Jambike 2017: When gaming meets a tandem bicycle

What on earth is Jambike 2017?

Two video game programmers are currently travelling from Helsinki to Malmö on a tandem bicycle. They have solar panels on their back and they are programming a video game as they go.

Samuli Jääskeläinen and Jonne Harja are the programmers in question and their intention is to create a ‘green’ game, through the use of solar energy to power their tech and the use of a bicycle on which to travel. Their unusual set up  is a must see; one will be cycling whilst the other handles the programming. They are both veteran game jammers and they are intending on displaying their creation at the upcoming Nordic Game Conference .

Interestingly, this type of strangeness is not abnormal in the world of Finnish game jams. In January 2016 the Finnish Game Jam Association held  ‘survival mode’ where developers spent a weekend in a cabin, with no running water and inconsistent electricity, the goal being to make a game before going insane or freezing to death.

Samuli and Jonne are backed by Finnish Game Jam, Fingersoft, Frogmind and Mindfield Games. Their journey began on May 12th and concludes on May 17th, and their progress can be followed via Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.