The three finalists of the Developing Beyond competition have been revealed. If you like your games Black Death-flavoured, you’re in luck.
For other, less science-y games, here’s a list of the best indie games around.
Back in January, Epic Games and the Wellcome Trust, an organisation that aims to popularise scientific research, announced a contest awarding $500,000 to developers to make science games. This week, down in Brighton at the Develop conference, the three finalists were chosen.
The first stage of the competition saw six developers awarded $15,000 each to begin development of their game pitches. At the Develop conference, three of those were then picked to be awarded a further $60,000 in funding that will carry them through the next six months.
A panel of judges, including comedian Susan Calman and Professor Ian Goodfellow, Head of Virology at the University of Cambridge, picked the games Seed, Terramers, and Winter Hall to go through to the final.
Seed is a virtual reality game that has players search an environment for plants that they can then foster and grow.
Terramarshas you explore Mars while adapting to the planet’s unique environment. Players will learn about the physiological and psychological strains a person on another planet will go through.
Finally, Winter Hall is an exploration game in which you root around an environment to learn the story of a community afflicted by the Black Death.
The three teams of finalists will spend the next six months developing their projects before they return to be judged one last time. The winning team of the competition will receive $150,000, second place will receive $50,000, and third place will be awarded $30,000.
Top image credit: Joe Brady.