Jumala game-building platform combines game creation with gamification
"Man, I've got a great idea for a game," said every single gamer ever. "If only I had some kind of tool or platform that would allow me to build it without having to learn any form of programming."
This familiar dialogue has either been spoken aloud by you specifically, or by someone you know and love. It's all too common, and because of the gamer's intrinsic urge to try their own hand at game design, companies like Blade Games World create products like Jumala.
At its heart, Jumala is a game development suite designed for Joe Everyguy, devoid of programming languages and requiring no previous game-making experience whatsoever. Working in a fully 3D environment, players can either build their own game from scratch or modify existing template games. Once created, games can be shared with your incredibly patient friends and family via Jumala's social network integration.
What makes Jumala unique, for better or for worse, is the ribcage of gamification bones that surround its design-oriented heart. As they create, players earn "Jumala Spark," an in-game currency used to unlock construction tools, items and character models from the in-game store. Jumala Spark is also earned whenever someone plays a game you've created, or when you play a game someone else has created, which encourages game makers to relentlessly spam actively promote their wares.
Jumala's free, PC-only beta is currently underway. Creatively minded OSX users, fear not: A Mac version is said to arrive "someday."
