A Meaningful Jam

Hosted by Matija Milaković, Oskar Bladh · #MeaningfulJam2022

Entries

Ratings

Overview Submissions Results

Community

Screenshots Submission feed

This jam is now over. It ran from 2022-12-06 23:00:00 to 2022-12-14 22:59:59. View results

Late submissions available until Sunday, 23:59h UTC + 01:00!
Contact Matija / Kreateer if you wish to submit your late entry to the jam!

'A Meaningful Jam is a game jam created to teach useful game design concepts to aspiring game developers.

The goal of the jam is for participants to learn and use the MDA framework and the Meaningful Play concept when designing their games.

The theme for this jam, with which you will be working with for a week, is:

'Ice Physics'!

Whether it's a game involving destroying enemies with ice, creating ice sculptures or slipping on some ice - you are welcome to interpret this theme in whatever creative way you can think of!

If you need to brainstorm ideas for your game or try to find a new way to interpret the theme, visit our Discord or post on our community forums!

We're looking forward to seeing what you create! Good luck / Lycka till!

Mechanics, Dynamics & Aesthetics (MDA)

MDA is a formal approach to understanding games. It attempts to bridge the gap between game design and development, game criticism, and technical game research.

Essentially, MDA is a framework for designing games. It consists of Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics - all of which work in tandem to create an ideal experience for the player.

Mechanics describes the particular components of the game, at the level of data representation and algorithms.
This can be considered as the 'nuts and bolts' of your game. It's not just the coding aspect of your game project. This can be elements such as number of players, whether games are turn-based or real-time etc., how does the player character move, ending conditions and more.

Dynamics can be seen as what happens when your players are playing the game. Each player will play a game differently.
This focuses mostly on player interaction with other aspects of your game. Things like how your player interacts with the environment, other players or NPCs; how the player's choices and actions have tangible consequences; how the player goes through the challenges you set for them etc.

Aesthetics (Experience) describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when they interact with the game.
Basically, ask yourself what kind of experience do you wish for the player to experience with your game? Which emotions do you wish to invoke from them?
Is it a game that focuses on fellowship, with the player working together with others for a common goal?
Perhaps it's a game about discovery, offering the player freedom and incentive to explore the game world?
Or perhaps it's a challenging game where the player most overcome several difficult trials to reach the ending?

What does 'Meaningful Play' mean?

This refers to a concept in game design that has several definitions and from different perspectives, but my personal favorites are the following definitions from Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals, 2004):

"Meaningful play in a game emerges from the relationship between player action and system outcome; it is the process by which a player takes action within the designed system of a game and the system responds to the action. The meaning of an action in a game resides in the relationship between action and outcome."

"Meaningful play occurs when the relationships between actions and outcomes in a game are both discernable and integrated into the larger context of the game. Creating meaningful play is the goal of successful game design."

Essentially, you want the player's actions to have a meaningful impact on your game. To do this, you can create meaningful choices for the player to choose between.

There are many different ways to give a player choices in a game. Meaningful choices for a player lead them to ask themselves questions, such as the following examples from Jesse Schnell (The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses, 3rd Edition, 2020):

Where should I go?
How should I spend my resources?
What should I practice and try to perfect?
How should I dress my character?
Should I try to get through the game quickly or carefully?
Should I focus on offense or defense?
What strategy should I use in this situation?
Which power should I choose?
Should I play it safe or take a big risk?...

Your game must contain elements of Meaningful Play to qualify for submission.
Submissions may be removed at the sole discretion of the organizers.
Reusing existing code and assets is allowed to an extent.
- No re-skinning of games made outside of the jam.
- A majority of the code and/or assets must be made in the jam's time frame.
This is an exclusive jam which means that entries made to both this jam and others will be removed unless otherwise allowed by the organizers.
Submissions require an export to Windows, Mac, and Linux. HTML5 for web works too. Therefore, you must either export to all 3 operating systems AND/OR upload as HTML5. Submissions not including this will be removed.
You are required to submit your game under the Creative Commons 0 digital license (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/). Submissions not uploaded under this license will be removed.
For ease of voting, only digital games are allowed, and the game MUST be playable by one person.
We will not tolerate racism, sexism, or any other form of discrimination when it comes to participation in the jam or submissions made.
No new content may be uploaded after the submission deadline (no music, no polish, no tweaks). The only approved changes are GAME BREAKING bug fixes. Please include other bugs (e.g. doesn’t play in full-screen, etc.) as information on your entry’s page.
Follow the theme.
You may work alone or in a team.
You may use any game engine.
Have fun!

Note: The submission deadline may be extended by up to an additional week if there is a lack of submissions for fair voting or if asked for by the majority of participants.

Create a game based on the theme and the rules of the jam.
Submit your game through this page.

That's it! :)

Voting will open shortly after the jam ends and is open only to participants who submitted a game.
Entries will be rated on the following categories: Overall, Fun, Innovation, Theme, MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetics) and Meaningful Play.

Voting will end on December 21st at 23:59h.

Additionaly, every submission will be played and streamed by Dead_Endd starting Monday, 19th of December!
About the streamer: Dead_Endd is a newly-debuted "Cybernetically enhanced PNGTuber who is a variety streamer and completionist."