(from left to right) Robin Stromsky, Andreas Niderreiter, Björn Martens, Prof. Jirka Dell'Oro-Friedl, Marcel Herbst, Florine Bienhüls, Denise Franz, Matej Budimir, Nelly Stadel, Jannick Klose, Yasmin Zahrir Photo source: Sandra Beuck
Students of the Games & Immersive Media programme at Furtwangen University take up the challenge
Ten daring students from the “Games & Immersive Media” (GMB) degree programme at Furtwangen University (HFU) took part in this year's “THE LÄND Global Game Jam 2025”. The challenge for the more than 200 participants was to develop a game within 48 hours. The theme of the national competition this year was “Bubbles”.
From brainstorming to designing and programming the game, everything had to be completed within the tight time limit. Participation was open to everyone, so the students were joined by professionals from the fields of sound design and software development to form interdisciplinary teams.
The teams interpreted the theme of “bubbles” in very different ways. The game idea for “Party Burst”, for example, was about the “social bubble”. In an interactive comic, you try to get friends to leave an unpleasant group of people at a party using various dialogue options. In “Enter n' Bounce”, on the other hand, the aim is to master levels in “Super Mario style” with a flying squirrel − soap bubbles are used to recharge various abilities. In the game “SymphoTea”, the aim is to place various musicians at the right table in a bubble tea store based on their statements and recorded music and bring them together with other musicians.
“An event like the Game Jam offers students a great opportunity to get creative and develop their team skills,” says Prof. Jirka Dell'Oro-Friedl, Dean of Studies of GMB, who accompanied the students.
“Thanks to what I've already learned during my studies, I've been able to exchange ideas with great professionals. The communication is exciting, the programmers need to know what sound people want, designers need to know the limits of programming,” summarises one of the students. “The biggest challenge was to develop a playable game in a short space of time, and I learned a lot, also thanks to the professionals in my team, who treated us as equals. I would definitely like to take part again,” adds another student.
Furtwangen University has had a dedicated degree programme for games development for a year now. The bilingually taught course covers not only the design, development and marketing of games, but also other immersive digital products. It offers excellent career opportunities in a rapidly growing industry.
The Game Jam took place as part of the LÄND campaign of the state of Baden-Württemberg and is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts.