The Great Canadian Appathon

The Great Canadian Appathon (GCA) was a 48-hour game design and development competition open to Canadian college and university students.[1] Students attempted to design, develop and program a working mobile game within the restrictions of an annually changing game 'theme'. Individuals, or teams of up to four students, worked for 48-hours in designated 'HUBS' set up at participating universities and colleges, to submit their games for a variety of prizes.[2] A number of studios have been founded on the prize money won at the Great Canadian Appathon. This includes Edmonton based 1st place Team Masheen, and Bitshift Games.[3][4]

Progress

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GCA (March 2011) GCA2 (October 2011) GCA3 (September 2012)
Provinces 4 8 10
Colleges and Universities 7 21 39
Teams 94 125 149
Students 296 410 521
Games 54 80 124

[5]

Judging criteria

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All the submitted games by GCA participants were evaluated by game development senior staff on criteria such as the degree of innovation, the fun and entertainment factor, the level of art and design polish as well as stability to determine the winners.[6]

History

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March 11th-March 13th 2011

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Place Team HUB Game
Winner 1 Team Masheen Northern Alberta Institute of Technology & University of Alberta Super Punch
Winner 2 Team Sheldon University of British Columbia Valley Raid
Winner 3 Resistor5 McGill University & Concordia University Plasmium

[7]

September 30th-October 2nd 2011

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Place Team HUB Game
Winner 1 Drop Table Teams Concordia University Trace Racer
Winner 2 Resistor5 McGill University Ludicrous Archery
Winner 3 Team ABXYZ Carleton University Portal Bow

[8]

September 28th-September 30th 2012

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Place Team HUB Game
Winner 1 Team Heisenberg Carleton University Daylight Saving
Winner 2 Team Unistd University of Toronto Devourer of Worlds
Winner 3 Team Grade-F Polytechnique Montreal Zombyte

[9]

References

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  1. ^ Akkad, Omar El (30 September 2012). "Students go a weekend without sleep for the Great Canadian Appathon". The Globe and Mail.
  2. ^ "The Great Canadian Appathon Returns with a Vengeance".
  3. ^ http://metronews.ca/news/edmonton/27146/next-coding-contest-on/ [dead link]
  4. ^ "302 Found".
  5. ^ Hartley, Matt (28 September 2011). "Great Canadian Appathon 2 kicks off on Friday with $50k on the line | Financial Post". Financial Post.
  6. ^ "The Great Canadian Appathon Returns with a Vengeance".
  7. ^ "The Great Canadian Appathon Returns with a Vengeance".
  8. ^ Berkow, Jameson (3 November 2011). "Montreal dominates Great Canadian Appathon finalists | Financial Post". Financial Post.
  9. ^ "The Genesis of a Gaming Studio".