Virgin Media's competition to find the 'next Angry Birds' has delivered a winner, with Surface Tension Studios picking up £10,000 to develop puzzler Superfluid into a full working game in 100 days.

Made up of students from Essex University, Surface Tension Studios will now head to the University of Abertay in Dundee to develop their concept before unveiling the game at the Eurogamer Expo 2012.

Tension on top

"What we really liked about Surface Tension Studios was their take on a puzzle game," said Virgin Media's Luke Southern.

"They have designed an interesting use of controls and physics to create an innovative game with broad appeal. To top it off, their strong visual style, and solid team dynamic means that they are well placed to tackle the intense 100 day project.

"Britain is a leading light in games development, and we are proud and excited to be supporting emerging talent through this competition."
Superfluid beat out five other finalists to win the competition, with the judging panel including Douglas Hare from Outplay Entertainment, David Hamilton from Digital Goldfish, Craig Lawson from Ubisoft Reflections and Tom Champion from Eurogamer.

100 day dealine

The next 100 days will see Surface Tension Studios call on the support of both said judges and other industry mentors, including Craig Lawson from Ubisoft and Michael Nimmo from Codemasters.

A dedicated blog will detail the development process to all, while readers will also be encouraged to put forward their own views on the game – specifically about the direction of its development - via Facebook and Twitter.

"We're all just completing our third year at university and we came together as a team because of our passion for video games," said Surface Tension Studios team leader David Pearson.

"We've got a wide range of skills within the team and we can't wait to put these into practice to develop this game. We're thrilled to be taking part in this project and beyond this we're all planning on working in the games industry in the future, so this is a fantastic opportunity for us all."