Bit1 Competition

From preliminaries

We at Bit1 are searching for the best Finnish game made by a dev team of students.

During spring, teams of young game developers are invited to join the competition. First they compete in the local events PreBits, held around Finland. The top two teams from each PreBit will continue to the final. Teams can also attend remotely, in case of long-distance to the preliminary cities.

Remote participation in the PreBits negotiable – thus please contact Daniela ASAP (daniela.metsaranta@espoo.fi)

To the Bit1 final

These teams chosen at the preliminaries to continue to the national final, the Bit1, will receive mentoring from pros to develop their game before the final. Bit1 final will be held mid-May 2024.

The winners will be selected by the top professionals of the game industry. The teams will also be able to meet business representatives and present their skills for a job or internship. Competing teams receive feedback on their games from the jury.

How to set up a PreBit?

We encourage schools / universities / student organizations around Finland to take part and organize a preliminary event in yout city. It’s all quite easy – no need to panic!

Just follow these few simple steps:

Step 1 – Sign up using this form and send an email to Daniela (daniela.metsaranta@espoo.fi) and let her know that you are interested in organizing a PreBit in your city.

Step 2 – Find a location that can easily fit several student teams who would love to participate. The only criteria for the venue is that it is large enough for the teams to present and pitch their games to the judging panel. Ideally there would be also some room left for potential audience aswell.

Step 3 – Communication! Spread the word far and wide that there will be a PreBit in your city! Use social media and any(all) local networks. (We will provide you with materials for this.)

Step 4 – Have all potential teams sign up using a form that will soon be provided. (We just need to get some confirmed locations first and we are good to go.)

Step 5 – Find judges! Get your hands on 3-4 gaming industry professionals for the judging panel. It would be amazing if you were able to get judges from your local game companies.

Application process for the teams:

Please first read the competition rules to make sure your team is eligible. Then sign up your team HERE.

To submit your application you need following material:

Here you find Game Design Canvas pdf, that contains guide for how to fill it. You can edit game canvas right there and then save your edited version of that pdf on your computer. Then add it to your application.

Video of your core loop should be 1 minute long and locate somewhere where we can download it. Leave link to that in the application form. This can be updated to newer version by contacting organizer.

The games approved to compete can be on any platform, either single or multiplayer. Teams bring all their own equipment for their games.

There is a bit of time to develop the game further between PreBit and the Bit1 final. It is not expected to have everything looking polished when you apply, but the core loop has to be playable. The focus is on the game concept, design ideas and plans.

If there are more entries than we expected, we might be forced to limit the number of competitors in PreBits.

Prizes

To get you into the mood, here is the top 11 games from the Finals in 2023!