{{short description|Video game production contest limited in time}} [[File:Game jammers 5.jpg|thumb|Participants in Free Knowledge Game Jam 2015]] A '''game jam''' is an event where participants try to make a [[video game]] from scratch.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Parkin |first=Simon |date=2016-03-14 |title=Train Jam: Strangers on a Train, Creating Video Games |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/arts/video-games/train-jam-strangers-on-a-train-creating-video-games.html |access-date=2022-06-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours. Participants are generally programmers, game designers, artists, writers, sound designers and others in game development-related fields.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Korotaev|first=Stas |date=2015-11-23 |title=Why Should You Participate in Game Jams |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/why-should-you-participate-in-game-jams |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=Game Developer |language=en}}</ref> While many game jams are run purely as a game-making exercise, some game jams are contests that offer prizes. Some submissions were eventually released as fully-developed games.
Traditionally, game jams focus on video games;<ref name="Localizing Game Jam">Shin, Kaneko, Matsui, Mikami, Nagaku, Nakabayashi, Ono, Yamane, and lovesplayingslender.[https://www.academia.edu/1141660/Localizing_Global_Game_Jam_Designing_Game_Development_for_Collaborative_Learning_in_the_Social_Context Localizing Global Game Jam]. Retrieved February 21, 2013.</ref> however, [[board game]]s have also been the subject of game jams.<ref name="Global Game Jam">{{Cite web |title=What is a game jam? |url=https://globalgamejam.org/what-game-jam |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=[[Global Game Jam]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240821100241/https://globalgamejam.org/what-game-jam |archive-date=2024-08-21}}</ref>
==History== The term ''game jam'' is a [[Compound (linguistics)|composition]] of the words [[game]] and [[jam session]]. A jam session describes the musical act of producing music with little to no prior preparation in an effort to develop new material or simply to practice. In the same way, game jams are events in which game developers [[prototype]] experimental ideas into playable games.<ref name="Game Jam Central">Jagnow, Rob. [http://www.gamejamcentral.com/ Game Jam Central], Retrieved February 4, 2013.</ref>
Prior to game jams, there were rapid creation challenge events such as the [[Interactive Fiction Competition]] starting in 1995 and a writing challenge NaNoWriMo from 1999.<ref name="Lai2021">{{Cite book |last1=Lai |first1=Gorm |last2=Kultima |first2=Annakaisa |last3=Khosmood |first3=Foaad |last4=Pirker |first4=Johanna |last5=Fowler |first5=Allan |last6=Vecchi |first6=Ilaria |last7=Latham |first7=William |last8=Fol Leymarie |first8=Frederic |chapter=Two Decades of Game Jams |date=2021-08-02 |title=Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3472688.3472689 |series=ICGJ '21 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1145/3472688.3472689 |isbn=978-1-4503-8417-9|url=https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/26837/7/main.pdf }}</ref>
The earliest known game jam is SpeedHack, which began in 1999 and ran until 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SpeedHack |url=http://speedhack.allegro.cc/ |access-date=2024-12-09}}</ref> SizeHack 2000<ref>{{Cite web |title=SizeHack |url=https://www.oocities.org/trentgamblin/sizehack/index.html |access-date=2024-12-09}}</ref> is another early jam.{{Primary source inline|plural=yes|date=December 2024|reason=Literature does not seem to recognize these.}}
In March 2002,<ref name=":0" /> [[video game developer]]s [[Chris Hecker]] and Sean Barrett, interested in the capability of modern hardware in [[Rendering (computer graphics)|rendering]] a large number of [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprites]], worked with [[Doug Church]], [[Jonathan Blow]], and [[Casey Muratori]] in developing a specialized [[game engine]] capable of rendering a massive number of sprites. Hecker and Barrett invited a small group of video game developers to meet in Hecker's office in [[Oakland, California]] for the purpose of creating innovative video games using this newly built engine. Hecker and Barrett named this gathering the [[Indie Game Jam|0th Indie Game Jam]], a game design and programming event "designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry".<ref name="0th Indie Game Jam">Hecker, Chris. [http://www.indiegamejam.com/igj0/ 0th Indie Game Jam]. Retrieved February 5, 2013.</ref><ref name="gamastrua brief history">{{cite web | url = https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/a-brief-history-of-game-jams | title = A Brief History of Game Jams | first = Sande | last = Chen | date = August 9, 2017 | access-date = August 11, 2017 | work = [[Gamasutra]] }}</ref> This is the first documented use of the ''game jam'' name.<ref name="Lai2021" /> [[Ludum Dare]] (since April 2002), and [[LT Game Jam]] (since August 2002) are other game jams that originate in this period. These 2002 game jams focused on the technology and the programmer. Many participants joined by themselves, and the Indie Game Jam and LT Game Jam required that the programmer use a custom game engine. Ludum Dare initially described itself a "competition" and now offers jams and competitions as distinguished events.<ref name="Lai2021" />
