Last week between 6 p.m. on Friday evening to 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, Becker College’s IDGA (International Game Developer's Association) club hosted a 24 game jam. For those of you who don’t know what a game jam is, basically it’s a fun event where game design students come together in small groups of 2-4 people and create a game from scratch in 24 hours!
At the start of the game jam, a theme for the game we need to create is announced and designers are allowed to interpret the meaning of the theme in whatever way they want. This time around, the theme was “experimental” and although a lot of games revolved around a “mad scientist” of sorts, some games actually got pretty creative. Although participating in the game jam is fun, it’s also a challenging experience for game designers at Becker to test just how much they can do during the 24 hours. Although game jams have been happening at a rate of about 1-2 every semester since I started my freshmen year, this was my first game jam and I actually learned a good amount as to where my current skill levels lie and I now have a much clearer picture as to where I want to improve to perform better during the next game jam, likely sometime next semester.
As a game writer, I knew that coming into this game jam I would already be at a bit at a disadvantage as to how much I would be able to do. I knew that I would likely not be working a full 24 hours because most games that people try and create during a time restricted project such as a 24-hour game jam, don’t include a ton of writing. Although some games may have stories I could potentially write, I sort of knew that the work I had to do would take up a couple of hours at most.
Anyways, some people like to take the game jam seriously and go all out on their games whereas others like to do it to access their skills as a game designer so far. Sometimes people will also just participate for the fun! However, the primary reason I participated in the game jam this semester was for the experience it would provide me and to get a better judgement of how valuable I can be to a team. Although I felt like the work I put in was good, in the end I only worked for a total of about six hours before I realized that I couldn’t do too much more. Having done the game jam, I now better understand where I need to improve to be a better asset to a game design team. Before the next game jam, I most definitely want know how to do some audio work as well as improve as an artist. Although I’m by no means an artist and I originally didn’t come to Becker to do audio work, I’m quickly realizing that knowing how to do a bit of everything rather than just being a writer will benefit me far more later on.
At the end of the day, my one partner and I finished up a game we ended up calling “Super Mutant Chicken.” Although I’m happy with the finished product, I’m unhappy with the amount of work I contributed in comparison to my partner. My partner, a Becker College alumni and a well versed game designer and programmer reassured me that it was still my first game jam and I would do better next time. Although I don’t doubt I will most definitely do better next time, it’s not the best of feelings knowing you should have been able to do more but weren’t able to. All in all though, participating in this game jam has been a lesson I feel that I’ve taken a good understanding out of. I know where my current skill level is now and I know where I need to improve. This game jam was just another stepping stone in my quest to becoming a better game designer.
For those more interested in the game my partner and I created, check it out by clicking on the following link! You can download the game there and give it a shot if you so please! https://mlstudios.itch.io/super-mutant-chicken
