From saving the environment to cyber-carpentry, the game projects that have made it to the final four in Telefilm Canada’s Great Canadian Video Game Competition are anything but average. In a risk-averse industry that tends to crank out games based on proven models, the judges were looking for something new.

Each of the 69 qualified entries had to be an original intellectual property, as opposed to licensed-based properties, which currently dominate the marketplace. According to game industry veteran Danielle Michael, fund manager for the competition, games such as those based on popular movies are currently the mainstay of the Canadian industry.

‘Canadians are awesome on the creative end and on the technical end of actually building games. We’re not as strong on publishing, on distribution, marketing and getting games to market.’

Each of the four finalists has received up to $250,000 to develop a playable prototype and marketing strategies. The industry jury includes Yannis Mallat, CEO, Ubisoft, Montreal; Ron Moravek, VP, COO, Electronic Arts Canada; and Kelly Zmak, president, Radical Entertainment.

The winner of the $500,000 grand prize will be announced at the Vancouver International Digital Festival (Sept. 24-26). In addition, a people’s choice award, created in partnership with Montreal-based gamer event Arcadia Festival, will also be announced at VIDFEST. Voting started on July 9, closing Sept. 21, at www.playarcadia.com, which offers game trailers and background on the finalists.

The following is a rundown on the competitors:

Project name: Hobby Shop
Company: Big Blue Bubble
Location: London, ON
Platform: Console

In Hobby Shop, players use the Nintendo Wii controller to construct and then utilize various carpentry creations such as a boxcar racer or tree house. The quality of the final product will depend on the builder’s accurate use of cyber-saws and screwdrivers, and will be tested in challenges such as a boxcar race.

CEO Damir Slogar says Telefilm’s GCVGC generated more publicity and awareness among major international publishers than he expected.

BBB is one of the most established companies that entered the competition, having already developed more than 25 games, including Robotech, Jewel Quest and 24. The company was established in February 2004 and has 42 staff.

Project name: Ambush! Trivia
Company: Cerebral Vortex Games
Location: St. Catharines, ON
Platform: Mobile/Xbox LIVE Arcade

Up to four players compete online in this fast-paced trivia game in which a player, if stumped by a question, can ambush another by sending them the question and gaining points for a correct answer. Players can see how they stack up in the competition by consulting worldwide leaderboards.

According to executive producer Keith Makse, in addition to being innovative, Ambush! Trivia is also highly marketable because it is targeted to the Xbox LIVE Arcade audience, which he says has specifically been demanding a trivia game.

‘There hasn’t been a good trivia game on the market for a while now,’ says Makse. ‘We want to maximize both the profitability as well as the ‘fun factor’ of our game, so we have to make sure that we’re making the game for the audience we’re targeting.’ The company is also expanding to mobile platforms.

CVG was established in October 2006 by Makse, Jason MacIsaac and Michael Sauro, all of whom taught in the video game design and development program at Toronto’s International Academy of Design and Technology.

Project name: Swarm!
Company: Hothead Games
Location: Vancouver
Platform: PC

In this comedy/action game, players train herds of cute little creatures called Swarmites to save the terribly polluted planet of Esalea and bring down Synec Industries Corp., the evil polluters who have nearly destroyed it.

Hothead Games was recently recognized at the Canadian New Media Awards as the most promising new company of the year. The company, founded in March 2006, currently has 27 staff.

In a market dominated by blockbuster games with $20-million price tags, producer Susannah Skerl says this competition has helped Hothead pursue its indie approach to game development.

‘I understand how the market has gotten to the point it has. If you’re making these $20-million blockbusters, you’re only doing safe bets,’ she says. ‘The whole premise behind Hothead was doing it a little bit differently. We want to be like the HBO of games.’

Project name: MindHabits Trainer
Company: MindHabits
Location: Montreal
Platform: Handheld/PC

This suite of 20 mini-games for handheld devices does more than just pass time on the commute to work. The good-for-you games are designed to reduce stress and build self-confidence with just 10 minutes of game-play per day.

MindHabits currently has seven staff working on Trainer. The company focuses on software based on the emerging science of social intelligence. The patent-pending technology, designed to retrain the mind’s responses to social stress, was developed at McGill University with Dr. Mark Baldwin. MindHabits CEO Matthew Mather says this research is part of what makes MindHabits unique.

‘There is some blue-chip research behind this project,’ he says. ‘And being involved in the Telefilm competition really raised the profile of the game.’