GMG Virtual Summer Camp Recap & Meet the Demo Day Finalists!

What a year it has been. We’re all still reeling from the impact of Covid-19, and it’s impossible for us to imagine what the last few months have meant for kids missing out on daily life interactions. GMG’s entire year revolves around our summer camp program — we held out as long as we could in hopes of creating a safe space for the girls to meet in person, because no matter how hard we try, no virtual experience can replace the joys of an in-person camp.

Every day our small team continues to draw inspiration from our girls. They have shown incredible resilience and courage in the face of an unthinkable challenge. They’ve been the first to assist GMG in testing our new curriculum and offering their ideas and perspectives. With their help, we managed to create something lasting with the GMG virtual summer camps.

Over 200 girls joined GMG’s inaugural virtual summer camps, representing 54 cities around the United States! We are so proud (and relieved!) to declare the program a big success! 🙌 💪 ❤️

This year’s camps took place completely virtually via Zoom. We created two separate programs to cater to different age groups and their needs: GMG Virtual and GMG Jr.

GMG Virtual ❤️
Designed with tech savvy teen campers in mind, GMG Virtual followed a curriculum closer to GMG’s in-person summer camp. Participants learned game design, programming, how to create 2D art and even game music in just two weeks.
The girls worked with dedicated mentors in groups called “Squads”, where every day they played games together, met industry guest speakers, and developed their own games.

Featuring Logos of Pikachu, Zelda, Link, Luigi, Mario, Yoshi, Bowser, Eeevee, & Peach Squads

Kirby Squad: winners of the Squad Logo competition

GMG Virtual Speaker Webinar Series

GMG Jr ❤️

Our younger campers, ages 8–12 attended a free, evening program designed to encourage guardian support for troubleshooting. Through a series of game dev webinars, speaker sessions and game nights, these junior devs learned how to create a platformer, and made some new friends! 🕹️ 🧒

GMG Jr. Game Nights

GMG Jr. Game Dev Webinar

GMG Jr. Speaker Series: Double Fine Panel

Demo Day 2020 ❤️

Demo Day 2018 at Sony, Playstation HQ

GMG’s National Demo Day competition is the crowning moment of weeks of hard work, where we celebrate the amazing projects our campers have created. This year Demo Day will feature two categories, GMG Virtual and GMG Jr., to correspond with the two summer camps.

Please meet the 2020 GMG Virtual Demo Day finalists:

• 🎮 Forest Hero by Emma, age 13:
  Play the game: https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/forest-hero
• 🎮 Yellowlegs by Maddie, age 14:
  Play the game: https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/yellowlegs
• 🎮 Magic Versus Mutation by Samantha, age 14:
  Play the game:https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/magic-versus-mutation
• 🎮 Cow Break by Megan, age 12:
  Play the game: https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/cow-break
• 🎮 Dana and the Great Big World by Kaiya, age 14:
  Play the game https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/dana-great-big-world
• 🎮 Lizard Wizard Rescue by Elena, age 14
  Play the game: https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/lizard-wizard-rescue
• 🎮 Phantasma by Jenna, age 15:
  Play the game https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/phantasma
• 🎮 Unnatural Selection by Grace, age 16:
  Play the game https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/unnatural-selection
• 🎮 Androidema by Heather, age 17:
  Play the game https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/androidema
• 🎮 Chimerical by Sarah, age 17:
  Play the game https://girlsmakegames.itch.io/chimerical

Of these 10 amazing finalists, only 3 will go on to win this year’s Grand Prize: a Nintendo Switch, a PS4 and an Xbox One! Our judges have a very tough decision ahead of them :)

2020 Virtual Demo Day Judges Panel:

• Robyn Corr, SVP, Human Resources, Nintendo of America
• Tim Schafer, Studio Head, Double Fine Productions
• Katie Stone Perez, Principal Program Manager, Xbox
• Joanna Wang, Lead Environment Artist, Sucker Punch

Of the 109 campers enrolled in GMG Jr., creators of the top 5 game ‘concepts’ submitted will receive the Jr. Grand Prize: a Nintendo Switch!

2020 Girls Make Games Jr. Demo Day Finalists:

• 🎮 Happy Energy by Cate E.
• 🎮 Cubik Quest by Olivia H.
• 🎮 Twiggy and the Evil Radish by Elizabeth C.
• 🎮 Connie the Snowcat by Emily C.
• 🎮 Rockycraft by Elora C.
• 🎮 Cat Café by Rebekah J.
• 🎮 Portal Skater by Paige J.
• 🎮 Let’s Go Girls by Margaux D.
• 🎮 A Corgi’s Life by Madeleine K.
• 🎮 Marshmallow’s Mysteries by Addie B.
• 🎮 Exploding Chickens by Chloe M.
• 🎮 SeaStar and the quest for peace by Lizzy P.
• 🎮 Virus Attack! by Seraphina S.
• 🎮 Flag Run by Isabella V.

2020 GMG Jr. Demo Day Judges Panel:

• Cindy Gordon, VP, Strategic Communications, Nintendo of America
• Fabiola Rosata, Gameplay Engineer, Cloud Chamber Studios
• Banun Idris, Game Designer, Naughty Dog

Tune in on August 21st at 1pm PST/4pm EST to watch the Demo Day Stream live on GMG’s YouTube Channel here: http://www.youtube.com/c/GirlsMakeGames

This year’s projects were a unique challenge as our campers took on the task of creating a game entirely by themselves. But that’s what makes their accomplishments even more impressive! All the games represent incredible work by these young developers, and we’re so proud of each and every one of them.

Thank you for your support, and see you at Demo Day!
❤️ The GMG Team ❤️