Welcome to My First Game Jam: Summer 2020! For those of you just joining us, it's been a tradition to kick things off with a little getting-to-know-you questionnaire! For the first-time game developer, things can be pretty intimidating... which is why we want to show you you're not alone! This is not a required activity— it's just meant as a way to break into the community for returning jammers and newbies alike.

We'd love for you to share your influences, passions, and jam goals with the rest of us. Who knows — you might meet a potential team member, or even a new friend!

(These questions are entirely optional; they're just here to warm things up, so feel free to skip them as needed!)

Onto the questions!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?
2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?
3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?
4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?
5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!
6. What are your goals for this game jam?

For returning jammers:

7. Any advice to new participants?
8. What can the admins do to improve your jam experience?
9. What are some of the past works you've made for the jam? Show off your favorites!
10. Bonus: Got any question suggestions? Let us know for next year!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello! My name is Elanor, also known as KittHaven in various places on the internet.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I haven't participated in one before. I decided to join because I really want to make a game and actually finish it. One of my problems is that I really struggle to finish things when I start them, so I'm hoping this will be fun and inspire me to keep going.

3. What games are your favourites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I like RPGs in general, simulation games... I wouldn't say anything specific really inspired me but I have wanted to make a game for a while.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I haven't made and finished a game before, however I will be using the RPG Maker software and I have experience using it for small maps.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Creativity, even if I sometimes struggle with inspiration and art blocks I always find myself going back to various hobbies like drawing, fuse beading, playing with RPG Maker, writing.... I also like animals I suppose lol.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

No, never participated. I just want to finally finish a game and call it mine, bad or good.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

My all-time favorite game is CT and I really like adventure games of any type, also love all Akira Toriyama works.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I have a relatively good experience with programming but the maximum experience I have with game development is some clone games in Godot, I not liked it so much. I will use Haxe(not so much popular I wonder why) and Heaps("Dead Cells" was made with it) or OpenFL("Papers, Please" was made with it, probably my choice).

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Programming with no doubt.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

My objective is to learn more about creating games, finishing something.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Finish making a game and exporting it  and learning how to draw and animate in the process + adding sounds if I have enough time.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Computer Science Student who is bored. Call me Simmy. 

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I was hard core addicted to a game that shall not be named LOL!  I want to put the extra time I would've spent playing that game into actually learning the craft of making games.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I didn't participate in the last jam. My reason for joining is I want a outlet to express myself and I believe games is a good way to do it. 

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

I'm passionate about Japanese culture and anime. Though have not been keeping up with anime's nowadays.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Currently learning Unity. Completed 2 tutorials so far.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?
I'm CynderQuill, and I like the masculine and feminine forms greatly.
2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?
Frankly, I'm not sure. Maybe I wanted some experience Jamming before LowRezJam rolls around? Or maybe I wanted some more structured game developing to work with.
3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?
The most difficult question. I kind of want to make every kind of game, really. And I owe it all to every kind of game I've played. Except for those hidden object games. I don't like those.
4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?
I made what is essentially an overgrown minigame about fighting monsters and monstergirls in a dungeon and then having impolite interactions with them afterward.
5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!
See number go up very fast.
6. What are your goals for this game jam?
To make a game I've not made before, I suppose.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi!! My name is Ausia. I'm a graphic designer and digital artist, and I've been trying to get into game development for a few months now but felt intimidated by other jams because people are at such a high skill level already, so this seemed like a cool idea to me

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I'm joining because I really like art and storytelling and I feel like games are a neat way to convey that, also because I've always wanted to design a game but never finished any actual projects

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I love Undertale, Persona 5, 2064 Read Only Memories, and Celeste. I think 2064 and Celeste inspire me the most because of the atmosphere and storytelling

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I have some experience with coding in Javascript and Lua game engines but never really finished anything. I've also used Stencyl 

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Art! I love pixel and digital art

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

My biggest goal is to actually finish a game

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi I'm Michael, I write automation software for a living. I've been into game development for over 15 years, but mostly just for myself.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?\

Nope.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Probably Zelda Ocarina of time, Goldeneye N64. I think my desire to create games comes from a desire to program and solve problems. If "a game" inspired me, it's the game I'm trying to make for the last 10 or so years... It's still nothing more than an idea and I've started and given up at least 10 times. 

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I started with Flash back in the day, tried Unity, Unreal, Godot and GameMaker. I liked parts of all of them, but also "hated" parts. I stumbled upon LibGDX at some point and always came back to it after trying one of the aforementioned engines. It's a framework more than an engine and I like that about it. 

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

My family.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

1. Hi I'm pycho, a programmer, who recently have started practicing how to do animations.

2. Yes I joined las jam, but couldn't submit anything with my team. That's something I want to do better, maybe if I would have been more proactive my team could be more motivated to submit at least something.

3. Love most kind of games but rpgs, puzzles and vn are some of my favorites 

4. I have shared a couple of (really bad) games heare on itch. I have used Unity the most, also have other personal projects that have not show yet, some with renpy, and others with plain javascript.

5. I love most of japanese culture, mostly the anime style art. Also love doing puzzles and painting.

6. Not sure yet, maybe I can find a team (I really need to learn teamwork) or marbe I could go solo and try to experiment aoing a game with mechanics I'm not familiar with yet.

