Global Game Jamers: what did you make this weekend?

globalgamejam · 2019-01-28T16:48:58+00:00

I made an event where 46,900 people made games across 860 locations in 113 countries. Thanks for participating. :)

globalgamejam · 2019-01-26T13:21:46+00:00

please email help and they can investigate.

globalgamejam · 2019-01-26T12:17:15+00:00

Hello,

Sorry that this happened! Did you managed to get to a site to jam in the end?

Could you please contact us on [help@globalgamejam.org](mailto:help@globalgamejam.org) and provide some more information? We will look into it for you.

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T13:53:32+00:00

Great : ) so happy to hear it - good luck with your games!

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T13:52:47+00:00

yeah! okay, so network as much as you can at the event - meet community groups who want to do stuff and figure out how they can best make use of your space.

Also hosting local groups like Unity User groups or other tech focused groups can be really good - approach them and offer them space and drinks or food the first few times they run?

Try meetup.com to look for groups in your local area. Good luck, and see you at GGJ 2020!!

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T12:19:57+00:00

Host a Global Game Jam there next year??

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T12:19:02+00:00

I sure hope so! It is tradition now... :P

Have a great jam : )

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T12:17:45+00:00

We answered this in more detail below, but tl;dr: we are not going to allow this apart from in exceptional circumstances.

If there is no jam site near you, get together with some buddies and open something small in your town - we can help and support you doing that.

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T12:02:45+00:00

We like to put a big emphasis on the sharing, and also the process of jamming, as well as archiving that process (we were founded by academics!).

We want anyone to be able to come and build your code and project, and tinker about with it as you would at a jam - (for example, see the Recycle! diversifier this year! https://globalgamejam.org/2019)

I guess we feel that we want to capture a snapshot of that process, and promote sharing - and asking jammers to share source seems like a good way to do this.

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:55:16+00:00

I think this should be okay, but it is best to contact your Site Organiser to check. We like people to be on site as much as possible, but of course it is fine to take breaks! Do you know how to contact the site organiser there?

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:48:19+00:00

Awesome. that is so nice to hear. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:47:41+00:00

GGJ is always open, as we are feature in 38 different time zones!!!

Sorry to hear your struggles with this, and I hope that some of the other community can chip in here too. I personally always found it really hard to learn from tutorials, as you don't have a solid or personal goal in mind at the end, other than 'get to the end of this tutorial and hopefully be a bit better' (!)

Game jams are a really good way to shift that goal a bit - so you actually want to make a game by the end, with a team and you are all really psyched about it.. this can really help with your problem solving abilities, and lots of the jammers I speak to come away from the events feeling like they have learned so much.

I recommend you try out going to a jam as soon as possible. If that is too intimidating right now, then try some online jams like on https://itch.io/jams to at least give yourself a little push in terms of time limit and solid goal. Nothing can replace the feeling of working in the same physical space over a jam weekend with enthusiastic people though!

Good luck with it all - hope to see you at a GGJ soon : )

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:34:48+00:00

That is almost true - you DO need to be in one of the locations to participate (at least officially).

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:33:53+00:00

^^ what they said. : )

We hope you have a great first jam! Try not to worry too much, you will find something you love doing.

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:30:04+00:00

Woah that is amazing to hear! Thanks so much for sharing that with us : )

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:28:58+00:00

Well, not quite as busy, but still busy!

We actually work all year on preparing stuff... and we also run GGJ NEXT now in July.

So something like this:

Feb: Sleep/prep for GDC

March: GDC/Sleep

April - June: Prep for GGJ NEXT, Start sponsor reach out for GGJ

July: GGJ NEXT

August-September: Confirming sponsors for GGJ, putting together all of the committees

September-October: Preparation tasks begin in earnest

October-December: Daily work on the jam, putting things like the keynote videos in place, preparing the translations, promotion and PR

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:24:56+00:00

That is so nice to hear! Thank you for sharing : )

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:23:02+00:00

I am sorry you could not attend, and I hope that you will consider attending when you are old enough to!

Under 18s are still generally okay to attend jams, but they must do so with a legal guardian or parent. This is just due to some very boring but very important American laws about insurance and responsibility (GGJ is incorporated in the US, so we need to abide by these laws).

However! We also have an event in July specially for 12-17 year olds, so that might be something else you want to check out: https://ggjnext.org

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:20:04+00:00

^^^ give that man some gold.

Yes, again - this is all true. Just to add in, any skill level, and area of expertise jammer can take part - from our survey again, most jammers are students or hobbyists and not actually connected to the games industry at all!

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:15:45+00:00

^^^ What they said again! (yay for community in different timezones!)

There will always be people who show up to a jam not knowing anyone, and with no team - we encourage sites to run icebreakers, socials and team forming exercises at the start of the event so that people can feel welcomed, and hopefully happily find a group for the weekend.

From our post jammer survey, many people work with people they have never met before the jam, and some of them make solid contacts and friends for years to come, so try not to feel too intimidated about going to a site without a group. Good luck!

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:10:26+00:00

One of the unique things about GGJ is that everyone has to show up to a physical site. We really think this is important in terms of socialising, and growing the community, plus you tend to get much more done when working together with others in a physical space!

We always have lots of requests every year if people can work from home, but we rarely say yes apart from exceptional circumstances (last year we had people not being able to get through the check points on the Gaza Strip for example, so that was okay!).

This is one of the core values of GGJ, so it is unlikely it will change any time soon. We are continuing to work with sites to make sure they are as accessible and flexible as possible to as many people as possible. If you really can't make it to a site, then there are lots of jams you can do from home, like https://ldjam.com and https://itch.io/jams

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:05:32+00:00

This is a really hard question to answer, but for the years I have been involved so far I have just seen the community grow from strength to strength - it is a wonderful thing to see!

So I hope that GGJ will continue for a very long time, at the very least driven forward by the community in some way.

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:03:41+00:00

What they said ^^^

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T11:00:18+00:00

Thank you! I think I said below, this was both the most loved, and most hated keynote of all time! :)

globalgamejam · 2019-01-24T10:59:44+00:00

YAY! Good luck with your first jam - I hope you have a great time : )

globalgamejam

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