Startup Journey Accelerator 2021- Game Track Teams
Game Track Teams: Dingas Dongas, fourFinn Entertainment, Louhi, Paperboard Studio and Sad Sofa Entertainment
It’s show time! Dingas Dongas team proudly presents to you Plescape, a 2D pixel art platformer with pixelart and scifi visuals. Plescape features a gravity manipulation mechanic, which is used to move through the levels with more fluidity and to solve small puzzles.
Plescape is easy to pick up and play, because its main target is casual audience. It is simple, straightforward, basic, but still full of challenging and fantastic features. Levelling up, the game increases difficulty and offers possibility of to track your time and deaths. Plescape game, therefore, is also catering towards the speed running community.
Dingas Dongas team consists of three ICT students from Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) and one economics student from Turku University. Samppa Kemppainen is Team Lead, Level Designer, Coder; Eemeli Elgfors is UI Designer, Coder; Paavo Hirsimäki is Team Artist and Stefan Frunza is Coder, Sound Designer. The team was created during their one of their study courses, and then developed into a complete game team in Boost Turku’s Startup Journey Accelerator 2021.
If you love art and the beauty in 2D gaming, make sure to check out Plescape and follow Dingas Dongas Team via their Twitter
Tired of mobile games and wants to get back to video games (and maybe with home consoles)? Want to try some Finnish culture-oriented games? Wait no more, check out fourFinn Entertainment’s product!
What’s their game like? SNAGARI: Regreased. If you recognize the term used in the name, you’ll probably have some kind of idea of what the game might be like. And if you recognize the name, you’ll probably know what Finnish Grill Culture is. If not, it’s high time you learned. SNAGARI: Regreased is a platform to release your anger and relive the experiences of getting your face caved in at the local gray-market grill by one of the typical patrons itching for a fight. Full of fast-paced action, SNAGARI: Regreased acts as a crash-course on Finland and its culture, sights and personalities within. Kind of like an interactive tourist guide but with LESS READING and MORE BEATING!
With this game, the developers aim to create unique experiences fourYou. Their games are shaped by the amazing different and unique cultures out there that don’t get enough recognition in games as they should. Currently they’re bringing Finland, and its extremely varied and unique culture to the table, be it in a more mythological or modern-day form of representation.
Four is their lucky number, but hey, let them add one extra to everything! Their 4+1 team members all study ICT Engineering in TUAS, and going together to the Game Track to gain an education in the industry. Their team members Timi, Jarkko, Viljami, Jere and Juho are knowledgable about all sorts of areas of game development, be they large or small and they have perfect harmony cooperating in any tasks.
Follow their Website to learn more and try their games.
Louhi- Finnish games for Finns, Finnish heritage lovers and beyond! A a retro-style adventure game, designed to be played in short sessions, to accommodate busier schedules of today's gamers
If you love Kalevala folklore and its fascinating mysterious stories, you definitely have to check out Louhi’s game. Louhi is a short, story-driven, single player, action-adventure, with a focus on challenging combat. It is set in the dawn of the 20th century, where a small village is being terrorized at night by monsters. It falls up to the player to send the monsters back and discover what has caused them to awaken from their sleep. The fantastical elements of the game are loosely inspired by the characters and creatures of Kalevala, but otherwise the game takes place in a fairly historically accurate setting.
Louhi game was planned to be Initially released for PC, and later for consoles.The game is being developed by a team of 5 TUAS students. Sakari and Aleksi focus on programming, and the technical side of game development, while Miira and Tiina create the artwork and animations. Joni has many hats and handles much of the pitching, organizing and project management. While they have their own primary roles, they all possess a wide skillset which extends flexibility in their game development process and job task distributrion. Tiina, Sakari, Aleksi and Joni have worked together on a video game before, and Joni, Sakari and Aleksi once worked on a competition-winning mobile application together.
If you are into detective game, don’t miss A Guilding Sorrow, a game developed by Paperboard Studio. This is a first person story driven 3D game, that puts you in the shoes of a private detective hired to catch a killer.
A Guilding Sorrow is a mystery PC game set in Southwest Finland. The game developers aim to create a dent in the videogame industry with an innovative game having realistic 3D graphics, compelling storylines, and persuasive characters. The player would be in the shoes of a rookie police detective who goes back to her hometown to solve a gruesome mystery. She would look around, interrogate suspects and search for clues, until she unveils all the secrets and memories from her past.
What interesting is, Paperboard Studio wants to create a new dialogue system where the player can make their own questions and have genuine conversations with characters. These game characters will also have a wide range of emotions, allowing game players to interact with them extensively. Depending on game characters’ mood, they may cooperate or hinder the investigation.
Not an easy game to develop! But Paperboard Studio has a group of 5 talented friends: a game designer, AI programmer, systems manager, gameplay programmer and 2D artist. They have worked together in game jams and student projects; their goals are aligned, and they share a purpose of contributing to a better gaming industry.
Follow their journey and share your interest with their 2 founders Miguel and Sara, as well as their team members Adela, Eric, Stefanos on their website or contact them via their email.
Enough with PC games, let’s check out RunQuest by Sad Sofa Entertainment!
RunQuest is a free to play RPG for your mobile phone that aims to incentivize gamers to go for walks and jogs by giving them in-game rewards based on their daily steps. Playing games while working out, what a win-win!
The Founders of Sad Sofa Entertainment, 2 good friends from TUAS, Jaro Virta and Roulin Laine, are both currently specializing in game development on the ICT-Engineer track. They both have backgrounds in content creating, be it music, animations or gaming, and for a long time, they wanted a create a game that encourages daily walks but still offers the pleasure of gaming experience. Some elements of RunQuest are inspired by classic JRPGs such as the Megami-Tensei series, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and of course various sport fitness games.
RunQuest was built based on built-in pedometer of every mobile device. Game users are not required to provide GPS access and may exercise in any way they see fit (Eg. Playing on a treadmill is as effective as going outside, as long as they are moving they are progressing in the game as well). Regardless, at its core RunQuest is a mobile adventure game that progresses based on steps taken. This is to change the concept of gamers = unhealthy zombies living on gaming chairs.
Stay tuned for more!