Go On, Judge a Game By Its Cover

You might remember some of our previous coverage of Famicase, where artists create stickers for fictional Famicom games. A Game By Its Cover (AGBIC) takes this concept to the next stage, inviting developers to create games based on the stickers.

The competition runs from 17th June until 18th August and is open to anyone. Winning games will be shown at GameCity in October and there'll be other prizes too, apparently.

You can browse the Famicase archive for inspiration while waiting for the contest to open, if you like.

Announcing A GAME BY ITS COVER, 2012.

LONDON, May 23rd, 2012—Between June 17th 2012 and August 18th 2012, A GAME BY ITS COVER (AGBIC) challenges game makers to create new games based on fictional game artwork.

Inspired by the Famicase Exhibition run by Satoshi Sakagami from his METEOR shop in Tokyo, for which he invites a select number of artists from around the world to create artwork for fictional Famicom/NES games. The AGBIC competition flips the Famicase concept on its head - we take these fictional games and make them a reality!

Game creators from around the world will come together for two months of game development, either alone or in teams, to create games inspired by fictional game artwork. All playable games will be made available for download after the competition has ended and the AGBIC community will then vote on the final list of games. Prizes will be awarded to the overall top three games, best visuals, best audio, and finally there will be a runner-up prize to the most anticipated game that wasn't completed. In addition, the winning games will be shown at GameCity7—Europe’s biggest and best-loved videogame culture festival—between October 20th and 27th. Full details of the competition are available at the official website: www.agbic.com/faq/

The previous AGBIC competition saw 67 entries, covering a wide range of genres, play styles and graphical themes. 2012 marks the movement of the competition to its own domain name which enables it to gain focus and presence, with the goal of attracting even more game creators to take part. Game developers, media, and industry luminaries from around the world, will join the general public to view and play the AGBIC games—offering unprecedented exposure for the selected game makers.

AGBIC is an ongoing event to inspire and present diverse, experimental and fun game content to a wide public audience. In doing so, it is part of a larger international movement that recognises the future of the videogame industry lies in the hands of todays independent game creators.

For more information visit www.agbic.com/faq/