In conga line for success

Sep 4 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

FOR most people the conga is a drunken mass dance which trails round the room at the end of a party – but for a small North East games developer, it could be the start of something big.

Three-year-old 3rd Dimension Creations, based in Middlesbrough, has landed a contract with industry giant Blitz Games to develop a game which is described as being based on a “conga mechanic”.

In the CodaChain game, the main player must rebel against music-hating Silencers and bring back music to the city by picking up civilians dotted around the game’s levels to join your conga line.

Various characters affect the strength of your conga line with joggers making it faster and builders giving it the ability to push heavier items away.

Sean Crooks, chief executive of 3rd Dimension, believes the partnership with gaming stalwart Blitz will put the young company in good stead for future growth and development.

He said: “The relationship we have with the people at Blitz is incredible.

“They’ve put a huge amount of trust in us, and yet they’re not precious at all. If we’ve got any trouble, even things not related to the project but about the studio, they’re there to give us advice and pointers.”

Blitz chief executive Phillip Oliver said: “One of our strengths here at Blitz is that we hire individuals straight out of university because we can spot talent. These guys are enthusiastic and they’re talented.”