The Great Canadian Appathon


The Great Canadian Appathon was a 48-hour game design and development competition open to Canadian college and university students. 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. 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.

Progress

GCA GCA2 GCA3
Provinces4810
Colleges and Universities72139
Teams94125149
Students296410521
Games5480124

Judging criteria

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.

History

11 March – 13 March 2011

PlaceTeamHUBGame
Winner 1Team MasheenNorthern Alberta Institute of Technology & University of AlbertaSuper Punch
Winner 2Team SheldonUniversity of British ColumbiaValley Raid
Winner 3Resistor5McGill University & Concordia UniversityPlasmium

30 September – 2 October 2011

PlaceTeamHUBGame
Winner 1Drop Table TeamsConcordia UniversityTrace Racer
Winner 2Resistor5McGill UniversityLudicrous Archery
Winner 3Team ABXYZCarleton UniversityPortal Bow

28 September – 30 September 2012

PlaceTeamHUBGame
Winner 1Team HeisenbergCarleton UniversityDaylight Saving
Winner 2Team UnistdUniversity of TorontoDevourer of Worlds
Winner 3Team Grade-FPolytechnique MontrealZombyte