Festival of Historical and Socially Involved Games - Summary of the Project

The project was a place for games that, apart from providing great entertainment, also provoke thought and allow us to better understand the reality around us. The festival was an opportunity to see how games can ask questions about the past, learn about the mechanisms that govern society, and what games can have to say about health and disease.

The program of the event was filled with interesting debates and talks with the participation of leading representatives of Polish gamedev - Jakub and Katarzyna Kisiel (creators of the Hellish Quart historical fencing game under development), Wacław Kulczykowski and Mateusz Sokalszczuk (authors of Excavate! And Waterworks! Games popularizing archeology), Agnieszka Mulak (one of the screenwriters of the game Gamedec), Paweł Miechowski (representing 11bit Studios, the creators of This War of Mine and Frostpunk), Artur Ganszyniec (screenwriter of, among others, the first Witcher and the games Wanderlust and Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Heart of the Forest), and working on Best Month Ever! Filip Hillesland (director) and Michał Gembicki (publisher).

The event was organized by Grupa MTP with the support of the Game Industry Conference, the Indie Games Polska Foundation and the Poznań Players' Guild.

Along the Festival, the Polish-Swiss Game Jam on Sustainability was organized, i.e. a 48-hour challenge based on creating a video game on a given topic. The event was aimed at game developers, regardless of age and skill level. The theme of Game Jamu focused on important issues such as the natural environment and sustainable development.

This gave participants the opportunity to comment on a topic that is prevalent in society and affects all of. The result of the project were interesting game concepts that may result in full-fledged productions in the future. A total of 40 participants stood up for the competition.

Game Jam promotes the joy of creation, creativity and teamwork. The project was also an opportunity to celebrate in an innovative and youthful way the 100th anniversary of the Swiss Embassy in Poland. On this occasion, not only Polish but also Swiss development teams took part in the challenge.
The great winner of the project was the ECO Tower game, which was based on arranging a tower from various types of waste in such a way that it would not collapse. The waste that is easier to handle pollutes the environment, which in turn leads to an ecological disaster. Environmentally friendly waste, on the other hand, is more difficult to integrate, but it leads the player to a clean planet. The player is informed about the level of poisoning with a special indicator. The game can be downloaded at THIS link.

Game Jam was organized by the Game Industry Conference and Grupa MTP. The partners of the project were the Swiss Embassy in Poland, the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sports, the Swiss Foundation for Culture Pro Helvevia, Swiss Games and Logitech.