from the usual example of Jade Raymond (Assassin’s Creed), Sarah Celebioglu, who recently graduated from the ZHdK Game Design course. Yes, there are women doing game design, and they’re not just in ever increasing numbers doing a bachelor’s degree at the ZHdK, they could just as well add a master’s degree to their CV …

What has happened

This weekend the LudumDare challenge was on – an you can find all games that have been created within 48 hours over here.

Speaking of creating games in very little time – it is entirely possible to create games within 24 hours. Sebastian Tobler did just that thing with his (aptly?) named Imbalanced, which is available for both Android and iOS. Using a simple one-button control scheme and procedural level design, the game is better to be understood as an iterative process, with additional features coming as time goes by.

Who says you can’t make a game in bärndütsch? We didn’t. And we give you “Herbert, the misathropical fly” for the iPhone.

Speaking of iPhone games, there is also a new one called Spinning Top Adventures, in case you feel all nostalgic. Which, obviously, only applies if you actually played with a spinning top as a child.

People who want to develop their game making skills further might consider applying for the Master of Arts at the ZHdK in Zurich. There are still places open for next year – so you better apply now!

But then again you might also be interested in getting a leg into the industry. In that case it could be a good idea to go over your portfolio and check whether you’re not falling into some common pitfalls, as described in this article over at GameCareerGuide. Yes, that might mean letting go of those scantily clad elves …

And since you all are of the winning kind, here is some special opportunity: in return of 10 minutes of your attention, the makers of Krautscape have a signed poster up for grabs. Check it out over here how you can get in on the fun.

Finally, if in need of some intellectual stimulation: thanks to Adrian Stutz who found this gem, you might also want to check out the arte feature “Into The Night”, which is pairing Chris Crawford with Jason Rohrer and letting them discuss game design.

Yes, this is something that has not yet appeared here on this website. It is an experiment, of sorts, that might change form as time goes on. If and how largely depends on you, dear reader.

It is supposed to be an overview of what’s currently happening in the Swiss game developers scene: who is doing what, where the interesting articles are and where people meet.

And for that, I need your help, too. Tell me what you are doing. Tell me what games you release. Tell me what talks you give. And most of all: tell me what matters to you.

This is how all of us, as the Swiss game developers community, will profit the most.

So, let’s jump right in, shall we?

What has happened

Highlight of the past week, of course, has been the IGDA chapter meeting on Monday, the 28th of November. Not only have we been introduced to Paysafe Cards, but we also got treated to a nice presentation on game sound design by Chris Polus – who then went on to battle against Red Ochsenbein in a battle of epic proportions. Check out their web-sites, if you have business for them!

Gbanga introduced a new side quest called Priceless Information, upping the number of available side quests to seven. Priceless Information fosters collaboration, with a secret letter (priced at initially 1000 CASH) that has to be passed on from player to player. Will the players be able to work together? We’re looking forward to the statistics …

Fitting the upcoming onslaught of christmas, Bitforge released a new advergame for Coop called Starflight. Their first 3D game produced entirely in-house has you catapulting an angel into the sky and letting it collect stars. Starflight is available for iOS and Android.

If you prefer a more critical view on the world, you might consider Buy!Bye! by Stefan Spieler and Marc Gruber, currently students at the game design programme at the ZHdK. Defeat your opponent in this fast-paced 2-player iPad game by having more dexterous fingers – therefore becoming part of the 1%.

And 20 Minuten ran an interview with Yann Le Tensorer (article in German), managing director at Ubisoft Thalwil, who is currently building up the core team, discussing some of the reasoning for opening shop in Switzerland and how he hopes politics will foster the development of the game industry in Switzerland.

Everything else

Want to make sure your input gets heard? Complaints, ideas, suggestions? You can tell my on Twitter. Or you can write a mail at kaspar@xeophin.net.

Also check out the list of Swiss Game Developers I’m curating on Twitter – and make sure you get added!