30 January 2026
On Wednesday 28 January, Games Design students at ESC took part in the department’s annual Games Jam Competition, an event where learners collaborate to design and develop an online game from concept to completion.
With just three days to deliver a finished project, teams were challenged to incorporate the theme of “power” into their game’s development. The task tested not only what they have learned this academic year, but their ability to collaborate, lead and problem solve.
The project concluded with the Game Jam, an opportunity for each team to present their concept and demonstrate their games in front of their peers, tutors, and industry professionals who judged and awarded the winning teams.
Judges included employees from Creative Assembly – the developers of the Total War series and Alien: Isolation – as well as representatives from GamesAid, a UK-based charity that supports disadvantaged and disabled children. The addition of a charity raffle at the Game Jam also helped raise £136 for the worthy cause!
Following the judges’ deliberations, prizes kindly supplied by Creative Assembly were awarded to the winners. Congratulations to our podium winners of this year’s Games Jam Competition, whose creativity, technical skill and teamwork stood out to our judges.
1st Place – Dead On: Ben, Flynn, Logan, and Jae
2nd Place – Power Outage: Ronnie, Enrico, and Ollie
3rd Place – A Wizic Adventure: Leo, George, Robyn, and Joshua
Reflecting on the afternoon, Dmitry Galenko, Senior AI Programmer at Creative Assembly said:
“We were really impressed by the quality of the games presented. Not only was the gameplay fun, but teams went above and beyond, adding sound, music, tutorials, and narrative – we didn’t expect them to have been able to produce such detailed projects in the time they had available.”
Lecturer and Curriculum and Standards Coordinator, Daniel-Ian Smith expressed immense pride in the students’ achievements:
“I am so proud of the students for what they have achieved! It’s incredibly nerve racking to showcase your games to industry professionals, but to only have three days to make the games really adds to the pressure. Despite this, they were able to confidently get up on stage and present to a full auditorium of people and receive valuable feedback so early on in their careers which I believe is so important to helping them growth as Game Designers.”
“I also just wanted to thank Creative Assembly and Gamesaid for collaborating with us to make it the biggest Game Jam event at the college so far, and also to the teachers and staff of the SDC department for helping with the event organisation.”
The panel was followed by a Q&A session with the industry professionals who gave insight into the gaming sector, providing tips and tricks on how to get their first job and giving feedback to the students on their games.
Explore our Games Design course at East Surrey College
