The Global Game Jam® (GGJ ) is the world's largest game jam event (game creation ) taking place around the world at physical locations. Wait, what is a gamejam? One way to think of a game jam is like a musicians jam session, except instead of making a song you are collaborating to make a game. You can also think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. Now that we have a better idea of what a game jam is, let's talk about Global Game Jam!
Global Game Jam is the result of an idea that in today’s densely connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games. It has quickly grown to include more than just video games. People (jammers! ) make board games, card games, table-top games - just about any kind of game.
The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development - be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48-hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity. Beginners and people interested in games are welcome to attend. Our organiser team will assist in team formation, if you don't know what you'd like to do at the jam that's okay, we'll do our best to help!
The structure of the event: everyone gathers on Friday late afternoon, watches a short video keynote with advice from leading game developers, and then a secret theme is announced. All sites worldwide are then challenged to make games based on that same theme, with games completed by Sunday afternoon.
Last year, in January 2018, Global Game Jam had 803 locations in 108 countries create 8,606 games in one weekend! In Galway, the jam-site was run by Pulse College Galway, with 37 jammers and 9 games made in one weekend. As Pulse college closed their Galway campus in last year, this year the local game development community has risen up to keep this tradition alive and The PorterShed have kindly offered to host a Galway location for GGJ2019!
The jam is known for helping foster new friendships, increase confidence and opportunities within the community. The jam is always an intellectual challenge. People are invited to explore new technology tools, trying on new roles in development and testing their skills to do something that requires them to design, develop, create, test and make a new game in the 48-hour duration. The GGJ stimulates collaboration and is not a competition.
Global Game Jam 2019 is taking place January 25th-26th-27th in Galway at the PorterShed, Eyre Square, Galway. Admission is free, please register your place at https://bit.ly/GlobalGameJamGalway and agree to our Code of Conduct. The event is for over 18's only. Children are not permitted unless accompanied by their legal guardian at all times. See https://galwaygamejam.com for more details.
If you have any questions, you can contact Galway Game Jam on facebook, join our Discord server (link on our website ) or email [email protected].
