Bermuda Island Games is the first Bermudian video game development company, dedicated to designing games that celebrate Bermuda. We are here to give Bermuda its rightful place in the digital realm.
Our goal is simple - we want to promote Bermuda in the most entertaining (and in many cases, educational) way possible. We will do this through Bermuda-themed video games that portray our culture in a way never seen before, inspiring the imagination of both locals and visitors.
Gaming allows people to make connections and feel good about their accomplishments - all while learning a thing or two about what Bermuda has to offer.
Bermuda Island Games was founded in October 2016. When deciding which game we would initially develop to enter the gaming world, we wanted a game that was ground-breaking, featuring as much about Bermuda as possible, and having the potential to be played by thousands of players. This will be the first of hopefully many more games about Bermuda by Bermuda Island Games.
With America’s Cup 2017 scheduled for the summer and Bermuda’s thriving tourism industry, it was apparent that it would be useful to target tourists to Bermuda to showcase all that the sub-tropical island had to offer. After attending Bermuda Tourism Authority’s Investment Workshop, there were two key elements that really stood out that we wanted to improve upon: “tourists said that when they come to Bermuda, they are looking to explore, experience different cultures, and experience different cuisines”, and that “there are no interactive or digital apps that take advantage of modern-day technology to promote Bermuda”.
Based on this feedback, we developed a geographically-based app which scores points based on different restaurants the player dines in, different locations they visit, different people they meet, and different activities that the player engages in during their time in Bermuda.
Somewhat similar to Pokemon Go, which went viral in mid-2016 as mobile gamers took to the streets with their phones and tablets, Hidden Gems of Bermuda was designed to do the same thing – enjoy the outdoors with technology leading you. Rather than playing at home on the computer or during class while the student is bored, this game is intended to help break the player out of the regular cycle and go and explore different parts of Bermuda which many people (including locals) have never been to.
After doing some brain-storming, the name which resonated for us was “Hidden Gems of Bermuda”. We quickly realized that there was already a local tour company by that same name. Rather than change the name, the two owners agreed on a partnership where the tour would be featured in the app among other tourist activities, and the game would keep the name chosen. After going through several rounds of challenges, we had launched the game on both the iOS and Android platforms by January 2017. Below is the promotional video we had used during the inital launch.
Click here to see more.
Currently Bermuda Island Games has 4 full-time staff, and 6 interns who are hard at work building the next mobile game about Bermuda.
Founder, Adrian Lodge, is still in the mix whose current role is that of producer, human resources, finance and information technology.
Rebecca Martin, is the lead graphics designer, who does concept art, characters, backgrounds, and just about any other image needed for the game.
Moira Kelly, is the lead animator, who does character movement, cut scenes, and all other video capture for the game.
Emmanuel Omene is the lead programmer, who also works for an agency in the Netherlands that make other games as well.
Each one of our full-time staff have stepped up to help mentor any interns and help get them up to speed with what their role is within the game development sphere.
If you are interested in joining the team please contact Us and we will be happy to bring you on board!