The event challenged students from across the country to develop an original video game in just 32 hours. More than 200 students across 56 teams took part, with 52 games submitted based on this year’s theme ‘contrast’.
All games were considered by a panel of industry judges, with teams from University of Staffordshire taking home two of the three prizes on offer.
Scryer’s Shadow made by BSc (Hons) Computer Gameplay Design and Production Jonathan Scoffin and BSc (Hons) Computer Games Design student Morgan Harris was named the Overall Winner.
The judges were impressed by the ‘highly polished’ game’s striking use of light and dark, making ‘contrast’ a core visual design element and game mechanic.
The pair spent a significant portion of development time making the game feel expressive – by adding particle effects, squash and stretch on the character, refining the AI of the eye, sourcing sound effects, and adding two cutscenes.
“One of my favourite aspects of these jams is seeing all the submissions from other people, and looking at all the wildly different ways other teams interpreted the theme!” Jonathan commented.
“I was quite shocked to see we had won, and incredibly happy. It was amazing to hear all the kind things the judges and other jammers had to say about our game!”
Morgan said: “JoJo and I have competed in multiple games jams before, but working to a 32 hour deadline was very new and surprisingly fun! We were both over the moon to win. It makes me so happy to know that the judges liked what we put so much effort into.”
A team from University of Staffordshire also won the Technical Achievement Award for their maze thriller game Bartholomew.exe. The judges praised it as a ‘well-executed and horrifying game’, with one of the judges playing it for over an hour.
Computer Games Design students Oliver Scott, Teo Qerimi, Daniel Dos Santos Ramos, Nikolay Topchiyski and Gabriel Culita worked together on the project.
Along with the other winning teams, they have been invited to showcase their game among industry at the Barclays Games Frenzy in June.
“It was a rollercoaster for sure! We worked so hard throughout the jam and even had a major issue with building the game but, luckily, we managed to get a small time extension for this,” explained Oliver.
“It feels amazing to have won the Technical Achievement Award, making it my first ever game jam win! We are all super happy and satisfied with our achievement.”
Teo added: “As a final year university student, I often find myself thinking about what the next step will be after graduation, and it makes me happy to see a path being created in front of me by incredible opportunities such as this.”
Explore and play all the Ukie Game Jam 2025 entries on itch.io.