17 ULiège students create a video game as part of the Belgian princely mission to Japan

Game Jam "Equilibre" : 121 Belgians and 63 Japanese take up the challenge of multiculturalism by imagining a video game that goes beyond borders and tackles the fight against the effects of climate change in a playful way. Among them, 17 ULiège students from different faculties.

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n the framework of the Belgian Princely Economic Mission to Japan, of which ULiège is a part, Wallonie-Bruxelles Campus, WBI's agency in charge of promoting higher education on the international scene, WALGA (Walloon sectoral association representing the video game sector in the Walloon Region), the Liège Game Lab (research center of the University of Liège dedicated to video games as cultural objects), DigitalWallonia.be,AWEX (Walloon export agency) and the Japan BitSummit Organization Committee are co-organizing an exceptional event for the student community and young graduates.

The Game Jam is similar to a Hackathon, and aims at designing a game from scratch. It is intended for students of programming, game design, artists, writers, and other fields related to game development.

Each team consists of six members: 3 Belgian members and 3 Japanese members.

Organization of the competition

The creation phase of the Game Jam "Equilibrium" was held online from Friday, December 2 to Sunday, December 4, 2022. Participants had a collaborative space to work in and professional coaches to accompany them and answer their questions.

The games were then to be made available to the members of the jury on the platform itch.io from Monday, December 5 at 12:00 Belgian time. The jury and the public had the opportunity to test the games until Thursday, December 8, in order to select the winners.

Main themes and objectives of the Game Jam "Balance":

1. Creation of a game that uses the 5 elements of the Godai (earth, water, fire, air and vacuum) in connection with environmental and sustainability issues;

2. Incorporation of elements from Japanese and Belgian culture;

3. Creation of a graphic style inspired by watercolors and traditional ukiyoe art;

4. Game without losers or winners;

5. Non-verbal" game (beyond the language barrier) and beyond the borders.

Awarding of prizes to the winners

The prize-giving ceremony on Friday, December 9, 2022 was held at the Manga Museum in Kyoto in the presence of HRH Princess Astrid, Rector Anne-Sophie Nyssen and Professor Bjorn-Olav Dozo. Three ULiège students distinguished themselves and their teams:

Grand Prix

Team 8 " Ecooks ", with Joseph Gabriel - student in the Faculty of Applied Sciences - who was offered a trip to Japan with the members of his team.

Music design

Team 3 "Secret Garden" - Loïc Conrardy, Faculty of Applied Sciences

Best marketing

Team 16 " Verdant " with :

• Louis Verhulst, student in the Faculty of Applied Sciences
• Tom Farinelle, student at HEC School of Management

Discover all the games