A team of Edinburgh Napier University students have triumphed at a UK-wide video game design competition with an original depiction of life in ‘fascist-occupied’ Italy.

The team made up of students from ENU’s BScs in Digital Media & Interaction Design and Sound Design won Best Concept at Imperial War Museums’ (IWM) War Games Jam, while claiming the highest overall score.

Drawing visual inspiration from Guillermo del Toro’s movie adaptation of Pinocchio, their game concept ‘Aging Like Buildings’ takes the player through a story narrated by a grandfather reliving his harsh experience during the 1940s in Italy.

Using morally nuanced tales told to his grandchild, a player called Cielo explores ruins and works with partisans to reclaim territory taken by occupying fascist forces.

Developers Jacopo Santarossa, Jakub Mazurek, Keir Bailey, Mitchell MacPherson and Ellie Black chose their concept in an attempt to demonstrate the horrors of war in an empathetic way.

Jakub said: “We were drawn to the idea of creating a game based on under-explored conflict stories – which led us to the Italian partisans.

“The title ‘Aging Like Buildings’ refers to how during times of conflict, people deteriorate the way structures do after being bombed. The scars left behind by a traumatic event are a visible burden, similar to the outside of an old building.

“Even if buildings and people are injured by conflict, they always remain close by to support whoever needs assistance the most.”

Each team member seized the opportunity to take part in the IWM Games Jam as a way of harnessing their skills, with an eye on working in video game development, 3D modelling, sound design, and virtual reality.

Judges praised their approach to storytelling around conflict, as well as the complexities which set it apart from other entrants.

Over the course of a week, competing teams were tasked with basing their entry around an IWM item – a violin carved from trees growing on former Western Front battlefields inspired the makers of Ageing Like Buildings.

Fiona Stewart, Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University’s School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, said: “Game Jams are a great opportunity for our students to gain experience working in teams and learning new skills.

“We’re very proud that the team have produced such a strong piece of work and know they will go on to even greater things in the future.”

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Fellow lecturer Iain Donald, who helped judge the competition, said: “I was thrilled to see teams from across the country creating novel and engaging ways of exploring the IWM objects and how these were used to challenge our expectations of war and conflict.

“I think all the judges were impressed by how so many entries embraced their creativity, evoked empathy and encouraged diverse stories that you wouldn’t necessarily expect of when you think of war games. It was incredibly difficult to judge!”

Another team of ENU students, from the BSc in Games Development, placed 10^th in the Best Playable category with their demo entitled Prisoners Dilemma.