Photon Enabling Multiplayer Game Jamming
A game jam is always fun. Not only does it bring people together who like to develop games, but it enables learning and development and, in the best case, broadens the horizons of many young developers. That was basically the baseline on why we decided to come together with Arctic Game, a regional accelerator dedicated to fostering and supporting the games industry in northern Sweden. They aim to create a strategic platform that connects game studios, developers, and innovators with the necessary tools and support to succeed. Arctic Game is also very close with the Swedish game company, Gold Town Games, who recently released Pocket Hockey, a fast paced mobile-hockey game, made with our Quantum engine.
After meeting at Games Ground Berlin, we quickly decided to stay in contact and talk about future projects. That’s how the Multiplayer Jam was born. A lot of our devs have past experience in setting up game jams and are intrinsically motivated to help out with their knowledge. We do so on a daily basis on our Discord, so it was pretty easy to find colleagues who would be willing to be of support during this jam.
While Arctic Game was organizing the game jam onsite, using their developer network and local resources, Gold Town Games and Try New Things, an experiential multimedia studio founded in 2023, specializing in exploring future realities through technology, storytelling, and play, sent part of their teams to help the participants locally. We stayed in Hamburg and supported the jammers digitally, with an introduction webinar and full remote support via discord. We also provided the tech with Fusion and Quantum so the devs could make their first steps with the best tech possible. Last but not least we provide prizes worth over $10k that will help the teams to continue their games and projects up to real launch if they want to. Our devs put in great efforts over the weekend to be of service and hop into calls with the different teams to solve problems and be of inspiration.
“Supporting Arctic Game in their Multiplayer Game Jam was a no-brainer for us. We feel a great connection to the Swedish developer community, especially with two of our star engineers from Gothenburg and Stockholm. Gold Town Games has an amazing game on their hands with Pocket Hockey, showcasing how easy yet powerful Photon Quantum is. I’m looking forward to seeing the outcome of the game jam and the games made with Fusion and Quantum.” Christof Wegmann – Founder & CTO @ Photon Engine
Showcasing the Standout Projects
Catmarine by Team Catmarine (Anton, Victoria, Sophie, Eddy, Jakob)
Catmarine is a chaotic, co-operative, typing game. Players must navigate a 2.5D world inside of their cat submarine, the Catmarine! They must run around the Catmarine to different stations in order to control its speed and direction, as well as shoot down spiky pufferfish that block the players’ way. There is just one catch: the Catmarine’s stations can only be activated by typing cat-related puns as fast as possible! Catmarine is a game about communication, collaboration, and really fast typing!
“Me and my team had a great time at the Multiplayer Jam! I work as a game programmer and have been to many game jams before, but I have only attempted to create an online multiplayer game at a game jam once before. It has always felt a bit scary to attempt to implement online networking during a short three day game jam.
The previous time I attempted online multiplayer at a game jam we worked with direct IP connections, but this time we worked with Photon Fusion 2. Working with Fusion saved us a lot of time, as we didn’t have to worry about opening network ports, keeping track of IP addresses, etc. Setting up a project in the Photon backend and applying the project API key inside Unity didn’t take more than 10 minutes, and after that everyone in the team could connect and test the game together throughout the whole game jam.
Networking always brings unique challenges; this time was no different. For us the synchronization of the main typing game mechanic required the most testing and iteration. But being able to quickly test the game in different developer combinations by using different Fusion “room codes” and simply starting the same scene in Unity made testing together a breeze. Another really helpful aspect of this game jam was the live communication with the Photon developers. Having worked with other networking solutions before, but not Fusion specifically, it was great to be able to ask specific technical questions and get tailored answers for our specific project. It kept us from ever getting stuck on the online multiplayer aspect of our game. I want to say a big thanks to Luke at Photon for answering all of our Fusion questions!” Jakob Olofsson
Nuke Your Friends by Team Crush Depth (Olle, Wille, Axel, Edvin)
A game where you, together with a crew, pilot a submarine. Your objective is to take down the enemy submarine (also controlled by a crew of players) by launching torpedoes at them. The only problem is that your submarine might just be the crustiest, rustiest sub known to man.
“We were amazed at how well it worked using Quantum for a game jam. Not having to worry about syncing data / states between clients really made a difference in how we could plan / scope the game.” Wille Pilquist
Holy Sheep by Team UFO (Kent, Athena)
Industry farming is out of control and it’s up to you to stop it. Play as an alien on a mission to rescue innocent sheep from the greedy farmers. Pilot your UFO, beam up the woolly victims, and return them to your peaceful home planet, where the Holy Sheep watches over all. Dodge defenses, outsmart the humans, compete against other UFOs, and save as many sheep as you can before it’s too late.
“It was hard initially to figure out some issues we had related to physics, but when that was solved, it was very easy to work with and the AI seemed to have a good understanding of how Photon works. We were excited to try out Photon Engine. Thank you for this opportunity. Looking forward to more opportunities in the future.” Kent Karlsson
Brain Route by Team BRAINROT (Oliver, Doğaç, Isak, Ben, Isak, Serkan)
Something is trying to route its way into your brain. Stay on the run, dodge every obstacle, and fight off the brain rot with your thumb in this wild two-player face-off. Player one is trying to escape the obstacles while player two is trying to rot their brain.
“Being brand new to Photon and their systems, I’m surprised how much of it “just works”. We had a few hiccups along the way but it was very smooth sailing. The support from Photon during this game jam was also superb, if you had any problem you could quickly get help from the Photon team.” Oliver Karlsson
Not the End of the Road
Even though the Jam is done, this is not the end for our partnership with Arctic Game. We are happy to announce that we will meet again at the Nordic Game Conference, where we will join a panel talk about Pocket Hockey, the Multiplayer Jam and our shared experiences between Photon Engine and Arctic Game. We will also be presenting a single talk about which we will share more info about in the coming weeks. You will also be able to find us at the Arctic Game booth for some wild games of Pocket Hockey, that Gold Town Games will be hosting there.
“This collaboration was fantastic! The community is already asking when the next multiplayer jam will be. Connecting Hamburg and Sweden through this event brought together passionate developers, and it was inspiring to see the creativity and innovation that came from it. We’re excited for what’s to come!” Tim Leinert, Arctic Game
We at Photon want to thank all partners and participants who let us into their circle to create this great experience. We are looking forward to continuing our work of enabling and educating game devs in Sweden and all around the world. 2025 will be a great year and we already have some amazing tech updates in the pipeline that will make multiplayer-game development even easier and more accessible.
Ready to build your own successful multiplayer game? With Fusion and Quantum by Photon, it’s never been easier to integrate cutting-edge multiplayer features into your project. We offer the industry’s most advanced tools, comprehensive support, and everything you need to get started – from downloadable samples to detailed documentation.
Take the first step today – download Fusion or download Quantum and start building. If you’re looking for in-depth assistance, join our Gaming Circle, where you can connect directly with our developers and get expert guidance throughout your journey.
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