SMCS hosts IBA Game Jam in collaboration with Mindstorm Studios and Mountain Dew

September 22-24, 2023: School of Mathematics and Computer Science (SMCS), Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi in collaboration with Mindstorm Studios, hosted the three-day 'IBA Game Jam 2023', at the IBA Main Campus.

The Game Jam was a resounding success, more than 200 BSCS freshmen students created 48 games without using code, digital art or technology, literally 'out of thin air'. The theme for the competition was 'Nostalgia'. The winning games included 'The Playmakers', 'The Bakris', 'Name May Kia Rakha Hy', 'The Game Changers' and 'Team IGNITE'.

The event commenced with an inaugural session at the G&T auditorium. Mr. Jawwad Farid, Professor of Practice, SMCS and Yaser Awan, Director M-Labs gave the welcome address. Participants then arrived at the Alumni Students' Centre to compete in the 'Out of Thin Air' game-building competition.

The competition gave an opportunity to the freshmen to brainstorm, ideate, be creative and innovative while they take on the game development challenge. During the event students got exposure to design thinking principles, shipping and demonstrating products in less than 48 hours, incorporating real time feedback, and connecting with industry role models and mentors. The event produced an array of diverse games, ranging from educational games that utilised the periodic table to narrative-based fantasy strategy games.

Industry mentors and a jury assessed the participating teams. The final round jury included Jehan Ara, Founder & CEO Katalyst Lab; Habibullah Khan, Co-Founder Raptr Games; Imran Azhar, Founder & CEO AzCorp Entertainment Private Ltd.; Bilal Hameed, Founder & CEO Alt Academy; Sameer Ahmed Khan, CEO Social Champs; Ansar Muhammad, VP Engineering 10Pearls and Kainat Zulfiqar, Design Lead Backspace Pakistan. The jury assessed ideas based on creativity, design, playability and fun.

The event was sponsored by Mountain Dew Gamers Arena.