After close to four weeks of intense game design and development, and a thorough and fascinating judging process, the AudioMob Resonate game jam is wrapped, and we have a winner - and some very deserving runners up.

Before we reveal who took the grand prize (if the picture hasn't given it away!), in case you missed it; our jam is a fairly distinct one. We wanted creative, innovative teams to explore what was possible with our audio ad format for mobile games. We asked the teams to design great, interesting and engrossing games, of course - but the focus was on integrating or immersing audio ads into mobile games in ways that complimented the user experience, without interrupting gameplay.

To say we’re delighted with the games made in the jam is something of an understatement. There are so many good ideas across the titles. But without further ado…

The winner of the AudioMob Resonate game jam is Yup Studios, with their brilliant, entertaining and polished getaway driving game Dirty Drifters. Huge congratulations to team members Christopher Luu and Ben Tomczyk!

Dirty Drifters is a truly impressive game, and full of smart ideas throughout. We were blown away by the aesthetic and the tone. But it was the audio ad integration into both the gameplay and narrative setting that impressed us most. The gameplay focuses on outrunning the police at the conclusion of a bank robbery, viewed via the perspective of news crews. However, the pursuing police abandon their chase when the news cuts to the adverts, giving the player a chance to recoup and regroup; and making the idea of ad breaks integral to the gameplay, while perhaps poking fun at Dirty Drifter’s antagonists. With the police’s attention escaped, players can listen to an audio ad while playing a safe cracking game - with a dial that alludes to the radio as the audio plays on.

The game - made by a pair of computer science students - also has an abundance of character and playful charm; in short, it was a fun game to play, and a fun place to spend time.

We’ll have more to share about our winning game and the team behind it in the coming days - and we’ll be getting Yup Studios their $1,000 prize money, coverage, publisher introductions and promotion as soon as possible.

But we must also share our runners up - ThomasTheDev who came second, who takes $200 for his driving game Roadtrip, Toby Atkinson in third place, who receives $100 for a delightful agricultural title Air Drop Farm, and the fourth placed Valancosta Games, who take home asset vouchers for their insect autorunner Save the Bees. 

We’ll be profiling all those games - along with the work by our entrants - in coverage and promotion in the coming days.

As an endnote, while it sounds cliched, we’re so impressed and thrilled by the effort of all the teams. Each and every completed game in the jam was packed with great ideas, and the energy, effort and enthusiasm of the teams was fantastic. Many were younger developers at the opening stretch of their careers, and they’ve given us even more reasons to feel optimistic about the future of the game industry.

We really did form a meaningful community throughout the jam, and we really hope the teams will remain part of the community, and we’d love to see their games expanded upon further. We already know a few are planning on doing just that.

Here at AudioMob we’ve always had a firm belief in the vast potential of our audio ad format; that’s the reason we’ve put so much effort into growing our company, technology and presence in the industry. But now, thanks to our brilliant jammers, we have even more reasons to know AudioAds can be a profoundly positive part of creative, innovative games.