The [[Nordic Game Jam]] was first held in January 2006 and introduced the model with group forming and theme introduction prior to the jamming period. This would later be adopted and popularized by the [[Global Game Jam]] (since 2009), orienting game jams towards team collaboration. Game jams also became distributed or organized for a cause, examples being the Health Games Challenge (2010) and the Fukushima Game Jam (2012), respectively. Beginning with the [[Train Jam]] (2013), game jams joined the [[experience economy]].<ref name="Lai2021" /> At least 1290 game jams were held on [[itch.io]] by 2013.<ref name="Lai2021" />
==Format==
===Location=== [[File:Gamejam2014jkl 035.jpg|thumb|A finished game being presented at [[Global Game Jam]] 2014, Jyväskylä, Finland]] Some game jams are local events, taking place in universities, conference halls, or other private spaces.<ref name="TOJam">[http://www.tojam.ca/details/location.asp TOJam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204347/http://www.tojam.ca/details/location.asp |date=2016-03-03 }}. Retrieved February 6, 2013.</ref> The [[Global Game Jam]] takes place at the end of January of every year, with over 800 locations in 100+ countries around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://globalgamejam.org/faq|title=Global Game Jam FAQ|access-date=July 21, 2018|author=Khosmood, Foaad|date=13 September 2013|publisher=globalgamejam.org}}</ref> The [[Ludum Dare]] is an example of a virtual game jam, an event where participants largely remain at home, but present their efforts at the conclusion of the jam.<ref name="gamastrua brief history"/>
===Time constraint=== Game jams typically have restrictive time limits, ranging from a few hours to several days. This time constraint is meant to simulate the pressure of a deadline and to encourage creativity among ideas produced by game jam teams.<ref name="Global Game Jam" /><ref name="Game Jam Central" />
===Theme=== A game jam may be centered on a theme, which all games developed within the jam must adhere to. The theme is usually announced shortly before the event begins, in order to discourage participants from planning for the event beforehand and from using previously developed material.<ref name="Game Jam Central" /> In addition, themes are meant to place restrictions on developers, which encourages creativity.<ref name="STL Game Jam">[http://www.stlgamejam.com/what%E2%80%99s-a-game-jam/ STL Game Jam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033357/http://www.stlgamejam.com/what%E2%80%99s-a-game-jam/ |date=2016-03-04 }}. Retrieved February 18, 2013.</ref>
[[Ludum Dare]] 24, a competitive game jam event, featured the theme of "Evolution". As stated by the Ludum Dare rules, all participants in the competition were recommended to create a game based on this theme. However, the rules also stated that participants were not required to use the theme, which allowed for games to be made outside of the theme.<ref>[http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-24/?action=preview Ludum Dare 24 - Evolution]. Retrieved May 1, 2019.</ref><ref>[http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/rules/ Ludum Dare Rules and Guide]. Retrieved May 1, 2019.</ref>
===Technology=== The type of technology can vary depending on the type of game being developed, and among the different disciplines involved.
In a video game jam, teams are generally made up of at least a programmer and an artist.<ref name="Game Jam Central" /> A programmer build using game development tools. It should allow rapid prototyping to meet the time constraint. An artist may use creative tools to produce the game assets, or they might use those that come with tools such as [[Scratch (programming language)|Scratch]] and [[Kodu Game Lab]]. Social media such as [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], and [[GitHub]] are available for participants. These are inappropriate in the educational context of young students, where moderated game sharing functionality on websites of Scratch and Kodu may be used instead.<ref name="Fowler2016">{{Cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=Allan |last2=Pirker |first2=Johanna |last3=Pollock |first3=Ian |last4=de Paula |first4=Bruno Campagnola |last5=Echeveste |first5=Maria Emilia |last6=Gómez |first6=Marcos J. |chapter=Understanding the benefits of game jams: Exploring the potential for engaging young learners in STEM |date=2016-07-09 |title=Proceedings of the 2016 ITiCSE Working Group Reports |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3024906.3024913 |series=ITiCSE '16 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=119–135 |doi=10.1145/3024906.3024913 |isbn=978-1-4503-4882-9}}</ref>
Non-digital game jams also exist. [[Board game]]s and [[card game]]s have also been the subject of game jams.<ref name="Global Game Jam"/> At a game jam that was part of [[Stanford University]]’s 2013 Entrepreneurship Week, a team made a game that uses physical objects.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roethel |first=Kathryn |date=2013-03-03 |title=At GameJam, teams compete to design games in one day |url=https://archive.peninsulapress.com/2013/03/03/at-gamejam-teams-compete-to-design-games-in-one-day/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=Peninsula Press |language=en-US}}</ref> Analogue game jams were tested at a few universities in the [[United Kingdom]] with positive reviews by the students and the staff alike.<ref name="MacLeod-Iredale2024">{{Cite book |last=MacLeod-Iredale |first=Joe |chapter=A Programme of Analogue Game Jams with Intense Cycles of Peer Feedback and Iteration |date=2024-12-04 |title=Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons and Game Creation Events |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3697789.3697791 |series=ICGJ '24 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=53–56 |doi=10.1145/3697789.3697791 |isbn=979-8-4007-1779-6}}</ref>
