The Game Jam is not only a time of creativity but it can also be a time of love. This was the case for two people last year.
Lloyd Knott, 28, from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, met Joyce Webb, 25, from Hampshire, at the 2011 Game Jam. Joyce is a student with Train2Game and Lloyd was an advisor for the event. The two just celebrated their six month anniversary at last weekends world record beating Game Jam.
Being an advisor Lloyd could wander around, giving him an excuse to spend time with Joyce, talking to her and getting to know her. Following on from that Game Jam, Joyce and her winning team, Indigo Jam, went on to be part of Make Something Unreal Live.
After 6 months of developing and creating, Joyce got to go to The Gadget Show Live as part of the competition. Lloyd was assigned to Indigo Jam to help them get bits done and got to spend more time with Joyce.
Leading up to the Gadget Show the teams had monthly meetings at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton. It was at the last of these the two got together.
Joyce said “Well, it all started when one of the guys on the team, yes I’m putting this firmly on Dan Rutter’s shoulder, started saying he thought Lloyd liked me. Being a generally oblivious person, I thought he was just winding me up. When Lloyd was eventually assigned to our team to help get things ready for the Gadget Show, I noticed he was behaving a little oddly from the last few times I’d spoken to him. However it wasn’t until he asked if I’d like to go and see a film after the final meet up in Luton that I realised than Dan was right all along”
Lloyd said “Well I first met her at the last game jam where I was told to look after their team before helping out the other teams, but nothing really happened till after I was put on their team to help them get stuff ready for the gadget show. We got talking on their team speak server and kinda hit it off.”
After going to see The Raven, the biopic of Edgar Allen Poe, the two realised they had a lot in common and decided to become a couple.
Lloyd has just left Lionhead to begin working at Microsoft and Joyce is a Train2Game student who works at Odeon Cinemas in Andover.
Not only are Game Jams great for being creative and a good thing to put on your CV, you might even find someone to fall in love with. I wish the very best of luck to both Lloyd and Joyce in everything they do.