In the summer term 2024, 54 students who were also involved in the winter term 2023/24, took part in the GamesLab course and deepened their knowledge and practice of computer game development. The 54 students came from the fields of media studies, computer science, comparative literature, literature, pop music, management, linguistics, educational science, art, fashion and textile design and philosophy.

They worked in three development teams on three computer game projects: Stranded Station, Melodie der Meisen and Rufe der Polarnacht.

In the academic year 2022/2023, teaching in the GamesLab was organised as a two-semester event, which left sufficient time and space for ithe nterdisciplinary and cooperative learning and testing of the creative, technical, social, organisational and academic skills that are necessary in the development and research of computer games.

In winter semester 2022/2023, a total of 60 students from different study programs such as English & German linguistics, computer science, art, management, media studies, philosophy, popular music and media, or economics took part in the event and jointly developed the prototype of the computer game BossCrawl.

For the first time, the open source game engine Godot was used in GamesLab, replacing work with Unity. In addition to a new software solution, the basics of the industry-standard disciplines of 2D arts, 3D arts, audio, coding and game design were also taught and applied in a practical phase lasting several weeks.

The developed prototype represents the basic mechanics of the BossCrawl game. There are two levels. It's about a dungeon boss and a hero character competing against each other. The players control the boss character instead of saving the world as a hero as usual. This concept was carried over into the summer semester of 2023, in which it was further expanded.

In the summer semester of 2023, the development project and research into computer games was continued by 64 participating students from the subjects of English linguistics, English-language literature and culture, educational science, computer science, art and art education, mathematics, media studies, popular music and media, sports economics and economics. In addition to the prototype project, this semester's course also deals with the importance of e-sports in the media and computer gaming industry.

In the summer semester of 2022, the University of Paderborn and thus also the GamesLab returned to face-to-face teaching after the COVID pandemic.

34 students from various subjects such as English linguistics, English-language literature and culture, computer science, comparative literature, art, art education, management, mathematics, media studies, and philosophy took part in the GamesLab course.

In interdisciplinary teamwork, three computer game prototypes were developed as part of a so-called gamejam under the theme “move something”:

Hyper-Score is a typical side-scroller in a sci-fi setting. Players have to avoid oncoming obstacles for as long as possible. In order to improve your aiming time, power-ups were also distributed in some places, which gave short immunity to obstacles.

Shooting Golf is a particularly bizarre multiplayer game in which the players each control a forklift and play golf with it. As part of the short Gamejam format, the multiplayer aspect was removed in order to optimize the gaming experience on the map with oversized obstacles.

In Sightless, players have to find the exit in a dark room before the opponent reaches them. The room is a labyrinth in which you can orientate yourself using noises and short flashes of light. You have to stay away from the walls that cause damage to the protagonist.