Welcome to My First Game Jam: Winter 2023! 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. Got any question suggestions? Let us know for next year!

hey i am a young game developer from england my username varies but its usally deinz 

i didnt participate in the last jam you guys hosted in fact ive never participated in a jam but would love to 

my favourite games are assassins creed and imsomniacs spider man games if i could i would like  to make a assassins creed like game

my experiance with game dev is purely self taught thanks to youtube lol my game engine of choice is unity 

i am passionate about video games which is obv enough 

my goals for this jam is to finish and actually upload a game 

Well, hello everyone !

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

My name is Charles, I'm also known as Tchaly by my mates, haha.

2. [...] What's your reason for joining?  

Mmmh I like to dev games and of course to play some (I like my standard games and can be really exigeant on modern games in term of game play, graphism, effects and whats the most important for me is the fun to play). I always tried to dev games cause I like this idea of tell a story or make a concept we could have fun with. I recently is really active (since 2020) I've made a few prototype 3D and 2D on different plateform like a Tetris (with pygame), a Puyo with Bittyengine, some GBA games (thanks to BPCoreEngine), I then followed course on Udemy to be introduced to Unity which is reaaaaally convenient and fun to dev with. My reason to participate is to produce a game (in a team, or not) and well, maybe stay in the community for a while ? 

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

I played many games, they all of them inspire me of what I want to make (what I like to play) and what I don't want. I'm a big fan of RPG principle, Final fantasy was my furst crush, but what definitively stay is Ragnarok Online and Dofus. :)

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

Mmh as I mention in 2. I have some experience, in coding and in game making, as a hobby. To summer up : PyGame, BittyEngine, BPCoreEngine, Unity. I did an arena game in 3D with PUN (Photon Unity Network) as my first prototype, some idea (5 classes with at least 3 skills each), but had some trouble with RPCs calls (I hadn't mastered the "host/server authoritative" principle, I think I know now). Then I tried a 2D arena game like  TowerFall Ascension (but with Warrior Healer class and a system of teams Red/Blue). I failed for the same reason. So I take a few course about PUN, and those course made me do my first multiplayer game in 2D (Topdown), i tested a lot of stuff for fun and tried to make it a game, haha ! To take a rest I tried a dev kit for making 2D/3D game. It was fun.

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

I like dev games listening music, hanging on assets store gives me idea (epic musics, new or reworked cartoon or other assets is really really gives me the idea to make it alive). I mostly like to code and tell / make little stories. And, it is not a surprise but I like playing video games haha.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Most of all : have fun. Alone or in a group. And maybe exchanging with others in the community (helping or being helped ?) :)

Thanks for reading me and for making this event,

Let's Jam !

Tchaly

Hi, I am Alex and I am based in New Zealand.

This will be my first ever jam! I am joining because I am a sound designer and composer and would like to gain experience being a part of a project while meeting new game devs.

I am a Halo fan and grew up with the epic music. I love the sound design of Doom Eternal, RDR2, and Elden Ring.

I only used Unity to learn basic audio scripting. I also have experience in middleware like FMOD.

Since this is my first jam, my goal is just to have fun making some cool sounds for a team. Looking forward to meeting you!

Cheers, Alex

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

My name is Mikhail but I use Descriptor as username. I am a young dev from Russia.

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, I didn't. I've never participated in game jams. Why not to try?

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

My favorites are Streets of Rogue, Cities: Skylines, and I think Minecraft. Streets of Rogue inspired me a lot.

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

I do. I have been trying to make games with LOVE, but it is kinda hard for me. Then, I went to Roblox. I mostly develop games on it. I'm also learning Unity right now.

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

I am passionate about video games and development of them.

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Mostly, have fun and learn something new from other people. I also would like to fully finish the game.

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

hi!! my name is aisha, but some opt to call me by my username, verbalchemy/verbal^^

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?  

yep!! it was the first jam i've ever joined :)) i plan on creating a more polished game. last time, i wasn't able to figure out how to add music and i really rushed my work! but hopefully i could manage my time better now!

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

one of my favorite games are usually horror which is weird because i can't play scary games TT the death mark series, faith, and ace attorney are the few games that are pretty up there for me! definitely, death mark's amazing art and lore made me want to learn how to create games like that! recently, i've gotten into ace attorney and i can say i 'm really into dialogue-based(?) games !!

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

i've only used renpy so far! last game jam i used visual studio code and had a pretty basic code TT i hope to maybe use gamemaker or adventure game studio ??  this time around (my mac is super old and dusty it's on its deathbed!)

