Game Jams and Skilling Up

1. Game Jams

As you learned, since this course is designed like a game jam, we’d suggest that you participate in a couple of game jams beforehand to get an idea of what they’re about. Game jams are contests where individuals try to make a video game from scratch. They usually have a time constraint. Some game jams are organized for individuals while others you can participate as a team.

Here are some resources for finding game jams.

• Indiegamejams is a comprehensive and frequently updated list of game jams both around the world and online. http://www.indiegamejams.com/

• This subreddit is updated less regularly than indiegamejams, but it is another good source for finding jams. https://www.reddit.com/r/gamejams/

• Ludum Dare is a very popular long-running online jam and community. The “competition” (which is very supportive) runs every three months and lasts for 72 hours. The community submits ideas for themes and then votes to select a new theme each time. https://ldjam.com/

• Global Game Jam is the biggest game jam event in the world. It takes place every January, with locations all around the world (as well as online) and thousands of participants. https://globalgamejam.org/

• Itch.io hosts dozens of game jams at any given time, all online. https://itch.io/jams

Challenge hosted by Unity in June 2020

2. Refresh Your Skills

Following form the self-assessment and Learning Action Plan you created you should be aware of what skills you need to refresh, or even learn from scratch. Below are some recommended resources to make sure you're ready to complete this course.

Unity Learn - Unity’s Learn platform provides access to a variety of real-time 3D online learning. Recommended content to work on if you need to brush up your skills in addition to or prior to completing this course include:

• Unity Projects - Projects walk you through the creation of a full Unity application, with opportunities to mod and experiment. Search by particular areas of interest and use the filtering tools to help you find a project that suits your needs.

• Create with Code Course - Learn how to program your own exciting project from scratch with C#.

• Beginner Fundamentals: Unity Game Dev Course - The projects in this course will familiarize you with the Unity toolset and how to begin creating interactions in your games.

Brackeys YouTube Tutorials - YouTuber Brackeys has partnered with Unity to make a series of beginner and intermediate tutorials, starting with this whirlwind introductory series. In ten very short videos it goes through all the steps of making a basic game.

The Ultimate Guide to Game Development with Unity This short Unity-authorized course is ideal for people who are just beginning with Unity. It goes step-by-step through building a 2D space shooter game and the beginning of a 3D first person shooter, and demonstrates how to implement a few common features like a pause menu and high scores.