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LEEDS 2023: GAME JAM

 LEEDS 2023: GAME JAM at Leeds Digital Festival 2021, is a 10-day, free entry event during which game developers, creators, artists, academics, students, hobbyists, and anyone interested in being involved in creating will come together to develop an interactive experience, digital artwork, or game. It is open to anyone across the UK and internationally that are interested in collaborating, learning new ways of working or looking to prototype ideas.

 You could be an expert game designer wanting to test out innovative ideas or ways of working or this may be your first time even thinking about making something like this. You can bring any creative expertise, skills or training you have or learn new skills throughout the process. You may just want to make the music, design the code, think about user experience, or help with the story - it's up to you!

 

What Is A GAME JAM?

 A GAME JAM is a gathering of people for the purpose of planning, designing, creating or testing out one or more ideas within a short span of time. "Jam" is a reference to musical jam sessions. The goal of a "GAME JAM" is to prototype a videogame, digital artwork, or interactive experience.

 

What Will You Be Doing?

 Over 10 days you will work as part of a team to create a short prototype of a game, interactive experience, or digital artwork that will be hosted on itch.io  and shared through our social platforms.

For the GAME JAM, LEEDS 2023 has worked with 3 artists to create a brief that will be the inspiration and the subject matter for the GAME JAM. Each team will be given 1 of the 3 briefs in advance and will develop a response or re-imaging of the artist's original idea. This will then be submitted as an interactive digital experience at the end of the 10 days. It doesn’t need to be a finished product; we simply want teams to learn, experiment, and test things out.

 The submission can take many forms but must have interactive elements.

 

Why 10 days?

LEEDS 2023 actively discourages crunch* and will be hosting the jam over 10 days to allow teams to work at their own pace, keeping their own mental and physical health as their highest priority whilst participating in the jam.

 (*Crunch is defined as working extra hours for an extended period of time to finish a project or meet a deadline.)

 

Who Are We Looking For?

This GAME JAM is open to anyone aged 18+; any participants entering that are under 18 must work with the supervision of a guardian. We welcome participants from all genders, races, ethnicities, religions, and abilities. No previous game development experience is required!

What Platforms And Software Can You Use?

 We encourage the use of open-source platforms and software that can be easily accessed by collaborators and team members regardless of where they are in the world.

 

Here is a database of free resources and tools you and your team may want to use:

•               Bitsy

•               Twine

•               Construct

•               Flick-game

•               Unity

•               Gather.Town

The Events

The jam will have three main elements, consisting of an intro event, the development phase, and a premier event. We will also host a couple of short meetings before and after the jam about LEEDS 2023 and future GAME JAMS.

 17 Sep 21 – Get your brief: Online meeting with all teams to introduce you to the three artists’ briefs that will be the starting point for your GAME JAM.

 20 Sep 21 15:00 - 16:30 – Event 1, Prototyping with GAME JAMS, Talk: A free public event inside gather.town that will officially launch the jam and introduce the teams. There will be a talk from all three artists about their briefs and talks from academic and industry professionals.

This event is for everyone taking part in the GAME JAM and is also open to anyone interested in GAME JAMS, collaborations, and prototyping.

 21- 30 Sep 21 – Event 2 Prototyping GAME JAM: Over 10 days you will develop your game, digital artwork, or interactive experience. You will have help from LEEDS 2023's Creative Technologist team who will assist with development. They will also work on helping you document your development process and will create an online presence for your team in gather.town that the Leeds Digital Festival audience can engage with. We don’t expect you to work on your idea for 10 days; we want you to put in as much or little time as you comfortably can within that time frame, even if that is just a few hours.

You will submit the final prototype of your ideas at 5pm (BST) on 30th September 2021.

 01 Oct 21 15:00 - 17:00 – Event 3, Presenting Game Jam Prototypes: A free public event inside gather.town where the teams present their games to the public, including a short walk- through and a talk about the process. The audience and other teams will then be able to play the games from within gather.town on itch.io.

 06 Oct 21 Feedback: We will have an optional feedback meeting with all the teams to see what you felt was successful about the event, how LEEDS 2023 can help the game development community in the future, and talk about any other LEEDS 2023 opportunities that are coming up.

About LEEDS 2023

 LEEDS 2023 will be a landmark year of culture for Leeds and the wider region. Starting on 1st January 2023, it will be an extraordinary, year-long programme of creative experiences. Co-created with local, national, and international artists, LEEDS 2023 will be for Leeds, with Leeds and inspired by Leeds.

 A showcase of creativity across all forms of culture: from dance to design, art to architecture, poetry to pop, sculpture to sport, grassroots community theatre to performances on our world-class stages, LEEDS 2023 will have something for everyone.

 Fuelled by a belief in the power of artistic expression and cultural experiences to transform lives, LEEDS 2023 will unlock talent and creative opportunities for people from every district in the city.