Shenanijam 2018
We’re going to be jamming at The Butterscotch Shenanijam! As a game studio we believe it is important to jam out game ideas, hang out with other indie devs, and learn from what we created in the game jam. The excitement is real here! The jam starts June 8th at 9:00 AM to June 11th 2018 at 9:00 AM.
What’s a game jam?
An event where a single person or a small team spend around 24-48 hours (each jam is different) developing a game around a theme, time constraints, and use whatever technology you are comfortable with. The games are small scoped projects that can be completed within the game jam deadline. Participants do not jam the whole duration as it is important to eat healthy and rest. Game Jams are running all the time and we have decided as a studio to join up with the Shenanijam.
Some jams are competitive with prizes however most of the time the prize is experience and getting to know your craft better. For teams like us we get to know each other better, what we as a team are good at, and what skills need improvement. Developing as a team and walking away with new experience is another reason why we love game jams.
Why we be jammin’
During a game jam, sometimes a cool concept prototype is born. More often though, a bad concept happens. Other times, a new system is developed to be used within a game that is already being created. Game jams allow you to test your prototype to see if it sticks or not.
Making games takes tons of hours - years to develop from start to finish. Crafting games take dedication. Code, art, music, sounds, marketing, building a community, and more stuff like privacy polices, server architecture, submitting a finished game to multiple storefronts, and there is a lot more but you get the idea. It’s not an easy task for a triple A studio with thousands of employees.
Spending a weekend jamming out a prototype will give us a glimpse into the planning and time it will take to build in the long run. As a studio, we know we’ll gain more experience to use on our current games that are in production.
Three Key Constraints While we are working on our current games, it’s always an extreme fun time for us to take a break and jam on an idea that has a set of guidelines to follow:
- Theme : Having a theme to work with lets game jammers sharpen and focus their ideas around a topic.
- Time : Time is a great constraint for building a prototype. You don’t need that 15 frame walk cycle yet - polish is possible to work on during a jam but you can get by with a 3-5 frame walk cycle.
- Tech : Many times, a game jam is an oppurtunity to explore a new technology or use a game engine you know and love.
Who can participate in game jams?
Anyone can! If you haven’t done anything along the lines of game development, a game jam is a perfect event to learn. A perfect place to fail. A perfect place to gain experience. A perfect place to jam!
The Shenanijam is being sponsored by YoYoGames who are the creators of GameMaker Studio 2. YoYoGames are providing a temporary license to anyone participating in The Shenanijam. You have all the resources you need to get started! Here are some additional resources if you’re interested: