Waterloo Uncovered

Game Jam - Waterloo Uncovered

Waterloo Uncovered is a registered UK charity that combines a world-class archaeology project on the battlefield of Waterloo with a support program for veterans and the military community. Working in partnership with some of Europe’s top universities, and through the unique perspective of a team comprised of archaeologists, veterans, and serving soldiers, Waterloo Uncovered aims to understand war and its impact on people — and to educate the public about it.

In several groups of 5 we worked over 24 hours to design, pitch, create and then finally present a prototype interactive media application to members of the Waterloo Uncovered team. The brief was was very open and there were a lot of aspects of the charity that we could focus our attention on. The winners would have their idea considered for production, and the University staff were in the process of securing funding to have the winning team visit the Waterloo archaeology site over the summer.

A couple of hours in each group pitched an idea and received feedback from the room. It initially appeared like all groups were going in a very similar direction with minor variances in camera and game genre, but, by the end every prototype was a very distinct offering. My group pitched an idea that tried to integrate the past and present in an immersive environment. The player navigates the Waterloo dig site talking to the members of the charity about their motivations, their finds and how the process has helped them. The player can then find and interact with archaeological artefacts and points of interest, these interactions transport the player into the past where they can gain historical context about the finds and see how the landscape has changed.

Working for 24 hours straight was exhausting, many of us stayed in the building all night. Plied with coffee and sandwiches, we kept working through the night iterating over design, mechanics, artwork and play testing our ideas. There was plenty of banter between groups and it kept both our spirits high and our work focused, I think the social aspect of the Game Jam is what mainly kept me from becoming drowsy and distracted.

24 hours after we started we presented playable prototypes to a panel of judges, being so tired may have hindered coherence a little, but we made up for it with enthusiasm. Each groups final prototype was distinct and very well reasoned, from a mobile interactive map to guide you through the site to a historically accurate RTS simulation of skirmishes around the site. The judges deliberated for a while and then came back to us with lots of useful feedback.

The Results

My group came a close 2nd. The winning prototype was a 2.5D interactive map to be used both on and off-site. The winner was a more attainable both content wise and financially, and appealed more to the audience the charity were trying to capture. The winner was an exceptional example of design and the prize definitely went to the right place.

I really enjoyed the whole process, it was a really good exercise in planning, organisation and working to a tight deadline. I made a lot of friends and had a great time doing something I enjoy (even if exhausting) and would do this again in a heartbeat.

Big thanks to everyone involved in this event.