Hangry Animals
Hey Hangry fam,
This week’s newsletter is a little different. Instead of our usual updates on development (Which is motoring ahead), we took a step back from the grind to participate in a Game Jam at Welsh ICE to fuel the creative juices! And what a week it’s been... intense, inspiring, and packed with invaluable lessons.
For those unfamiliar, a Game Jam is a rapid-fire, high-pressure event where developers, artists, writers, musicians and designers team up to create a working game prototype within a set timeframe, usually a few days. It’s an amazing way to challenge yourself, collaborate with new people, and learn a ton in a short timeframe.
This wasn’t just any Game Jam. Welsh ICE structured it with daily tailored mentorship sessions covering critical areas like:
Marketing & Branding – Understanding how to position a game for success and what platforms work best.
Environment & Worldbuilding – Designing immersive worlds with story and gameplay in mind.
Character Development – Bringing characters to life in a meaningful way.
Narrative Design – Crafting compelling stories that engage players.
Team Dynamics & Efficiency – Working smart, collaborating effectively, and delivering under pressure.
Funding - your game development needs cash to build out the vision.
Throughout the week, we had hands-on mentorship from experienced game developers, studio heads, and industry professionals who guided us through the creative and technical process.
The brief was presented on Monday: create a game incorporating elements of Welsh culture, landscapes, and history to celebrate the nation for future generations. The platform and technology were open-ended, but interestingly, the majority of teams chose Unity as their game engine.
Monday: Team allocations, briefing, and early ideation with mentorship.
Tuesday: Deep dive into prototyping and storytelling.
Wednesday: Modelling, animation, testing mechanics, and interactions in the engine.
Thursday: Sound design, UI, polishing the game environment, and finalizing the brand.
Friday: The infamous "panic before lunch" phase (texture loss, collision errors) followed by the final push to prep our pitch.
Four teams pitched their games to a panel of judges from Caerphilly Council, Tramshed Tech, Welsh ICE, and Creative Wales. The talent and creativity on display blew everyone away!
Bethan Romais from Creative Wales was quoted as saying:
I’ve spent the majority of this week getting over the worst jet lag I’ve experienced in my life and an avalanche of emails that seem to keep growing! But despite the chaos at the start of the week, I’m ending it on the biggest high. Kathryn and I spent an incredible 10 hours today at Welsh ICE and…wow!
A massive thank you to the brilliant team at Welsh ICE and a special thanks to Rachel, Cat and Keiran for hosting such an outstanding event and for their warm hospitality. To the ICE members who welcomed us so genuinely and took time to engage with us, thank you. And most importantly, to the Game Jam teams: you blew us away.
What you achieved in just one week is nothing short of phenomenal. Your creativity, effort, and passion were on full display, and we were genuinely inspired. All I ask, is please, don’t stop here! Reach out to Creative Wales / Cymru Greadigol we’re here to support your journey in game development however we can. We believe in you all and we’re excited to see what you’ll do next.
We had an absolute blast! Building a working prototype in just five days with a brand-new team is no small feat, and it reinforced the importance of efficiency, iteration, and adaptability—lessons that we’ll take forward into Hangry Animals.
A huge thanks to Welsh ICE for organizing such a well-structured and supportive event, and to Beth Romais and Kathryn Wolfe-Adams for being part of the judging panel and bringing fresh perspectives to the pitches.
Unity for Humanity Grant Application – Unfortunately, we weren’t successful this time. We’ve requested feedback to learn from the experience and improve for future opportunities.
QuickNode Accelerator Acceptance – We’re excited to be part of this program, which will deepen our understanding of blockchain infrastructure and L2 rollups as we plan the next phase of our ecosystem. We remain fully committed to SKALE, but this is a great opportunity to expand our knowledge and stay ahead of industry developments.
All Animation rigs are now fully tested for the animated trailer, all voice artists' recordings have been mastered in preparation for animation, and set dressing is underway.
There are some new exciting merch concepts in the works and we’re sharing them on our socials this week. Be sure to like, retweet and support the good vibes.
This week was a fantastic reminder that taking time to learn, experiment, and collaborate is just as important as pushing forward with development. We’re coming out of this Game Jam inspired, motivated, and ready to apply what we’ve learned to Nom Nom Express and all the other pieces of the puzzle. We need to arm ourselves with the skills across the team to tackle this crunch time situation and this Game Jam has allowed us to prioritise what comes next. Auto Battler creeping closer to completion - testing phase, Animated Trailer putting the frames through their paces and Nom Nom level designs getting a proper overhaul. It's all happening eh!
Stay Hangry, stay creative, and keep building!
Until next time,
The Hangry Animals Team
Over 200 subscribers
