Aberdeen GameJam 2026
28 January 2026
University of Aberdeen
Date
28 January 2026
Location
Meston Building, University of Aberdeen
About
After the success of last year, University of Aberdeen’s School of Natural and Computing Sciences will be running Aberdeen GameJam 2026, this time in partnership with the History department!
The event is open to students at University of Aberdeen and any other Scottish University. Each participant will receive an Aberdeen GameJam 2026 t-shirt and Amazon vouchers will be awarded to winners in each prize category.
Additionally, ABVentures and Common Profyt Games have sponsored prizes, one for the Best Pitch, and one for a category yet to be announced!
This year’s general theme is Games & History (so it might be a good idea to grab somebody who knows their history!)
Participants will have a week to develop from scratch a game on a more specific theme that will be announced on Wednesday, 21 January 2026, followed by an in-person event starting at 9am on Wednesday, 28 January 2026 where teams will get feedback from judges.
Teams will make a short presentation of their game starting at Noon and then judges will choose a winner for our prizes to be announced that afternoon.
Deadlines
Friday, 12 December 2025 – Early bird registrations close (Early birds will receive a t-shirt!)
Wednesday, 14 January 2026 – Registration closes
Wednesday, 21 January 2026 – Competition Theme announced and teams begin working on their game.
Wednesday, 28 January 2026 – Game presentations, judging and awards (in-person)
Rules
- Team size can be 1-4 people from any Scottish University.
- Games should be aligned with University of Aberdeen’s principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
- Games developed prior to the start of the competition should not be entered in the competition.
- Generative AI is allowed but participants should be clear where it has been used. Participants should include a brief, Steam-style AI disclosure statement. The judges will give preference to work that is human-generated, rather than AI -generated.
- No work developed in this GameJam may be used for any part of coursework such as honours projects, etc.
Organisers
The event is being organised by Miles Everett at University of Aberdeen with support from SICSA. Please email Miles Everett if you have any questions.
Registration
Aberdeen GameJam 2026 is open to students at any Scottish University. Computing Science students from outside University of Aberdeen may qualify for a travel bursary to help you attend the event. Please email admin@sicsa.ac.uk if you would like more information about travel support.
Registration closes on Wednesday, 21 January 2026 and students who register by Friday, 12 December 2025 will receive a t-shirt at the event.
09:30 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:05
Coffee & Networking
Welcome
Tim Storer, University of Glasgow
10:05-10:45
Session 1
Double Acts for Demystifying Subroutine Calling Conventions
Alasdair Lambert, University of Strathclyde
AutoMCQ – Automatically Generate Code Comprehension Questions using GenAI
Martin Goodfellow, University of Strathclyde
Type Directed Programming For Programming Education
Alasdair Lambert, University of Strathclyde
10:45-11:15
Discussion
11:15 – 11:20
Short break
11:20 – 11:50
Session 2
Understanding Skill Transfer Between University and Workplace Through Reflective Practice: A Software Engineering Work-Based Learning Experience
Oana Andrei & Matthew Barr, University of Glasgow
Out of the day job: Perspectives of Industry Practitioners in Co-Design and Delivery of Software Engineering Courses
Tim Storer, University of Glasgow
Improving Primary School Pupils’ Spatial Skills Leads to Computational Thinking Gains
Quintin Cutts, University of Glasgow