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

well first and foremost i'm really an artist ^^ i joined last game jam to put more art stuff in my portfolio however in the process of doing so, i really enjoyed hearing what my friends and other people who were kind enough to play my game had to say!! i guess i love making stuff in general, and having people enjoy that is a big plus!

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

for one, figure out gamemaker! or if i settle on a different engine, i'd like to learn that! second, just create something that i'd enjoy playing. and third, add music to my game TT and hopefully finish it!

For returning jammers:

7. Any advice to new participants?   

i guess it depends whether you're in the game jam for experience or to really create a game. because if you're here wanting to create a game, then make sure to have great time management TT and don't be afraid to reach out for help from other jammers ^^ all in all, take your time learning and it's okay to make mistakes !!

8. What can the admins do to improve your jam experience?   

last game jam, i didn't really encounter any problems ! kudos to the admin staff for creating a good experience for newcomers,, i was super shy at the time and i super appreciated it!

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

i've only made one game so far for this jam (and in general TT), and it's called suffocating !

10. Got any question suggestions? Let us know for next year!

none at the moment! ! excited to see the games created this time and super excited for the theme!

1. Привет, меня зовут Марина Гребенникова. Я - игровой сценарист.

2. Ранее участвовала только в одном джеме и очень хочу повторить этот опыт.

3. Люблю симс и все , что связано с игральными костями.

4. Всё, что я делала в моём портфолио http://marina-scriptwriter.tilda.ws/portfolio-game-scriptwriter

5. По профессии психолог,  работаю бизнес тренером

6. Мне очень нужно больше разнообразного опыта написания сценариев к самым разным играм

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

Name's Luis, I am a software engineer in Texas. My day to day is working on flight simulation software which isn't like making a video game it can be really involved and not always as fun as making a game. But I love what I do and I love to explore game development on the side.

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 am joining in order to force myself to make a small game and release it. Most of my hobby projects have been for exploration but are quickly abandoned. This time I would like to make the scope small and hopefully have a few people play my little game. I am also open in getting to know other developers of many talents and hope I can work with the in the future.

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

There are so many. But recently I really enjoyed "It takes two", "Tiny Tinas Wonderworld", and "Final Fantasy 14". I would say It takes two inspired me to start working on developing games. I found the storytelling to be a delight and I liked the mechanics on each level. I wanted to learn to make mechanics like that and now that I know programming maybe I can help artists to make awesome worlds and such. It would be accurate that I am in a mid-life crisis hehe.

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

In simulations I worked with OpenGL to do some work with rendering the simulation. For my projects I have been using Unreal Engine 5 preview and beyond. The tech demo of Unreal Engine 5 really blew me away and I game myself the thought "might as well start now and learn this one". I have used C++ throughout my career so I am at home with Visual Studio. I made a rail shooter prototype for a Startfox-like game, and a looter  shooter. 

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

I love animation. It is definitely an amazing skill and it is beautiful. I love learning about 3D animation and had thoughts in doing some programming in that area. Unfortunately it is not easy to pickup quickly. 

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I hope to learn more about game jams and see other projects people come up with.

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

Hi!! my name's Elgar, call me whatever you want but just call me elg !

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've never participated in one of these before and i'm joining in hope to increase my overall game dev skills and work flow + speed throughout it. Plus I love new experiences

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

well i love subnautica and other games such like minecraft, muck, rain world etc. But it's more other devs that have inspire me.

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

well yes i do, i use the Godot game engine and i've made multiple 2d projects to get a feel for the engine. I've made a phycological horror game using the engine and i'm working on a larger project as of currently.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!  6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I love computers and i love just coding and developing games with new ideas and experiences and the pure freedom i have. My goals are as stated before to improve my overall workflow + speed and hope to use some of these in future applications.

1. Hi, my name is Matthew, I'm currently a student, and I've dabbled in game development using Gdevelop, scratch and UE.

2. I did not participate in the previous jam

3. Most of my favourite games are from the mech genre, Armored Core V, Gundam Target in Sight, along with other titles have inspired me to start making games. 

4. My first project was on Scratch, we were learning how to use Scratch to build a platformer game, on Gdevelop I had worked with others to create a text-based adventure game, on Unreal Engine I have only got so far as creating levels. 

5. I'm passionate about almost anything related to the Gundam series, look forward to future games based on it.

6.  Learn to use Unity, have fun and learn to collaborate with others better.

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

heya! Im solohe4arts! A trans girl who just wants to make some fun ttrpgs!

