Becoming a Better Developer by Taking Part in Game Jams

I mentioned it in my last article about Electron, more than a year ago I took part in my first Game Jam, today I'll explain what it is and why you should take part !

What is a Game Jam ?

A "Jam" was originally a musical event in which several Jazz artists would gather to improvise, play together without preparation, without prior arrangement.

Today the term is used for all styles of music, but not only that, we also talk about Game Jams for events that bring together numerous artists and game designers to "improvise" a game concept, often around a defined theme and over a fairly short period (usually a weekend).

Some are online, some are in person, and some are online but relayed locally through physical gatherings.

I must admit that I have a strong preference for physical events, the excitement around the event makes the love of video games an almost palpable component of the atmosphere !

Why is it useful for developers ?

All backgrounds are welcome at a game jam : musician, developer, illustrator, game designer, creative... The more complementary the skills and experience, the more incredible the result can be, and this regardless of the age, gender or origin of the participants, that's what makes Game Jams so beautiful !

As a developer, I find that it's one of the most formative experiences because during a weekend, the goal is to push yourself beyond your own limits and skills in order to manage to release a video game in just 48 hours !

Whether for web developers, software developers or even for embedded systems, the only limit you'll have is your imagination and your motivation, but believe me, you can build great things in such a short amount of time !

Some interesting game jams

There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of game jams around the world, but I decided to select 4 that I find particularly interesting, either in terms of organization, or in terms of concept.

Global Game Jam

Website : https://globalgamejam.org

The GGJ, launched in 2009 is one of the best known because it is relayed in physical form at 860 gatherings around the world, spread across more than 110 countries.

Every year a theme that all participants must follow is unveiled, but there is also a list of "achievements" (optional secondary themes) to boost the creativity of those who like to set constraints for themselves.

There is no prescribed format, medium or style of game, you do as you see fit, let yourself be carried by your inspiration and your game could appear in the global list of games developed during the Global Game Jam !

Some commercial successes were even born during the GGJ, such as the game : A Normal Lost Phone for example.

Ludum Dare

Website : https://ldjam.com

Born on a forum in 2002, the Ludum Dare (also called LDJAM) has gained increasing popularity over time, notably thanks to the participation of some big names in video games (such as Markus Person, aka Notch, the creator of Minecraft).

The distinctive feature of the Ludum Dare is that its organization takes place mainly online, and gatherings of participants are more often based on personal initiatives rather than associative ones, as is the case for other jams.

And even though the goal of a game jam is not to put the games produced into competition, getting feedback from the community can sometimes make the creators want to continue developing their game after the event ends.

That's why you can find directly on the site the ranking of the games for each edition with several criteria (and therefore rankings) such as : Overall (global), Fun, Innovation, Theme, Graphics, etc...

Trijam

Website : https://trijam.itch.io/

For some people, devoting an entire weekend to creating a video game is too big an investment, for others, it seems too easy. These are some of the reasons that led the studio "Rocknight Studios" to launch a game jam lasting... 3 hours !

As the site explains, the goal is to : "Build something playable (and fun) in just 3 hours" and personally I love this concept where you have to be even more creative in order to make very strategic use of your resources.

If the challenge seems impossible to you, I invite you to watch the summary video of Doc Geraud's participation, a game designer (and video creator) whom I already mentioned in my article "A fun way to broaden your knowledge outside of web development".

Js13kGames

Website : http://js13kgames.com/

Finally, here is a jam concept specially designed for web developers who love constraints : this time the jam takes place over a full month, with the goal of developing a game in HTML5 and Javascript but this time respecting a maximum size for the game's files of... 13 kilobytes.

Having taken part in a similar challenge a few years ago, I can assure you that it's both possible, complex, but also extremely satisfying when you manage to produce something with such minimalistic constraints !

In a world where computing and storage resources are becoming more and more excessive, it's sometimes good to relearn how to think about the web in a more frugal way !