==Purpose== Game jams are held for a variety of purposes. Lai et al. (2021) present the following taxonomy and examples:<ref name="Lai2021" />
* Challenge & technology – This aspect is similar to [[hackathon]]s. Some definitions exclude competition-focused events from game jam, such as Grace (2016) and Ludum Dare, arguing that game jams emphasize the process over the product. However, it is not clear where the line should be drawn.<ref name="Lai2021" /> * Commercial game jams – In [[Amnesia Fortnight]], teams build ideas with most votes by people. People vote and receive the prototype for a fee, making the event an example of commercial game jam. Game jams have also been held to promote products and companies.<ref name="Lai2021" /> * [[Experience economy]] – Game jams were held on train, sea, and air travels, and at locations such as cabins without ample water and electricity infrastructures and castles. These provide experiences unique to normal game development.<ref name="Lai2021" /> * Games industry commentary – Certain events in the industry have spawned game jams, such as removal of ''[[Flappy Bird]]'' leading to Flappy Jam.<ref name="Lai2021" /> * Meta – Some game jams comedically use the elements of game jams itself, such as the 0h Game Jam held during the last hour of [[Summer time in Europe|European summer time]], making the start and end times look the same.<ref name="Lai2021" /> * Part of other events – Some game jams were part of larger academic and industry meetings, including those of adjacent subjects such as at [[Ars Electronica]].<ref name="Lai2021" /> * Purposeful game jams – Various organizations have held game jams as part of their movement, including climate, diversity, and cultural activism, and to raise attention to disasters and news.<ref name="Lai2021" /> * Regional affiliation * Teaching & learning – Some game jams carry [[STEM]] themes to introduce them to under-represented groups. A survey also noted game jams as a way to teach game development career and social skills.<ref name="Lai2021" />
In classroom, game jams promote team work, creativity, planning, [[problem solving]], and diversity. Educators may further mix social exercises such as "circle flap", "social ball", and "name gesture". Together with physical prototyping, they engage team communication.<ref name="Fowler2016" />
Meanwhile, the participants joined game jams to learn skills, network with others, and have fun. A study found that participants improved their social skills after a game jam. The time dedication needed was often a reason for not attending a game jam for university students.<ref name="Lai2021" /> Long-term programs that span over several weeks does not work well with their schedules.<ref name="MacLeod-Iredale2024" />
==Games== {{See also|Category:Game jam video games}}
Many games started as projects for game jams. For example, ''[[Surgeon Simulator 2013]]'' was a submission for the 2013 [[Global Game Jam]]. From heartbeats as the event's theme, the developers conceptualized a [[heart transplant]] game with "quite challenging" physics and tools. The game quickly became popular following the release to the game jam.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keith Stuart |date=2013-06-13 |title=Surgeon Simulator 2013: how a quick 'game jam' entrant became a global hit - video |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/video/2013/jun/13/surgeon-simulator-2013-video |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The popularity lead to a full version release on [[Steam (service)|Steam]]. By April 2014, the game had more than 2.3 million [[Let's Play]] videos totaling more than 200 million views on [[YouTube]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dredge |first=Stuart |date=2014-04-24 |title=Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Studios: 'We're really proud to be indie' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/24/surgeon-simulator-bossa-studios-indie-pewdiepie |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> ''[[Baba Is You]]'', which was made for the 2017 [[Nordic Game Jam]], is another successful game with a game jam origin.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dealessandri |first=Marie |date=2019-08-21 |title=When We Made… Baba is You |url=https://mcvuk.com/development-news/when-we-made-baba-is-you/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=MCV |language=en |issn=1469-4832}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Amnesia Fortnight]] * [[BarCamp]] * [[Competitive programming]] * [[Demoparty]] * [[GameMaker]] * [[Game Off]] * [[Global Game Jam]] * [[Hackathon]] * [[Indie Game Jam]] * [[Js13kGames]] * [[Ludum Dare]] * [[Nordic Game Jam]] * [[TOJam]] * [[Train Jam]]
==References== * {{cite book | url = http://press.etc.cmu.edu/content/game-jam-guide | first = Sara | last = Cornish | first2 = Matthew | last2 = Farber | first3 = Alex | last3 = Fleming | first4 = Kevin | last4 = Miklasz | title = The Game Jam Guide | publisher = [[Carnegie Mellon University]] ETC Press | year = 2017 | access-date = 2017-08-11 | archive-date = 2017-08-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170825132343/http://press.etc.cmu.edu/content/game-jam-guide | url-status = dead }} {{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:Game jams| ]]