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The Lebanese gaming community has been buzzing in the shadow for quite a while now, with hardly any initiatives to support aspiring game developers - apart from networking opportunities at the MENA Games Conference and Exhibition (MEGA) earlier this year.

But over the weekend of September 18-20, Lebanese gamers were all geared up to delve into the world of game development at AltCity’s first ever MEGAplay Game Jam.

The 3-day event started out with 9 teams of game designers and developers, some of which had never met or worked together before. Their ultimate goal was to build a prototype game within a 48-hour span.

Managing the Pressure

On day one, the organizers revealed the “Light and Dark” theme to the participants who got together for the next two days to work on their games. By the end of day three, only 6 teams had survived.

Developers of all levels gathered spread around the space, bringing their laptops and ideas to the table.

“It’s great to have people coming from different backgrounds and with very different concepts who are learning to bring their ideas together and operate as a team,” Jonathan Moorkaar, a participant in the event, told ArabNet.

“Each of us came in with their own vision and ideas and we are definitely working together to build a creative end product,” his 17-year-old teammate Mohamad Ali Hammoud added.

With every hour gone by, the pressure was building up more and more. “It all depends on the time and how we manage it, we need to find a way to create something new within this limited time frame,” Saed Rajab from team T-Sleye explained.

More experienced developers equally saw in the jam an opportunity for them to revive their passion for gaming and put their ideas out.

“I built my first prototype in 1993. Now that I’ve been in game development for over 20 years, I see it as an ongoing endeavor,” Hussam Kazah from team Urth told ArabNet.

When asked to provide one piece of advice for young game development enthusiasts, his teammate Bassem Boustany recommended that they start building their skills today as this will give them the opportunity to grow more.

See related: Become a Developer in 9 Weeks with Le Wagon in Beirut

Time to Play

By the end of the 48-hour period, it was time for participants to pitch their prototypes to the judging panel, composed of Reine Abbas and Ziad Feghali, co-founders of independent online gaming company Wixel Studios.

Six games were presented, starting with “Blink Reflex” which takes the player inside a player’s head, moving to a new level every time the player blinks.

Then came “Space Gladiator”, a game where shooters aim at different objects inside a tricky black and white arena, followed by “Space Monsters”, another space-themed game in which a green alien has to collect yellow lights while being chased by a red enemy.

Shortly after, it was time for “Doom Sprout” (see picture above) which was deemed by the judges to be the most entertaining. The colorful game basically features a killer plant that has to constantly follow its light source while trying to avoid a series of obstacles on both sides of the screen.

The final two games to be presented were “Eating Nemo”, which takes players on a journey to the obscure depths of the ocean, followed by “Glow” where a player runs across a complex maze while being the only source of light along the way.

“The most important thing about game jams is that the game should be played. In a game jam you don’t have a lot of time, so if you focus on the gameplay itself and don’t delve into unnecessary details, you have significantly higher chances of success,” Reine Abbas told ArabNet.

Additional Levels Coming Soon

After going through all the different game prototypes, the organizers announced that participants who made it through the jam have the opportunity to be admitted into the upcoming AltCity-powered Bootcamp, whereby they would have the chance to foster their skills and abilities and access different acceleration and funding opportunities.

See related: 6 Strategies for Monetizing Games in the MENA – Digital Summit 2015