As every year, we’re not behind the Global Game Jam experience! Yes, maybe Covid-19 has put us between four walls, but what we did as Jams, we got together again! Global Game Jam, which began on the evening January 29th and lasted for two full days but was also fun, ultimately ended.
Ype, what is this Game Jam we’re talking about?
Game Jams, contrary to popular belief, are not a competitive activity between individuals. On the contrary, Game Jams are an activity in which individuals stand shoulder to shoulder and compete against time. Participants strive to complete their projects while trying to control their time during this limited time.
The past year almost 50,000 participants from 118 countries participated in this event and 9601 games from 934 locations. Game Jams are the ideal activity for people who want to step into the industry with their random and tight atmosphere to connect and have a short but effective game development experience.
193 games were produced by 800 people from 11 different locations in Turkey this year As game jams continue their journey of accelerated game development, we can see the sprouting of a sense of individual solidarity among teammates with the presence of these games. Among these games, 43 were made with the efforts of 95 students who participated through Bahçeşehir University BUG event. Participants went on the words loss and invention taken as the themes of the event and came up with creative and game-changing ideas. Like many Game Jams, Global Game Jam continued for 48 hours nonstop.
Industry giants such as
Microsoft and Sony contributed to the event, while companies such as Epic Games, Unity Technologies and Warner Bros New York also sponsored the event. Apart from all these developments, they came together as the students of the Game Journalism course of our Ertuğrul Bayonet teacher, who is our author and also teaches within BUG, and they prepared a huge content video for you by following both this bulletin and the events that took place at the event. So, would you like to see the event a little bit through the eyes of BUG students?
I’ll leave it up to them🙂
A Game Jam with student experiences
Since we talk about what game jam is and what it is not, we leave a little bit of the word to our students and listen firsthand to their experiences at the event from the mouth of Hazan Çiviçaka, a student in the Department of Dijtal Game Design at Bahçeşehir University… My teammate Talya and I have participated in many Game Jams at Bahçeşehir University before. This time, we decided to join GGJ21 together and make a play. After learning the theme, we started thinking briefly about the ideas and immediately started to implement our plans. Game Jam’s goal is to create a plan in a limited time and put it out there and challenge ourselves. Such events create a beautiful opportunity for participants to explore their own boundaries. Usually the most challenging part is implementing the plans, because we have to work hard in limited time; Naturally, the brains begin to melt after a certain time. But that’s the fun of it
Why the brain melts, what we suggest to you is to start navigating how the other teams are doing. Of course, since we are in the process of a pandemic, you can do this by joining other channels through discord, but I can assure you that it is much more enjoyable in a physical environment. Another great thing about Game Jam is that maybe you can meet people you wouldn’t have an opportunity to meet in normal time#8230;
Ideas are ready, plans are nearing completion, or your game is not up to date; It’s no problem at all! Another fun part of Game Jam is the presentation part! It’s fun to see what other teams are doing, to be inspired by their ideas, to tell you the truth. Of course, it’s the sweet thrill of waiting to see how your own work will get reactions from others
The Last Stage: Presentations!
Talya and I were the first team to make a presentation with our friends, and we were extremely excited. Even though the game we’ve been working on and loving for two days has been great for us, an outside eye is always much more effective and has an angle that we can’t see. As I also said, seeing what kind of idea participants come up with from the presented theme and taking a share of them is also a very effective experience for anyone interested in Digital Game Design
I watched and reviewed all the games one by one. The teams were usually groups of 3-4 people, and the resulting games were mostly 3D – Adventure games. I also noticed a lot of interest in the Unity game engine. Even though the majority were groups of 3-4 people, there were people who went solo and did really well. In fact, my favorite game is a one-man game.
Physical or Online ?
Even though the pandemic process has forced us all to shut down and pay attention to our social distance, it seems that it has not stopped our love of Game Jam! Since I participated in physicality and online under the roof of BUG, I would like to mention different things. Of course, I’m sure we all prefer to join the physical Jams. Nothing can replace the excitement of announcing the theme at the beginning of the event, working in the same environment as the other participants during the given time, pleasant conversations that last for minutes when we go out to breathe, and watching who is doing what together in presentations at the end of the event. But isn’t there something good about this online event? I can tell you, there’s nothing wrong with it! In my opinion, Game Jams are events that can gather us under one roof and enable us to mingle, even if we are very separate people. The biggest benefit of being online is that we had the opportunity to meet not only those who attended from Istanbul, but also people from different cities at the same event. I hope that the pandemic will end as soon as possible and we will have physical Game Jams, but I can tell you that the Game Jams that will be online by then will be just as enjoyable.
We’re Advice to Enthusiasts!
Since we have joined more than one Jam, we would like to give you a few recommendations with the lessons we have learned from our experiences. First of all, our first advice to anyone who reads this article will definitely be to join every Jam you can join if the circumstances allow it. Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare, jams of various organizations; It doesn’t matter! Because Game Jams allow us to think practically in limited time and explore our own borders. The lessons we learn from such events are valuable enough to give us an opportunity in the future. You also don’t have to form and enter a team; In fact, we all recommend working with people you don’t know after the theme is announced in Game Jams. Working with different people under different conditions is a good opportunity for you to prepare yourself for business life. The theme’s been announced, the teams are done. Now it’s time to come up with ideas and plan… Our advice to you for this process is to dream as much as you can, but plan as much as you can. Keep in mind that you have limited time, otherwise you may not even have time for what you can do…
As much as we say you can challenge yourself at this event, please don’t forget to have fun. Feel free to meet people; don’t forget to help them as much as you can, if you have a problem, don’t forget to ask for help. I hope our article enlightened you about Global Game Jam and inflamed your desire to join Game Jams. We would love to have the opportunity to meet you at the jams ahead!
Recited: Hazan Çivichakan / Ömer Meric Sela
