Dean from the Rare Events Team writes…
An event like Comic Relief never goes unnoticed at a place like Rare. With it being that time of year again, it seemed appropriate to give everyone a few minutes away from developing awesome games by doing something special. Oh, and to raise some money for a good cause in the process.
After much deliberation by Rare’s own Events Team, it was decided that putting a smile on everyone’s faces required something that crossed all beliefs, social boundaries, races and ages. There was only one thing that fit the bill… appealing to employees’ stomachs in the form of sugary, E-numbery, cakey goodness.
Of course, the Events Team weren’t about to go all Nigella on their own, so the challenge was set for the entire studio to put on aprons, raid the baking aisles at the supermarket and create their own treats to share with cake-hungry colleagues. A small prize and bragging rights would go to the eventual creator of the tastiest effort, judged by in-house chef extraordinaire David.
So at 10:30am on Red Nose Day, Rare’s central hub was a sight for sweet eyes as cakes in abundance filled the room. Cardamom cupcakes, scones (or scones) with jam and cream, chocolate, red velvet, lemon drizzle, cakes shaped like our own Banjo (fittingly, made by Banjo’s creator) and even unicorn ‘leavings’ were there to entice our talented team. Within minutes the entire studio was bouncing off the walls on a sugar high with little but crumbs and an almighty heap of washing-up remaining.
Of course there could only be one winner, and Rare’s head chef gave his thumbs up to Marguerite, who showed us all how a lemon drizzle cake should be made. The democratic Rare staff vote later that day went to Helen, who produced the very tasty unicorn droppings. Big well done guys!
Just as everyone thought the festivities had ended, we went and staged a live comedy show in the central hub. Due to disastrous auditions by some of our own staff (including bloody terrible knock knock jokes and the infamous “a lion and a hamster walk into a bar” routine), Rare decided to bring in someone who was actually funny. In came Gary Delaney, who rocked the mic with his occasionally risqué witticisms. Trust us, the Rare hub had never heard some of these words before…
The day was capped off with Rare’s first Red Nose Day Grabathon. Through cunning and stealth, whoever managed to acquire the greatest number of red noses scattered around the building (including creative theft from fellow staff) was awarded the crown. Our resident designer Gavin had no problems in sweeping aside the rest with a haul of 40 of the little blighters. Ninja!
Much fun was had by all, and the best part was that donations for all the cakeage totalled an awesome £1306.88. As a studio we are happy to know that someone out there less privileged can now also raise a big smile.
