What is the purpose of game jam?
“Jam” is a reference to musicial jam sessions. Similarly, the goal with a “game jam” is to come together and make a videogame, or a non-digital (analog) game like a board game or card game. Participants rapidly prototype game designs and inject new ideas to help inspire and grow the global game industry.
Can one person make a video game?
Video games are one of the most complex forms of entertainment to create. Normally it takes entire teams of professionals to handle these tasks, and even then, releasing a game is an impressive feat. For one person to handle all of those tasks on their own is a minor miracle.
What are game jams and why do they matter?
Game Jams have given birth to a variety of interesting game ideas that went on to become huge successes, such as Surgeon Simulator, Goat Simulator and Super Hot. The essence of jams is to give developers an opportunity to forget about aesthetics, and polished mechanics.
How often do people go to game jams?
If you were hardcore you could be perpetually jamming every weekend without fail. The big daddy of game jams is Ludum Dare. It is held several times a year, with mini-jams every month. The single largest jam is the Global Game Jam, which is held once a year in January.
Is there a prize for game jamming?
Some sponsored events even have prizes, and many feature voting on games to declare a winner in various categories, but the general consensus is that game jamming is primarily done purely for the fun of it. The real “prize” is your finished game. Getting stumped by a tricky theme is half the fun.
How do I find out about Game Jam events?
There are also hundreds of other game jams you can find out about with a little creative googling, and new ones are being announced every week. You can always find out about upcoming game jams by checking out the game jam calendar at CompoHub or this large listing of game jams. Reddit, Newgrounds, Kongregate, Adobe, and many others hold game jams.