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 joined primarily because i want to a) participated in the ttrpg community and b) make more games for people to enjoy!

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

not any in particurlarly, although shadows over loathing did prove to me that simplicid does not equal bad

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

i mean, its litlle, i literally wrote my first ttrpg just this month

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

i don't want to go offtopic but i do love games where you play as and control a bunch of people instead of just one player character ;)

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

to put out a new game and make a name for myself!

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

Hello, I'm lokmjj3, I'm a 16 year old italian programmer that has just started learning how to use unity. I find programming and game development interesting and entertaining even though I've never actually finished any project I've started.

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 decided to join so as to, first of all finish a project for once, but also to experience a new and different way of programming, as well as, if possible, have the chance to work collaboratively on a single project.

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

In general, I like strategy games, even though I'm really bad at them, as well as some RPGs and simulators. I've always wanted to try and make my own 2D strategy game, as well as a roguelike, maybe.

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

I don't really have much experience, I've made a couple of small prototypes in the past, but never really finished anything. My largest project is about 400 lines of code. I've worked mainly with Unity and C#, although I have used on a couple of occasions the python library of pygame.

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

Programming and math!

6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I would really love to find a team to work with, and actually create a playable game by the end of the time period given. I hope to be able to experience working constructively with a group of people to achieve the completion of a game.

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

Howdy, I'm PragmaticZero. I am a 27 year old engineering student with an interest in game development.

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, this is my first game jam. I joined because I thought it'd be fun and a good way to help me focus on getting a project done.

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

Too many favourites to list but a few that had an impact on me are Deus Ex, Gothic 1&2, Doom 1 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3

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

Honestly not a whole lot of actual experience, I've been trying to get into game development for many years with little success but I've stubbornly refused to give up and keep trying to get myself into it. As for game engine I've use a few different ones but landed on Godot.

5. Tell us about something you're passionate about!  6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I'm not quite sure there's anything I'm extremely passionate about but I really enjoy art, both making it and seeing other peoples work and creativity. As for game jam goals I want to make something playable, not a high goal but as someone who has issues sticking to and finishing projects it'd be a massive step for me.

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

Hi! I'm Brady and I am a high school student from Canada!

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 any game jams before, and I joined this one because I want more experience developing games outside of just school

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

I've played games for the longest time, in a wide array of genres. Sports games, FPS games, platformers, I've basically tried them all, but I always seem to return to rhythm games. Anything I make will probably be some game to do with rhythm or platforming, something not too surprising when you look at my top played games being Geometry Dash and Celeste.

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

I have little experience with game development specifically, I've only really made one game and it was for class using Processing 3. I plan to use that for this game jam and then maybe branch out to something else in the future

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

I'm really passionate about making a game with heart. Seeing games like Stardew Valley and Celeste being made and growing popular due to the clear love and passion the devs had for them always resonated with me and I want any product I make to show that too.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

My main goal is to finish a product that works and is not overly buggy.

As a secondary goal, I just want feedback on my game, if I can get maybe 3 points of feedback from the community after the jam I would be happy

1 Rebelred (don't wanna say my real name)

2 sure didn't

3 Roblox

4 Scratch and a little of game maker

5 art

1. My name is Kyle. My initials are KGB (no, I'm serious. and no, I'm not Russian). I am in my Junior year of high school, and I am an American. You know, the guys with the correct accents*.
2. I have decided to join the game jam because I've started making games, and I thought it would be fun to participate.
3. I haven't played many video games, however, I have watched others play them. Some of my favorites are Rain World, Minecraft, and Backpack Hero.
4. I have some experiance with game development, and am currently creating a game (https://richard-ingalls.itch.io/supertankz) in Unity.
5. I am passionate about action, steep learning curves, and absurdly morbid humor. >:)
6. My goal for this game jam is to make a small, fun game that people will enjoy.

*if your british, or canadian, or australian, i'm sorry, but your accents are incorrect. everything else is pretty great though! :)

Hi I'm Lee! I've always wanted to make a game of my own and I felt like this is probably the best start!

I've never done a game jam and I decided to do this one because I have a lot of ideas for a game I'd like to make but I feel liek it'd be great to get some experience in first. I've never done anything like this!

I'm all over the place with games! My favorites include FEZ, Cadence of Hyrule, Apex Legends, SM64, and Powerwash Simulator.

I have very little gamedev experience, I've recently been trying to learn Unity. I've been following a lot of tutorials and whatnot.

One of my goals for this game jam is to get a feel of what its like to make a game like for real, not just in my head!