Welcome to DARE Academy

We appreciate that you may have other commitments or due to financial constraints, may have to return home over the summer so it is possible for some members of a team to participate remotely in the competition. It is necessary, however, for teams to be represented in person at all hot housing events. The schedule for hot housing will be made available with plenty of time to allow participants to plan attendance.

Participants can work part-time and participate in Dare Academy. We would like you to attend as much of the hot housing as possible but appreciate that work commitments may mean some events are missed. All teams should have in person representation at all events.

If you were registered as a student on an Abertay-based Undergraduate degree programme as of the 1^st April 2025, you can participate in DARE Academy.

If you were registered as a student on Abertay-based Undergraduate modules of study as of the 1^st April 2025, you can participate in DARE Academy.

Yes. So long as the game has potential and a clear plan for its development during DARE Academy, it can be pitched for the competition.

Teams are invited to present their concept to a panel of industry and academic judges. They will have 15 minutes to pitch their ideas and then the panel will ask a series of questions for 15 minutes. There will also be an opportunity for teams to ask questions of the panel. The process is somewhat formal and will be hosted in person, on-site at Abertay University. It is appreciated that the whole team attend the interviews in person unless in exceptional circumstances.

Applications are assessed in relation to the concept and the team make-up. For the concept, the creativity and originality of the idea and its relevance to the target audience are assessed. The applications are also assessed in terms of the project's viability being developed successfully within the hot housing period. The make-up of the team, in terms of discipline and diversity, is also taken into consideration in relation to viability of the application and promotion of equality and accessibility in game development processes. A playable version of the game for the application and/or interview stage can be beneficial for communicating the concept and proving team viability.

Hot housing makes use of the standard PCs in labs within the university. Teams will only be able to access the versions of software currently available on university computers. Additional software and drivers can be installed as requested by teams, but these should be free to use.

The University will provide standard high-spec computers as are available within university labs. Additional equipment such as mobile devices for testing, can be provided if they are within the university’s current stock. Teams can purchase additional items and materials using the budget provided to teams via DARE Academy.