We were at the Dare ProtoPlay festival as part of the Dare to be Digital game development competition. Rather than feeling like a competition, however; the culture that was built between teams was characterized by friendly support and intellectual exchange.
All of the teams were offered housing at the University of Abertay for the week leading up to the festival, providing a centralized location to put the final touches on the festival demonstrations of the games. Teams came primarily from universities in the UK, but several other international teams were present alongside us. Everyone greeted each other with open arms, and days of work often ended with dinner or drinks together. During these times, we discussed design philosophy, technical issues that emerged during development, games culture at each of our respective universities. When we were discussing our reflections on the festival, we agreed that it was particularly important to recognize the other teams. Everyone should look at the links below and follow these other teams. They will be part of the future of games.
In case you missed the initial recap of the festival, you can read all about it in Part 1.