Meet the MeGa Jam Participants

By Christa Yates, Staff Writer

 

Indienomicon’s MeGa Health Jam returned to Orlando for its second event,

Sept. 6-8.

 

Throughout the weekend, competing teams worked to rapidly prototype serious games that would help train professionals in a variety of healthcare-related focuses. To learn more about the MeGa Health Jam, Indienomicon, or the winners, click here.

 

Nimble Nurse

Team Zombie Squid, made up of Michael Acosta, Christian Dall, Paulo Castro, Fernando Villegas, Nick Drobes, and Zoran Diaz, brought Nimble Nurse to life, a nursing simulator wherein players rush to complete patient-care tasks to illustrate the demands of nursing. According to the team, this game shows players the value of nursing by demonstrating how many tasks nurses complete daily to support patient health. The team hopes their game will inspire younger players to pursue a career in nursing. The team used Unreal Engine to develop Nimble Nurse, which was a new experience for some of the developers that added to their skill sets.

 

Nimble Nurse is playable at: zoranjdiaz.itch.io/nimble-nursing

 

Silly Chef

Willow Rachels, Morgan Schafer, Zachary Webb, and Avery Hart developed Silly Chef, an educational cooking game. Silly Chef seeks to teach patients, caregivers, and chefs how to cook for people with various food allergies and dietary needs. From celiac to peanut allergies, players learn the basics of food safety, avoiding cross-contamination, and real-life recipes patients can enjoy. The first level focuses on patients with Crohn’s disease, and the game aims to help players understand the importance of proper preparation necessary for these conditions.

 

The team stated that after the game is complete, their next mission is to “cook good food” and enjoy the chicken and zucchini dish they featured in their game.

 

The team used Unity to develop Silly Chef, and it is available at: https://happymorgan.itch.io/silly-chef

 

Wheels of Fate

Wheels of Fate was developed by Hidden Roll + Noa, comprised of Joseph Demartini, Cole Montrose, and Noa Baggs. This team took a unique approach to developing what they described as “a flight simulator for wheelchairs.” The team not only built the game but designed and built a wheelchair simulator that tracked wheel positions in order to immerse players and simulate the movements necessary for wheelchair use.

 

According to Hidden Roll + Noa, their game mixes combat and exercise by using movements like leg lifts to shoot enemies that help patients regain strength in their limbs. Their simulator uses micro boards, a new tool for this team, to track wheel position and movements as they correspond in the game.

 

Players can experience Wheels of Fate at: ttmayor.itch.io/wheels-of-fate

 

Missing

Joshua Carver, Josein Quijano, James Williams, Liya Ilan, Gregory Dsouza, and Dylan Pereira put their minds together in Missing, a virtual reality (VR) game that replicates the mental decline of an Alzheimer’s patient. In this game, players must find a lost phone by retracing their steps using logic. As players progress, each level takes place in an environment with fewer clues that lead to the ever-elusive phone until players are in a completely vacant room. The developers built Missing with GODOT, which they described as less taxing on their computer systems with a low barrier for entry.

 

Missing can be found at: https://dylan-pereira.itch.io/missing

 

Ambulance in Space

Team Space Ambulance, made up of Alex Brown, Sam Woodstock, Wyatt Agathe, Jonathan Montague, and Gabriel Holmes, developed Ambulance in Space. The game, developed with GODOT, takes players through space in the back of an ambulance as they transport patients to an interstellar hospital.

 

Not only do players have to treat patients enroute, but a misdiagnosis will introduce new ailments that complicate the scenario.

 

To play Ambulance in Space, visit: https://gatorkeyboard42.itch.io/ambulance-in-space

 

Seasonal Flow

Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, Kendra Kennedy, Johnathan Montaque, Jade Hutson, Sadie Raghunand, and Brendan St. Esprit are the team members of Gx3 (Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss) who developed Seasonal Flow.

 

Seasonal Flow is a game for 9- to 13-year-old audiences that familiarizes players with menstrual cycles and breaks taboos surrounding periods. According to Gx3, their goal isn’t solely to educate on what a period is, but to teach children and early adolescents which symptoms are normal, and which may require medical attention.

 

This team plans to compete at the next Indienomicon event under the new name Mx3 (Mansplain, Manipulate, Malewife).

 

Seasonal Flow is playable at: https://dangerous-hard.itch.io/seasonal-flow

 

Coworker Joe

Team Dignitas is a familiar name for game jam veterans, made up of veteran jammers Ruby McDonald, Connor Darby, Doug Brozek, Andy Darby, Mike Bianchini, Debbie Corbett, Nick Piazza, and Chris Gullette.

 

Coworker Joe follows a player who arrives at work, sees a co-worker experiencing a medical emergency, and needs to administer first aid while waiting for emergency services to arrive. A 911 operator walks players through first aid procedures for multiple scenarios.

 

The game was designed for the MetaQuest 2 in Unity, and is available at: https://dignitasgamedevclub.itch.io/coworker-joe-saves-a-life

 

Purr-fect Sip

James Furniss-Roe, Alexis Tjarks, and Maxwell Moolchan put their minds together to develop Purr-fect Sip, a wheelchair-based cafe management game. Players sit as they deliver drink and food orders to their feline patrons, simulating the control and movements necessary for wheelchair use.

 

The developers hope to remove the stigma against wheelchair use and other mobility-assistance devices for both full-time and ambulatory users.

 

Gamers can play Purr-fect Sip at: thecreepofwar.itch.io/purrfect-sip

 

MedTech VR

MedTech VR was designed by Danny Tapia, TJ Forest, Delano Igbinoba, Patrick Rasmussen, and Jeremiah Garcia. MedTech VR aids communication between doctors using the situation, background, assessment, request (SBAR) method of triaging patients. Using this method, doctors and nurses must assess patients quickly and accurately, then remember patient information or write it down. In addition to improving efficiency and providing practice using the SBAR method, the team plans to grow the project by designing a device that allows doctors to record the necessary information without carrying a clipboard and pen.

 

To see the MedTech VR demo, visit: https://danny-riot.itch.io/medtechvr

 

Rehab Realm: Quest for Vitality

Joey Fisher, Brian Strigel, and Robert Kuropka are the game jam veterans behind Rehab Realm, a quest-based game designed to aid in physical therapy. Rehab Realm gamifies exercises designed to help patients regain movement in their hands while fighting enemies.

 

The team developed this game in a tool called Bezi, which runs in VR headsets and uses its own programming language. The team described using the new engine as “a curveball, but a fun challenge.”

 

Rehab Realm: Quest for Vitality is playable at: https://itch.io/jam/mega-health-jam-2024/rate/2959193