■ Four games featuring Gyeongbuk’s cultural heritage completed through a practical production workshop in time for APEC
Kyungil University (President Jeong Hyeon-tae) Game Contents Department successfully held an intensive, hands-on production workshop, ‘Game Jam’, in the seminar room of Building 18 on campus for two days from the 26th to the 27th in preparation for APEC next month.
This event was held as part of the ‘2025 Gyeongbuk-type Talent Development-Employment Linked Metaverse Academy’ hosted by the Gyeongbuk IT Convergence Industry Technology Institute, and was aimed at creating games based on Gyeongbuk’s cultural heritage.
“Game Jam” is a hands-on project where participants take on planning, programming, and art roles within a limited timeframe to complete a game based on a given theme. Twenty-four students from Kyungil University’s Department of Game Contents participated, forming four teams. Delicious Games, a professional developer, participated jointly and provided expert mentoring.
Workshop participants completed four games: a click-and-go tycoon game utilizing Gyeongbuk’s specialties and traditional foods, a hyper-casual game set in a Silla-era pagoda, a roguelike action game based on the legend of King Munmu’s tomb, and a strategy RPG reinterpreting the Andong Hahoe Mask Dance. These games creatively express the unique characteristics and traditional culture of the Gyeongbuk region and embody the potential for promoting K-culture to the world.
Professor Kim Eun-jung of the Game Content Department commented, “The students demonstrated their focus and teamwork in a short period of time to produce a high-quality product. This demonstrated the potential for reinterpreting Gyeongbuk Province’s cultural heritage through games and spreading it globally.” She added, “This achievement goes beyond a simple school project; it aligns with APEC’s emphasis on expanding K-culture and sharing cultural heritage globally. It was a meaningful experience that demonstrated how local creative works can serve as a vehicle for promoting Korean traditional culture on the global stage.”
Kyungil University plans to pilot the results produced at this game jam event on the Gyeongbuk Metaport platform. Furthermore, the university plans to expand its support by partnering with local businesses to ensure that students’ achievements translate into industry-wide impact.
