Our training
track record.
On a UK game-development bootcamp for people entering the industry, artists, designers and programmers shared a task: turn an idea into a game someone else could play.
Black Cat’s creative director, Luke Richards, designed and led the programme. He wrote the curriculum and brought together the industry mentors. The Game Dev Group and Creative Alliance delivered the bootcamp.
Industry-led mentorship
Luke brought together industry professionals to teach specialist sessions and give participants practical feedback. Mentors on the original UK bootcamp included:
- Ed Bryan
- Former art director at Rare. His game credits include Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Piñata.
- Tiffany Wild
- Programming
- Loukia “Lucy” Kyriakidou
- Art direction
- Chris Jones
- Publishing
From a design decision to a playable game
Decide what to build
Teams agreed what they could make in the time available. A concept document set out the idea; a milestone plan helped the team decide what to build first and what to leave out.
Work across disciplines
Each team worked with a producer. Participants also had individual mentoring in their chosen discipline, so they could bring a design, art or programming problem to someone who did that work professionally.
Put the idea in a player’s hands
One team built a playable puzzle game in which solving a puzzle revealed the next piece of the story. Design, code, 3D art and sound all had a part in that moment. Teams also had the opportunity to pitch their games to a publisher.
What happened afterwards?
Luke’s follow-up review covered 30 former participants. In 15 of those records he identified games employment, a secured games role or the founding of a studio. Former participants also went on to release independent games. Those 15 were part of a wider group of 28 whose records showed career progression, including independent development, further study, portfolio work and employment in related industries.
Luke compiled this retrospective from his own knowledge, participant accounts and public portfolios. Some broader outcomes were reported or probable rather than verified paid employment. The figures are not independently audited placement results and cannot establish which opportunities came from the bootcamp.
The participants’ perspective
Former participants supplied written feedback about the teaching, access to mentors and their experience of finding a place in the industry. Organisations considering a programme can ask to see selected feedback alongside the original teaching plan.