The video games mental health charity Safe In Our World is launching the first Mental Health Game Dev Champions event, aimed at empowering gamers and developers to create intimate and personal video games based on real lived-in experiences.
Game Dev Champions is a worldwide event, encouraging entries from a variety of ages, skills, and diverse backgrounds.
Games are an amazing vehicle to express the difficult and often emotional mental health journey, that people face almost on a daily basis. Through this initiative, and by sharing these experiences, it ensures the creators that their voice is being heard; and for the players, to sample the journey that many people go through, more than often silently.
The event will be judged by an esteemed panel, and winners will receive a selection of prizes provided by our sponsors, that will help gamers develop a career or deeper interest in video game development.
The Mental Health Game Dev Champions 2024 is a worldwide event, encouraging entries from a variety of ages, skills, and diverse backgrounds. Solo entries are allowed, or team up with friends for a group category. The only restriction is that you are over 18, and you are aspiring developers, not an existing development team.
The Jam opens on June 1st for submissions. The development window is open for 5 months, and at the end of October will close to allow a month for judging. A special live show is planned to announce the winners, in December, hosted by Julia Hardy and Doug Cockle.
The main theme of the game should be focused around mental health. During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health conversations grew significantly within communities and amongst peers. It almost acted as a catalyst for further mental health discussion. It was throughout that time that many people felt more able to share their stories and experiences.
We want to use that catalyst to create personal, meaningful stories that surround elements of mental health. That doesn't mean your game must explicitly be around COVID-19, but instead incorporates themes in which were felt during that time in relation to our mental health.
The judging panel will include esteemed industry folk, game developers, indie publishers, and clinicians. This list is non-comprehensive!
During December the Safe In Our World Mental Health Game Dev Championship 2024 Winners will be announced via a Live Stream hosted by the renowned Julia Hardy and Doug Cockle
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