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Are You Game for the “Global Game Jam”?

Global Game Jam

Image courtesy : bit.ly/2jADhtN

This weekend, there’s a buzz in the game development community. It is about creating a game in just 48 hours! Can you do it? The development includes programming, artistic presentations, narrations and iterative design. Participants from all kinds of background are invited to prove themselves on a global platform. The Global Game Jam is an annual event organized by Global Game Jam, Inc. It is an international non-profit organization with a mission to foster game design and game education.

The beauty of this Jam is that it is not a competition. A Secret theme is revealed on a Friday evening and the challenge is to create a game based on the common theme and constraints. The game has to be submitted by Sunday afternoon. People from locations across the globe get grouped into teams and take up this challenge. Participants get to push their limits, take up new roles and explore new technologies.

Global game jam

The event started on 20th Jan at 5 pm and will go on till 22nd Jan 2017. ANNND the theme for 2017 is “Waves”.

The interested participants register on local sites that are spread across 90 countries. They have to be present on-site during the challenge. The facility to participate from home is not available because it cannot be as value adding as the on-site experience.

The teams go through the entire game development cycle starting from the idea generation. Then comes the technology and art design, followed by the actual development and programming. It is certainly not as simple as it sounds, various elements like audio, character design, modelling, animation, texturing, layout design, graphics, game play, game levels and mechanics, coding, testing etc… have to be put in place before the final presentation. It a great platform for game developers to learn, get noticed, collaborate, build relationships and gain confidence.

When we say game, it doesn’t have to be a video-game always. Participants can also create board games or card games! So you don’t have to know coding for trying your hands on this Jam. There is no experience mandatory for participation, everyone is welcome!

GGJ has been held since 2008. It has been managed by GGJ, Inc. since 2013. Have a look at the well thought out themes and the increasing participation for the past 7 years.

Year Theme Sites Countries Participants Games
2009 As long as we have each other, we will never run out of problems 53 23 1650 370
2010 Deception 138 39 4300 900
2011 Extinction 169 44 6500 1500+
2012 An image of Ouroboros 242 47 10684 2209
2013 The Sound of a Heartbeat 319 63 16705 3248
2014 We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are 488 72 23189 4292
2015 What do we do now? 518 78 28800 5438
2016 Ritua 632 93 36164 6866

Global Game Jam is a unique opportunity for aspiring as well as established game developers to demonstrate collaboration, innovation and creativity. The theme “Waves” is very versatile, let’s see what variety of games the talented participants bring forth this year. The event promotes teamwork and learning. So, without a doubt everyone would be a winner!