Daring Do: Dare Protoplay on 8-11 Aug

Every year some of the UK's premier games talent comes straight out of Dare to be Digital, a video games development competition for students at universities and colleges of art. Teams of five assemble at Abertay University for 9 weeks during June to August to develop a prototype video game, receiving mentoring from the industry. The students also receive a weekly stipend of £150 per student, free accommodation at the University's halls of residence and a team budget of £200.

The results are shown at the UK's largest independent games festival. Dare ProtoPlay 2013 will be held in Caird Hall, City Centre and Hannah Maclure Centre in Dundee on 8-11 August, and entry is free to play more than forty games.

Off the top of my head, talent that has come out of the Dare To Be Digital programme include Lead Programmer Duncan Harrison at Ruffian Games, Jack Potter who is now Technical Lead at Ubisoft, Ben Rollinson who is now Senior Level Designer at Rockstar North, and Iain Hendry who is a Creative Designer at Riot Games. Not bad eh?

In any case: Dare to be Digital is an important way to support and grow our games industry, and everything that comes out of the Protoplay is incredibly creative and an important learning process for everyone involved. You should head along to see what has been created, along with the 30 other games on offer.

Look, we know it's scary, but head along to Dundee in August. This really is a super great thing.