Cyberiada is a competition in team development of computer games organised by the foundation Teatrikon with the support of the Ministry of Digitisation. It is aimed at students from all over Poland and the contestants have various experience levels in the game dev area. The competition lasts one year and it consists of three stages. In each of them contestants develop one original working digital game.

Participant also take part in a series of competition-related events, as well as consultations with experts in the field. It is an opportunity to learn about the background of the games development process and gain experience which can’t be given by any coursebook. Participants can develop their game development skills and meet people with similar interests. It is not only a test of technical skills, but also a challenge of creativity, cooperation and ability to solve problems under time pressure.

In this year’s edition of Cyberiada new subject areas have been added. Apart from the traditional elements of competition and workshops, contestants can develop their skills in the field of project management, game testing and practical game development with popular engines such as Unity, Unreal Engine or Godot. Thanks to this, the championships are not only an opportunity for creative fun but also a space for gaining invaluable competences.

WUT students will fight for victory

The Cyber Sea team, which qualified for the final, includes Oliwia Pawlicka, student of the Faculty of Geodesy and Cartography. The team consists of 7 students from various universities, brought together by a common passion – love for game development.

- The pillar of the team are alumni – grant holders of the programme Girls in the Game, and our good friends also joined the team. Though each person represents a different specialisation, from programming, through graphics to game testing and management, we share a common goal, which has given us Long time to See. It is an adventure game in which you are a turtle of an endangered species that travels through ocean’s depths, solves riddles and unravels mysteries and your decisions shape the fate of the turtle and the whole ecosystem – explains Oliwia Pawlicka. 

In the project our student was the 3D graphic designer; she prepared objects for the background of oceanic levels, and also various details and small elements that created the atmosphere of the underwater world. – When I created the models I paid attention to their optimisation so that the game can run smoothly, also maintaining graphical integrity thanks to various textures. In total, I made ca. 40 models, often in various colour versions – adds our student. The jury appreciated the game’s educational value, as it naturally presents the problem of protection of the ocean’s ecosystem with an engaging story. Special attention was paid to tailor-made dialogues and original atmosphere of ocean’s depths. The game is available on the team’s website.    

Our other student – Zuzanna Kluczek from the Faculty of Chemistry –  represents the team Fellow Gamedecs. At first the team was made up of students from the game development association at UKW in Bydgoszcz. Many months of work involved designing and creating the main game and competition in challenges not directly related to project development. At that stage Fellow Gamedecs decided to develop an adventure game with emphasis on a serious story. Over a few months the original composition of the team changed to continue the work on the original concept – and so a group of students from all over Poland was brought together. Fellow Gamedecs’ projects developed for Cyberiada are available on the team’s profile.

– I joined the team Fellow Gamedecs two months before the final date of the project. Thanks to common friends – one year earlier I spoke at a scientific conference about games organized by that association – I had the pleasure of cocreating “DreamDeck”. My main role was the narrative and script, though I also contributed to designing the main concepts of the game – explains Zuzanna Kluczek. – When I joined the team, the ambitious concept they were still working on was still in shambles. We joined forces, were motivated and determined, and we completed work on a card logical game with a leading story. It is our mature story about grief and childhood, set in a dream-like semi-reality that convinced the jury to distinguish our title among a few dozen projects.

Our students and their teams are now waiting for the last part – the grand final. 10 best teams will compete in a Development Battle during CD-Action Expo in Łódź (6-7 September) and within 24 hours they will have to make a working game from scratch. Jurors will evaluate their work in terms of originality and artistic value, as well as compliance with the lead theme which will be announced to the 10 teams just before the competition.

More about the competition on the organiser’s website.