For returning jammers:

7. A jam is for learning and having a good time, do not stress yourself and also tey sharing your progress, that helps to keep the motivation 

8. Not sure, you do pretty good. Maybe help the new participants to share their daily progress on social media or maybe streams 

9. https://pycho.itch.io/marble-maze-maker this one is from last year

10. Not sure, maybe just the help for new participants to share their progress as I said earlier. Thanks for organizing this amazing jam.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi! My name is Morgana and I'm taking programming classes in school, but they don't give us many opportunities to experiment

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

This is my first jam and I joined because I want to  see how far I can go with creating a game starting with my very little knowledge

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

My favourite games are the fire emblem games, but I'm planning to do a platformer for this jam

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I don't have any experience

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Dogs and all kinds of animals! Also karate and other martial arts

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Learning a new programming language and trying to stay motivated

Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hello!! I'm smallcat, or Jude if you prefer. I'm just a hobbist game dev, mostly an artist (though I've never really made game assets). I'm super friendly so if you want someone to talk to, I'll be in the Discord.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I did participate last time! This time, I have a different style of game (2d platformer this time vs 3d last time) so hopefully it'll help me learn some new aspects of gamedev. I also plan on making my own assets for this one, so wish me luck! 

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

If you look at play time, my top ones are Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. They're just too wholesome and satisfying to put down... I've always been fascinated by games as a storytelling platform, so stories like To The Moon and Night in the Woods are super inspiring to me. 

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I've made a couple games in a platform called Bitsy and my jam game from last time, which is in Godot. 

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Cats! (obviously...) 

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I think the main thing I'll be focusing on is assets. My plan for now is a pretty simple platformer, so I'll have the time to create assets instead of struggling with mechanics the whole time, like I did for my last game.

7. Any advice to new participants?

Join the Discord!! It's super helpful to have people to ask if you get stuck on something and it's a morale boost to be able to just joke around with everyone. It makes the whole thing less stressful.

9. What are some of the past works you've made for the jam? Show off your favorites!

The game I made last time is called Warm Kitty. It's supposed to be about a cat wrecking the house trying to get warm, but the warmth mechanic never got added (I might get around to it eventually...) so right now it's just a physics sim.  (smallcatstudio.itch.io/warm-kitty)

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi guys, my name is Hertz Lenin I live somewhere in Philippines. I have been inactive due to internet problems

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I did not participate, because I am very nervous when uploading something... Trauma hits.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I have played many games and thought, hey I can make something like this.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

I've made unfinished games using Gamemaker and Renpy... because again, I'm very nervous.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Making stories and games, draw beginner art. I also love web development.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Make my game noticed and little less ugly... if I managed to get the courage to upload it.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi, I'm Dan. I currently work full-time and go to school part-time, pretty much filling the rest of my time with other learning, such as Udemy courses.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

I did not. I've been interested in game jams for a while, but never felt I was at the point to be able to make a complete game. Now I feel like I can probably complete a small project on my own.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

Journey is probably still my favorite indie game of all-time, followed closely by Flower by the same studio. Those games are beautiful and are a huge inspiration to me. Otherwise I've always been a fan of RPGs and MMORPGs. WoW, OSRS, Witcher, Skyrim, etc.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Very little. I dabbled several years ago when 3D Buzz was still a thing, and only recently got back into it. I've completed the GameDev.TV Unity 2D course on Unity and I'm currently working through their 3D Unity course.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!

Bettering myself. The philosophy of "no zero-days" has kept me sane and productive over the last year or so. Every day, I need to do something to better myself, whether it's learning something new, working out, or even simply doing the laundry/cleaning the house.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?
Hello, I am Chingy. It's a shortened version of my full name. I have a dream to make something great.
I've recently started learning Unity. I am also, what most people would categorize as, a NEET. Hmm, strange way to start but, nice to meet you all.

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?
I have never participated in a jam before, so I'm not too sure what to expect. I joined because I wanted to experience what all of this means.
It also seems like a good place to start working on something so that I (and the community) can gauge my ability and see how I can improve and further push myself.
I also hope I can receive some valuable tips and feedbacks from experienced developers.

3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?
It's hard to list down as I have many favourites. But they all fall mostly into these categories, mainly Anime, and JRPG.
Seeing how this place is supposed to be family friendly, I would just say that I'm inspired by some really great adult anime VNs, those with great writing, visuals, game-play elements, as well as a bunch of romance options and scenes that makes everything wholesome. Now that I think about it, there is a few that I can list down here.
I guess I am really just inspired by those simulation games like Harvest Moon, Rune Factory, and Story of Seasons. The characters are adorable, and gameplay is fulfilling. Other themes include those such as the Legend of Heroes series, Tales of series, Atelier series.

4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?
Umm, a little bit? I followed Unity tutorials, and they provided us with assets and a step by step guide to teach us various things and that. I guess that counts (or not)?
Basically learning C# and how Unity works

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!
Music and drawing. And playing games of course! ...
I lost my passion for the future a long time ago, but I'm starting to slowly gain it back. It was a major setback in life, but I'm starting to get back on my own feet. I play the guitar and the keyboard, and I also compose music as a hobby. I also like drawing anime related stuff. I drew and coloured my profile pic myself! It's a fanart of my favourite pokemon, Sylveon, and my favourite trainer, Mallow. It's a cropped picture of a bigger artwork.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?
Though I have an ambitious goal for my future games, I guess I should start out small.
I plan to at least learn how to make 2D anime sprites using Aseprite, and incorporate them into the game using Unity.
Maybe make a really simple track to refresh my feel for music.
And also to definitely make a finished game... a really simple one at least. I hope I can do it.

Thanks for reading! I hope I can achieve something in this game jam.