Global Game Jam Pärnu
At the beginning of February, Gamedev Estonia, a non-profit organization dedicated to advance and coordinate the development of the video game industry in Estonia and Gamecan organized the Global Game Jam Pärnu. Global Game Jam is an annual event that brings together game developers from around the world to collaborate and create new games over the course of a single weekend.
This year, the Global Game Jam Pärnu took place from January 31st to 2nd of February, and it brought together a diverse group of game developers, designers, and enthusiasts from all corners of the world, including the USA, India, Turkey, Estonia, and beyond. Participants worked in teams to create innovative new games based on a common theme “Roots”, which was revealed at the start of the event.
Teams from Gamecan, Full Cycle Game Academy, Ringtail Studios, Ringtail Academy, Tallinn University and Ida-Virumaa Kutsehariduskeskus all took part in the jam, making it a truly fun event. The end result was 14 innovative game prototypes that showcased the incredible talent and skills of the participants.
We would like to extend our gratitude to all the participants, sponsors, and supporters who made this year’s Global Game Jam Pärnu such a huge success! Special thanks go out to our generous sponsors: Arvutitark, Red Bull, CM Games, Placeholder Gameworks, Gimme Break, Wasa Resort, Simple Magic, and Pizzakiosk Pärnu who helped make this event possible.
We are already looking forward to next year’s event, which promises to be even bigger and better! Check out the after-movie:
Learning about the Estonian tax system
Due to the fact that the tax declaration time was approaching, we invited our accountant Liina-Aina Veskilt to talk about income tax, tax declaration, and the tax system in general. She provided our employees with valuable insights into the Estonian tax system and how to file their income tax declarations. It was an informative session that helped our employees understand their tax obligations and the benefits of complying with tax laws.
Visitors
We had the pleasure of hosting a team from the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund (EUIF) at our office. The EUIF is an organization dedicated to providing unemployment insurance benefits and employment services to individuals in Estonia, and they were interested in learning more about our company and exploring potential areas of collaboration. During their visit, we gave them a tour of our office and introduced them to our team members. Our Head of Education and Marketing, Maret Saluste introduced the Full Cycle Game Academy and why we need specialists in game development. We also shared information about our company’s history, mission, and current projects.
Following their visit, we were invited to the EUIF’s office to further discuss potential collaboration opportunities. During our visit, we had productive discussions with the EUIF team about how our company could support their efforts to help individuals who are seeking employment and about collaboration with Full Cycle Game Academy.
Internship expo
At the end of February, we attended the internship expo at Tartu University Pärnu College called “Tõmbejõud”. The expo’s goal is to bring together college students with their potential employers. It was an excellent event for making contacts and learning about internship opportunities.
Team events and a milestone to celebrate
In February, we had several team events and celebrations that helped to get to know each other even more.
On Valentine’s Day, we decided to have a “wear something red or pink” day. If you look carefully at the photo below, you’ll find one of our team members wearing red socks. Did you find it? On that day, we had lunch together, Lisenn introduced us to Japan’s sweet called Mochi and everyone shared their fun memory of Valentine’s day.
Another celebration at the office was Estonian Independence Day. It is a national holiday celebrated on February 24th to commemorate Estonia’s declaration of independence in 1918. We had a team lunch and everyone got to taste an “interesting” sandwich with sprats. Maybe we should’ve made a poll about who liked it and who didn’t.
A really exciting event at the office was the gender reveal party. It is a celebration where expectant parents announce the gender of their baby to family and friends. Our Producer Ronnie and his wife Mary Chu wanted to share their baby’s gender reveal with us. This brought a lot of excitement to the office and we had an amazing lunch of delicious food that they made from scratch and the room was filled with laughter and joy. Surprise, surprise, they’re going to have a baby boy!
Our office people went to a really fun team-building activity – prison break, that happened in an escape room in Pärnu. Pärnu prison was closed in 2007 and now serves as a home for the biggest Escape Room complex in the Baltic and Nordic countries. We were divided into two groups and locked into separate rooms. It was a bit scary at first but when group members started to work with each other, the clues started to make sense and the prison break was done. It was a really authentic experience and everyone would love to do it again.
Congratulations to our People Operations Manager Lisenn who’s celebrating one year working in Gamecan!
Welcome to Gamecan!
In February we welcomed one new person to our Gamecan team:
- Kadri as an Education and Marketing Assistant
We are happy to have you on the team!
See you next month!