This document provides an overview of game jams, including what they are, how they work, common jam themes, and tips for participating. Game jams allow developers to create game prototypes within a limited time period, typically 48 hours. They involve teams working together to brainstorm ideas, implement a game based on an announced theme, and finish a playable build by the deadline. The document outlines the typical phases of jamming: team building, brainstorming, implementation, and finishing touches. It also provides guidance for different roles like developers, artists, designers, and coordinators.

1. LUCA GALLI
@Leyart86
PLAYER ONE
Videogame Design for all
A Brief Game Jam
Survival Guide

2. WHAT IS A GAME JAM?

7. • It is an event that allows a team of developers to
realize prototypes of games in a limited time span.
• It involves game designers, artists, musicians,
programmers...
• Dozens of Jams are organized each year
• Ludum Dare
• One Game a Month
• 7DFPS
• Experimental Game Play
• Paper Jam Game Jam!
WHAT IS A GAME JAM?

8. • At the beginning of the Jam, a theme is announced (a
word, an image, a concept)
• The teams are then given limited time to develop an
original game able to interpret at best the theme of the jam
• For instance:
 Minimalism
 Small world
 Construction
 You Get Only
One
 Respawn
HOW DOES IT WORK?

9. THE GLOBAL GAME JAM
» The Global Game Jam 2015 was a 48 hour Game Jam during 23-25 January 2015
• 28800 Participants
• 97% surveyed would participate again
• 5438 games
» 518 locations
• 25 of which streamed the event LIVE via ustream.tv
» 78 countries
• 14 time zones

10. 2009
«As long as we have each other,
we will never run out of problems»
2010
Deception
2011
Extinction

11. 2012

12. 2013
«The sound of a Heartbeat»
2014
"We don't see things as they are,
we see them as we are"
2015
"What do we do now?"

13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecb6VupzgA4

14. of Jamming
1. Team Building
2. Brainstorming Setup
3. Implementation
4. Finishing Touches
THE 5 PHASES OF JAMMING

15. You will need
– Developers
– Audio & graphics artists*
– Game/level designers
– Coordinator
*Rare unicorns
TEAM BUILDING
The last two roles can be
fullfilled by anyone

16. Developers
– Coding dark arts
– Need to split up tasks among them
• Graphics, Controls, Physics, UI, ...
– The less code overlap, the
better!
– Need to teach/instruct artists
on what formats they need
– Need to define how game/
level designer creates content
TEAM BUILDING

17. Graphics & Audio Artists
– Wizards of the senses
– Need to split up tasks
among them
• UI, background, characters,
effects, ...
– Need to agree on an art
style
– May need to create
placeholder art early on
TEAM BUILDING

18. Game/Level Designer
– Does the content bits
– Needs to define
mechanics
– Needs to define
progression
the game
the game
– Needs to
– Needs to
feedback
create "levels"
playtest and give
to devs and artists
TEAM BUILDING

19. Coordinator
• Makes sure everyone knows
what to do
• Keeps track of things to be
done
• Keeps track of dependencies
between team members
• Keep track of Time
• Keeps track of human needs
(food, sleep)
TEAM BUILDING

20. – If you have no developers, look into Construct 2
– If you have no artists, use preexisting art or
programmer art
– If you have no game designer, everybody
becomes a game designer
– If you have no coordinator, pick one person
– If you are alone, you get to do all the things :P
TEAM BUILDING

21. BRAINSTORMING
• Get a high level understading of your
game:
 Genre
 Mechanics
 Setting & Story
 Art Style
• Take time limits into account
FPS, MMORPG, RTS are probably not
your best bets
• Think outside the box!

22. TO-DO LIST
1. Gather ideas from everyone
2. Pick most promising ones via note
3. Define genre & game mechanics
• Use pen & paper!
4. Define setting & story
5. Define art style
• Let artsists draw quick mockups
Don‘t
Don‘t
time
be afraid to throw things away
be afraid to iterate, take your
BRAINSTORMING

23. Technology AestheticsMechanics Story
A. Shooting
B. Jumping
C. Turn based
D. Hiding
E. Building
F. Collecting
G. Crafting
H. Matching
I. Climbing
1. Unity
2. Flash
3. Oculus Rift
4. Wii controller
5. Unreal
6. Photoshop
7. Mouse and
Keyboard
8. Leap Motion
9. Board game
a) Anime
b) Low poly
c) Cell shaded
d) Realistic
e) 8 bit
f) Isometric
g) Noir
h) Art Nouveau
i) Surreal
j) Horror
k) Steampunk
l) Cyberpunk
m) Japanese
Woodblock
i. Rescue the
princess
ii. Amnesia
iii. Rise to power
iv. Escape
v. Survival
vi. You are the villain!
vii. Hero’s Journey
viii. Rescuing yourself
ix. Personal
Development
x. Narrative gratia
narrative
xi. Satire
xii. American Fat Fast
Food eater

