Game Development Dungeon
September 2024
During this 8-day course organized by teachers and students from Masaryk University, I had a chance to create paper and digital game prototypes, build lasting friendships, and gain valuable insights from experienced developers.
The program also included activities like a hike to The Sky Walk, a night cipher game, and game nights, which offered great opportunities to relax, network, and bond with future classmates.
Everything is fine
The main outcome of the course for me was creating Everything is Fine, a game I developed with three classmates during a 2-day game jam. Inspired by titles like Overcooked and Moving Out, the game challenges players to minimize damage to a house by extinguishing fires, cleaning dirt and water stains, taking out trash, repairing furniture, watering plants, and fixing fuses. Due to time constraints, we focused on adding local multiplayer for up to four players, as it significantly enhanced the experience without requiring extensive effort. The chaotic fun of players bumping into each other added an extra layer of challenge and greatly enhanced the game’s overall experience.
If I were to revisit this project, I would prioritize polishing the game, particularly improving the UI and making the main level more visually engaging.
The game is available for free on itch.io or on Game Development Dungeon’s website.
Workshops
The course featured two main workshops: one focused on board games and the other on digital games, both led by Zdeněk Záhora. During these workshops, I created three board game prototypes and one digital game prototype.
One key takeaway from these sessions was that time estimates are rarely accurate as most teams took almost twice as long as planned to complete their games. I also learned that effective prototyping, especially creating a solid prototype within a limited timeframe, is a skill that requires practice and experience to master.
Discussion panel
One of the most interesting part of the whole course was the discussion panel featuring Petr Kolář from Ashborne Games, Jan Zelený, the creator of Mashinky, and Milan Doležal from Brocap Studios.
Petr Kolář and Jan Zelený shared their experiences at Bohemia Interactive, discussing how leaving the company reshaped their careers. Petr Kolář spoke about the challenges and changes that came with becoming the head of Ashborne Games, while Jan Zelený detailed the difficulties of indie game development and managing communication with external collaborators.
Milan Doležal focused on motion capture techniques and later delved into the complexities of releasing and managing games across multiple platforms, such as Steam and the Quest Store.
Hearing firsthand experiences from professionals with such varied backgrounds provided a deeper understanding of the industry’s complexities and the skills needed to navigate them successfully.