Create with Code: Game Jam Playathon and Next Steps

1. Overview

Now that Create with Code: Game Jam has concluded, this tutorial contains the celebratory Playathon showcasing our favourite entries from the Jam, alongside general tips for participants and non-participants alike.

Let’s take a look!

2. Playathon Live Session Recording

The recording for this live session is available at the Live Recording tutorial contained within this project.

You can access it here.

3. Game Jam Reflection

To make the most effective use of the tips contained within this tutorial, take a moment to evaluate how you feel the event went. There are lots of different ways to do this. One quick approach is to note down three things that you think went well, and three things you’d like to improve next time.

Example reflection

For example, a participant identified the following positive elements of their experience:

• I created and submitted a prototype game that achieved my core goal for the jam

• I connected with other participants, and developed my personal network

• I managed to debug some tricky errors using the resources available to me and a bit of community support, which felt really great!

As part of their reflection, they also identified some areas for improvement and actions to take:

• I didn’t always communicate clearly with my team members when I was tired, and want to make sure I plan rest and time management better next time I participate in a jam

• We didn’t have anyone with much UI experience on my team — that’s an area I’d like to develop myself and focus on in my next game jam project

4. Next Steps

Participated and submitted?

First of all, thank you for participating and congratulations on submitting your game!

Hopefully you found the Create with Code: Game Jam to be a fun learning experience. With this event over, what steps should you take next?

Showcase your game

You now have tangible and playable proof of your game development, time management, and creative problem solving skills!

Next steps:

• If you have a portfolio, upload or link your game for others to play. Incorporate a description on your development troubleshooting and your decision making process.
  
  

• If you don’t have a portfolio, you now have a perfect opportunity to create one!
  
  

• Let others know of your participation on your resume or LinkedIn too — participation in game jams is a very desirable experience sought after by recruiters and developers in the games industry.

Expand your game

Have you been receiving useful feedback about your game? From responding to feedback to creating or polishing features you didn’t have enough time to work on in the jam, now’s the perfect time to continue working on your project.

Game jam games can often lead to fully developed commercial products — you could take some time to expand on your weekend prototype turning it into a more serious project.

Participated and not submitted?

Thank you for participating in the Create with Code: Game Jam! Sorry you didn’t get to submit on time, but we hope you still had a fun learning experience. Your participation or game is no less valid than others.

Finish your game

If your game isn’t quite finished just yet, you could take some time to implement the last bits of your project. When it’s done, your game can still go up on your portfolio, resume or LinkedIn profile!

In addition to having a playable game, you’ll also have a story to share. A story of personal learning to tackle the submission process differently next time, providing invaluable insights both for yourself, and anyone who reads or hears about your development.

Not participated but interested?

If you read through this tutorial but weren’t aware of the event happening, hopefully this has piqued your interest in participating in a future game jam. Good news! There’s at least one game jam running pretty much every single day of the year.

5. Preparing for your next game jam

Here are some ideal steps to take in order to prepare for such an event.

Find some spare time in your calendar

Game jams are time consuming and create very strict timing constraints and commitments. They typically require a free weekend, ideally with a day or two to catch up on sleep and rest. For this reason, most jams are announced quite early, allowing potential participants to schedule and manage their time well in advance.

Note: There are also jams available which have more flexible time requirements, perfect for people who don’t work well under the constraints of a short jam. Take some time to search what’s out there, you might be surprised at how good a fit you find!

Read through the tutorials included in this project

The tutorials for this project were written as general advice when preparing for a game jam, and the tips contained throughout will be applicable to most time-constrained game development sessions

Freshen up and practice your game development and brainstorming

Every game jam is a learning opportunity, but you want to start prepared nonetheless. The less time you have to spend troubleshooting or learning for your project, the more time you can spend on developing it!

Reach out to some friends or jam participants

Working in a team not only reduces individual workload and stress, it also helps foster creativity and idea refinement. Connections you make via jams can be far-reaching too, as your fellow participants end up as coworkers or long time friends!

6. General advice for game jams

Game jams are perfect for experimenting and trying new things. Each jam presents a learning opportunity which will turn you into a stronger overall developer. However, it’s important not to take them too seriously and to focus on the fun of the challenge. If things don’t pan out as expected or planned — that’s ok! There’ll always be more game jams, or time to fix your game.

If you participate in more jams in the future, think about the skills you’d like to solidify or try out for the first time. A classic example is a game where all the programmers do all the art, and all the artists do all the programming. Self-imposed challenges such as this will help you broaden your perspective and enhance your overall understanding of the game development process.

If you do decide to try something new, make sure to mention it in the description or your portfolio describing the project.

Remember: Game jams don’t have to be a weekend activity! Many jams run for weeks or even months, allowing you more freedom in how you tackle the development of your project.

7. Where to find more game jams

If you are interested in participating in more game jams moving forward, good news! There’s usually at least one jam running every day. Game jams are announced far in advance, giving you plenty of time to prepare and schedule for one of these events.

To find an overview of currently running and upcoming jams, navigate to one of the online jam calendars;

Indiegamejams

Itch Game Jams

Both of these websites contain extensive details on registered online game jams