Welcome to the Culture Bytes Jam Series: Classic Collards Jam!
Culture Bytes is a series of jams aimed at creating unique interactive experiences, under the context of ideas, perspectives, issues, and themes relevant to members of various Diasporas, over a 1-2 week period. Exploring the African Diaspora is the current focus of the jam series.
The purpose of this jam series is:
1) To create experiences that are related to themes relevant to members of Diasporas (ie. African Diaspora, Indian Diaspora, Chinese Diaspora, etc) ; For the African Diaspora that means: African America, African, Afro-Latin, Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, Jamaican, and many other groups.
2) To give creators more time to make something interesting without being as stressed/pressed for time.
3) To collaborate and foster creative friendships in our journeys for self expression and our collective futures.
Jam Theme: Legacy
“What do you feel or think about when you hear the word “Legacy”. Think of the Legacy of your culture, your family, social movements, places, you. What does it mean to leave a legacy? what does it mean to be a part of a legacy?
There are particular themes, experiences, and perspectives that are part of the lives of many individuals of the African Diaspora that are not explored often enough in games. We want creators to have fun making games exploring themes that are relevant to the African Diaspora - past, present, and very importantly, the future.
Whether you are experienced with game jams or not, this is for you. No Stress.
Brought to you by the Melanated Game Kitchen (MGK)
Jam Showcase (Sunday, March 20th @5pm pst):
So you want to participate?
This jam is open to both digital and analog interactive experiences – choose the medium that excites you!
Join our Discord to discuss the theme, share resources, and find team members! Collaboration is a key part of our culture.
This jam is for creators of all relevant skills and experience levels, regardless of whether you have made interactive experiences before or not. Writing, art, design, music/sound design, programming, playtest expertise, etc. There are some skill experts in the discord group that can help out when you need (we're continually bringing in new skill experts to cover
We highly recommend submitting works-in-progress if you don't finish over the course of the jam, as you can always submit a more complete version later, and we love to learn more about what everyone worked on! We hope to share everyone's progress, regardless of full game completion, during our closing showcase stream.
"But Tim, I want to join the fun but don't want to make anything." Bet. We'll be streaming some of our co-work sessions and our showcase. During those events, non-participants can join in discussions, brainstorming, and feedback sessions.
If you can't make this game jam, no worries. This is a jam "series". We will be doing more jams this year. So sign up for the MGK Newsletter (link below) to be notified when we announce the next jam in the series!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Please sign up for our mailing list to be notified about future major Jam announcements.
Discord Link: https://discord.gg/cbVpD5mkrd
MGK Newsletter Signup Form: http://eepurl.com/httsfT
(Your email will ONLY be used for important announcements related to the game jam series or the Melanated Game Kitchen.)
We are aiming to make this a great experience for everyone involved and continue to improve this jam. We are looking for more team members! If you are interested in helping with the jam series or the jam, fill out this survey and we'll be in touch!
Volunteer Signup Form: https://forms.gle/evmQ3DjUZsWckiwT7
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Jam Schedule
- Sunday, March 6th: Jam Kickoff @ 3pm pst - Jam Kickoff, Theme Reveal & Team Forming. Also streaming on YouTube
- Sunday, March 6th: Co-Work Session @ 4pm pst
- Friday, March 11th: Co-Work Session @ 6pm pst
- Sunday, March 13th: Co-Work Session @ 4pm pst
- Friday, March 18th: Co-Work Session @ 6pm pst
- Sunday, March 20th: Submissions Due @ 3pm pst
- Sunday, March 20th: Showcase & Feedback Session @ 5pm pst - Let's play games from the jam and share feedback!
Works
Readings
- Some Collard Green History - https://www.ghostsavannah.com/2016/04/history-of-collard-greens/
- More Collard Green History - https://www.ebony.com/life/hungry-for-history-collards/
- Origins of Black History Month and Carter G Woodson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIjssRu4D8M)
- What is Cultural Legacy, a short book excerpt (https://www.shortform.com/blog/cultural-legacy-meaning-and-examples-outliers/)
Media
- John Legend Cooks Greens with his Grandma (this is a fun one! Recipe like a grandma would teach it lol, no exact measurements) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScgkiTz4nPk
- Aurion: Legacy of Kori-Odan (Game) - South African created Action RPG video game about ancient Kingdoms in Africa where the royal family had access to powerful spiritual abilities for fighting and prosperity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeL-sCQSn_0
- Rogue Legacy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0DKxOEikTs
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Anime/Manga) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1s3AYtfymM
General Works for the Culture Bytes Jam Series
- https://thewagaduchronicles.com/ - An upcoming Afrofantasy Online RPG & DnD Setting by Twin Drums
- https://motherlandsrpg.com/ - POC focused sci-fi RPG on twitch
- https://www.organizingforpower.org/ - In-Depth site with resources, tools, and readings for anyone that is interested in creation positive social change.
- https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics - The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s site detailing in-depth learning resources related to the history of race in America and how that affects our society now.
- www.knarrative.com - Web platform for the largest African Studies courses in the world. A great resource for learning history through an Pan-African lens.
Rules
- Most community conversation for this jam will happen via the MGK Discord -> https://discord.gg/cbVpD5mkrd
- We encourage you to jam with new people or on a team, but it is not required. We will be providing resources for team forming at the jam kickoff and throughout the jam timeline for those who want to jam based on the theme.
- During the Showcase/Feedback Session, constructive feedback and positive reinforcement will be the focus. Building for the future and collaboration are about lifting everyone up together.
- All participants, in person or remote, must follow MGK’s Code of Conduct (in a section belo
Recommended Tools/Engines/Platforms
Here are some common tools/engines:
- Digital
- Unity
- Unreal Engine 4
- Game Maker
- Godot Engine
- RPG Maker
- Twine
- Storyspace
- Bitsy
- Analog
- Tabletop RPG
- Board Game
- etc
Resources (you don’t have to use these, just some ideas)
- Music Composing: Bosca Coeil (https://boscaceoil.net/), lmms (https://lmms.io/)
- Sound Effects Generator: sfxr (http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html)
- 2D Art: Paint.NET (https://www.getpaint.net/), Asesprite (buy it or compile the sources), Krita (https://krita.org/en/)
- 3D Art: Blender (https://www.blender.org/)
- Coding: Visual Studio (https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/de/vs/), Visual Studio Code (https://code.visualstudio.com/?wt.mc_id=DX_841432)
Code of Conduct
We will not tolerate sexism, racism, or discrimination of any kind. This means, in our community and in the games you create.
F.A.Q.
- Do I need to be a member of the African Diaspora to participate?
- Nah. Anyone and everyone can (and should) participate! The biggest thing we ask is that you utilize the resources that are given for the jam and make an effort to see from the perspective of people who are of the African Diaspora.
- Who is included in the African Diaspora?
- Anyone that has ancestral heritage connected to Africa. That meaning, Brazilian, Jamaican, Haitian, Spanish, African-American, and many other groups.
- What is Pan-Africanism?
- "Pan Africanism is a political philosophy that represents a belief in the laws and representation that benefit Africans across the Diaspora. Ideological Ideas: Collectivism, Independent Political Representation, Ubuntu The Flag: The colors represent the blood of our Ancestors, the melanin of the original people, and the wealth and prosperity of our African homeland." - panafricanalliance.com
- What is the Melanated Game Kitchen?
- The Melanated Game Kitchen is a growing community of game devs from across the African Diaspora, working together to create interactive works "for da culture." Make friends, share ideas, create. Thanks for joining our kitchen!
Submissions(5)
No submissions match your filter
