Sarasota Game Jam - Fall 2018

Your side quest this Labor Day: come together as a new team and brainstorm and build a game in 48 hours! This is the best way to learn game design and develop experience creating a video game, card game, RPG, or board game.

If you're a coder, artist, musician, writer, designer, or player, please come take part. If you just love games and want to get involved in creating them but have no experience, you are welcome, too!

Who’s Welcome

The jam is open to video and tabletop game designers and developers of all skill levels - and game players too! This is not a competition: the games will not be formally judged. This is an opportunity to unleash your creativity and get some experience in game design. Game jams are busy, fun events where you join a group and create a small game in a very short time (a single weekend, in this case). Games that come out of them are usually short and rough, but also super-creative. They're a great way to get inspired, connect with new people, and walk away feeling accomplished. You can learn more about game jams here.

As part of the weekend long jam, professional developers with expertise on a variety of video game engines and even a board-game platform will be available to provide feedback and guidance to interested attendees.

Children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times.

Cost

There is no cost to participate but we will be selling pizza, snacks, and soda, using any profits to raise funds for the ongoing activities of the Ringling Game Design Club.

Where and When

Labor Day weekend starting at 6:00 pm Friday, August 31st, through 6:00 pm on Sunday, September 2nd. Game jam presentations will be from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm on Sunday immediately following the jam, with an hour of free play after the presentations.

The entire jam will take place at Ringling College of Art and Design. On Friday, the event will take place at Morganroth Auditorium, 2363 Bradenton Road, Sarasota, FL 34234. On Saturday and Sunday, the event will take place at the Alfred R. Goldstein Library at Ringling College in room 113.

Tutorials will include: Unity, Unreal Engine, Twine, Ren’Py, Game Maker, and Component Studio. Each will be presented once, either Friday at 9 am or Saturday at 11 am.

Detailed Schedule

We are going to stagger our event to accommodate those of you who may be working on Friday.  We will start to welcome participants around 6 pm for some initial team building, to meet and greet and do a few small activities to get us all in the right headspace and help develop potential teams. At around 7 pm, we will announce the theme and the clock will start ticking.

Teams will be formed ad hoc on Friday night based on common interests in media and premises, with a range of talents. For instance, last fall there were teams centered on different platforms (e.g., Unity, Unreal Engine, Twine, GameMaker, Inform), two teams that built card games, and two that built interactive-fiction text adventures. Solo contributors also participated.

You may work on site or remotely, just please remember to get some sleep and stay healthy throughout the weekend. Teams do not have to be present for Saturday but must attend Sunday evening to present their game. Last fall, teams ranged from those who spent a few hours on their game to those who put in 16 or more hours per person over the weekend.

Our room closes at 2:00 am the first night and the action moves to the library at 10:00 am Saturday morning.

Saturday, September 2nd

(library room hours are 10:00 am - 1:59 am)

Show up in the morning and get to work. Check in at 2:00 pm on Saturday with the group to see how things are going. Programming problem? Need feedback on art? We will have lots of experts on hand to help answer your questions.

Pizza and snacks will be provided for dinner while supplies last.

Our room at the library closes at 2 am on Saturday (Sunday morning) and reopens at 10:00 am Sunday morning.

Sunday, September 3rd

(library room hours are 10:00 am - 8:00 pm)

Arrive early for the final push on your games! Check in again at 2:00 pm on Sunday with the group and let us know how it's going. Pizza and snacks will be provided for dinner while supplies last. Games are due by 6:00 pm! You will need to upload a build of your game to Itch.io. Board games can upload pictures and rule sheets.

Present your games from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm immediately following the submission deadline. These presentations are open to everyone, even non-participants. Last year we had a large group of friends and family attend.

What to Bring

Participants are responsible for their own equipment and software. The site provided will be a collective workspace only. There will be wi-fi available.

Please bring extension cords, surge protectors, and power supplies for your computers! Please bring water bottles. Last year, the tabletop group brought in a printer and used the library’s paper cutter.

The jam will be held at Ringling College from Friday to Sunday, and there will be free workshops for engines like Unity, Game Maker, and Unreal.

Feel free to message us if you want more information, or come to the next meeting of the Sarasota Game Developers on TBD or the Prototypes & Playtests event for Suncoast Gamers on August 11.

Past Work

For a great example from last year, check out the case study for Barely Paid. You can see other submissions at Itch.io.

Sponsors

This, Sarasota’s fifth game jam, is a collaborative effort of:

• The Ringling Game Design Club
• The Sarasota Game Developers group
• Suncoast Gamers
• Dark Side Comics & Games

Please spread this invitation to any and all that you think may be interested!