The Bicycle Singer
Genotypes' project manager loves to bike and sing, Pokemon and computer games. Meet Jaime Monedero March!
It doesn't happen often, but you've probably seen them: The bicycle singers. Loudly, they're enjoying themselves as if the rest of the world isn't even watching while they whisk through traffic on their two-wheeled pedal crafts. One of them is Jaime Monedero March, the project manager on Genotype - Bolverk Games' most current VR game.
"I try not to sing in the shower out of concern for my roommates," says Jaime Monedero March, as if that somehow explains the confidence it takes to sing in public, even if it is for a fleeting second as he hurries past.
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Genotype launch trailer. The game has since been updated to Quest 3!
Belt it out
The bike is not the only place he sings. He'll sing under his breath while standing in line for the cashier and such, but mostly singing takes place with the IT University choir, Node. They sing Baba Yetu - the Grammy-winning hit song from Civilization 4 - and contemporary pop hits.
"It doesn't require much-specialized skill at the level we sing; it's social, pure enjoyment. Hedonism,” Jaime Monedero March says with a big smile.
"I sing all the time, but on the bike, I'll be belting stuff out!"
Recently, Jaime Monedero March was singing with joy. He directed another videogame by Bolverk Games, Voice Attorney, for Google Nest Hub. Voice Attorney won a Danish Games Award in May 2022 for "Best Emergent Experience," awarding games made with new or "evolving" tech. Voice Attorney is a voice-controlled game on a voice-controlled device. It's an extra big deal to him because he is interested in visual novels and narrative-driven games.
"It's the kind of game I got into game design to make," he says, smiling.
Bolverk Games won a Danish Games Award this year for Voice Attorney, directed by Jaime Monedero March.
Frequent traveler
28-year-old Jaime Monedero March is Spanish. He took his BSc in Computer Engineering in Madrid and followed up with an MSc in Game Design from ITU in Copenhagen.
Having spent two years in Belgium when he was younger, he also did a stint with Erasmus in Sweden, where he discovered his affinity for a Scandinavian lifestyle. Getting to know people when traveling to a new country can be easier said than done. Besides the choir, Jaime Monedero March is part of the international Mensa network. The Danish chapter, he says, is very active and offers opportunities to socialize with like-minded people.
If this guy is cheerfully humming behind you in line at the market, don't worry; he's only singing under his breath.
On top of that, Jaime Monedero March is an organizer of Nordic Game Jam, which takes place in Copenhagen annually. The event attracts many professional and hobbyist game developers from Denmark and other countries such as Portugal and the US. With five days of talks and game jamming, 2023's event hosted five hundred participants. "It's a great event in terms of community-building and networking," he says, "but it also provides a really good space for developers to experiment with new game ideas."
"I mesh better with Scandinavian-type personalities than Mediterranean ones," Jaime Monedero March says. Therefore, he had no problems looking for a job in Denmark and ended up with Bolverk Games. Starting as an intern, he advanced quickly to a full-time employee and was soon in charge of entire projects.
I love it; let me do it
"I love the games I play. 'I want to make games' is a statement from my childhood that I never revised," says Jaime Monedero March, explaining why he decided on a path towards game design. Similarly, he studies Japanese during his time off because he is fascinated with the country and its culture—a fascination that began at age six when he was deep into Pokemon.
"Pokémon games used to come out first in Japan, so I decided I needed to learn Japanese," he says and laughs.
"That's not why I'm actually learning it today, but I hung onto the idea," says Jaime Monedero March, who is generally interested in languages.
Making VR games
In Genotype, Bolverk Games' newly released VR game, the player "prints" creatures that allow for various tasks and solutions to advance in the game.
"I enjoy playing around with the creatures you can print. It's very unique," says Jaime Monedero March, who also likes exploring the environment of the Genotype world and the feral creatures within it.
For the moment, Jaime Monedero March supports the lead designer but works mainly as a project manager and producer, taking care of task management and communications between the team and the partners because making a huge game like this is very much a team effort. And sometimes, so is singing.
"Singing together is better than singing alone. That sounds empty to me," says Jaime Monedero March, who, of course, will sing alone on his bicycle. So, the next time you see a bicycle singer, it could be Jaime Monedero March on his way to... Well, anywhere.
The game
In Genotype, you explore an Antarctic research base overrun by monstrous beasts, wielding high-tech gloves that print living organisms you can use as weapons and survival tools.
- Print creatures and use them as weapons to fight off aggressive beasts.
- Transform into other beings to move through vents and use them as tools to clear environmental obstructions.
- Upgrade your creatures' DNA to enhance their capabilities, and customize your GRAID gloves to increase your survival chances.
- Enjoy high-fidelity graphics that take full advantage of the Meta Quest platforms' graphical potential.
- Immerse yourself in an emotional narrative with fully voice-acted characters.
- Dive into a world with truly alien sound design and atmospheric synth-scapes.
You play as Evely, an intern at an Antarctic weather station. During a routine expedition, Evely falls through the ice into the mysterious Snowdrop Initiative laboratories. Luckily, the facility's last human survivor, William, can guide her to save herself — and the entire planet.
The Studio
Bolverk Games is an award-winning indie studio in Denmark focused on VR games and software. We were among the first to realize how VR gaming could be more than a novelty, and we are still at the forefront of a growing market, always exploring VR's potential.
www.playgenotype.com
www.bolverkgames.com
For quotes and comments, contact press@bolverkgames.com