24. GAME MECHANICS
Pattern Recognition
Wikipedia stands to knowledge as
BoardGameGeek stands to games.
Betting/Wagering
Line-Drawing
Tile-Placement
Pattern Building
Memory
Hand Management
Action Programming
Auction/Bidding
Partnership
Possible, meaningful game mechanics:
Take Inspiration!

25. Goals
• Get a detailed understanding of your game
 What will the developers have to do?
 What will the artists have to do?
 What the game designers have to do?
• Define interfaces between all team members
 How do developers work with each other?
 How do artists get their art into the game?
 How do game designers create game content?
• Define tasks and their order for every team member!
 The coordinator is responsible for keeping track of tasks
SETUP

26. SETUP
TO-DO LIST
1. Developers agree on platform & tools
to use
2. Artists agree on artstyle
3. Developers and artists agree on how
to get art into the game
4. Developers and game designer
agree on how to create content
5. Each subteam defines their initial
tasks
6. Coordinator keeps track of things
Scrum-like boards are a plus

27. Goals
– Get the damned game done!
– Ensure to have a playable prototype
• Prioritize tasks accordingly
• Game mechanics first to see if they are
early
fun!
– Realize you‘ll likely not get everything done!
• Which is why you should have something playable
almost all times
• Cut corners, kill features, focus on the core of your
game
at
IMPLEMENTATION

28. Tips for Developers
• Use source control (git, SVN), do NOT use
ZIP files, e‐mail!
Don‘t code for re‐use
Don‘t optimize – you have no time for that!
shared drives,
•
Try to create a modular‐design so people don‘t depend on
each other to much
• One person responsible for graphics, one for UI, one for AI, one for
controlls, etc.
• Make sure
possible
game designer can create content as early as
• Make sure artists export to easy to use formats
• Make sure artists work for some standard resolution!
• Make sure artists & game designer understand limitations
IMPLEMENTATION
•
•

29. Tips for Artists
– Make it easy to export your art to the proper format
– Make sure everyone uses the same coordinate
system/resolution!
– Use descriptive names for files
• Good: badguy-‐walk-‐left.png , Bad: w_1_2.png
– Have one shared folder (Dropbox, Google Drive)
containing assets ready for the game designer/
developers to integrate
• Don‘t put multiple versions of the same thing there!
• Have whatever local folder structure for work in progress
assets
IMPLEMENTATION

30. Tips for Game Designers
– Talk to the developers about what‘s
what‘s not
possible and
– Focus on simple mechanics but try to put in a
twist
– Favor
levels
– If you
simple level-design over "brainy" complex
– they take to long to design!
have down‐time help/be the coordinator!
IMPLEMENTATION

31. Tips for Coordinators
– Ensure that everyone can stay busy
• Gather the team to discuss new tasks or
current tasks
– Check on progress regularly
reprioritize
• If something takes to long, as the team to reprioritize/
kill features
– Make sure everybody is reminded they are human
• Make everyone take breaks
• Make people go to sleep
• Make people eat and drink
– If you have down-time, take on a task you can do!
IMPLEMENTATION

32. Goals
– Submit a playable game before the deadline :D
FINISHING TOUCHES

33. TO-DO List
1. Feature freeze 2‐3 hours
before the deadline
Create a build for
submission
Get team together and
decide what to polish in
remaining hours
2.
3.
the
4. If polishing works out, create
a new build for submission
FINISHING TOUCHES

34. – Sleep!
– Eat & Drink!
– Take breaks!
– Make new friends!
FINISHING TOUCHES
WRONG!

37. ADDITIONAL GRAPHICS TOOLS
SpartanAseprite

38. SPRITESHEETS PACKER/ATLASES
Texturepacker GUI
(Free alternative to TP)
Spritesheet Packer
Leshy Spritesheet Tool Shoebox
Texturepacker

39. Dame
Editor

41. ?
Most important
– Do i know it already?
– Do my teammates know it?
– Is it the tool i‘m fastest with
Bonus
– Does it
– Does it
fit my budget?
export to HTML5?
If you didn‘t use it before the jam, don‘t use it
during the jam!
HOW TO PICK?