Starting Block Game Jam (SBGJ) is a game jam hosted by UWE Bristol's BSc Games Technology programme for its students. This game jam seeks to introduce and re-introduce students to study and games development through a week-long jam designed for new and returning students alike!

This page has been set up as the submission point for the jam, to provide an online collection of the games produced over its duration and to facilitate the in-person showcase event.

Theme

REFRESH / RESTART

Overview

SBGJ is a week-long game jam happening at Frenchay campus designed in order to encourage socialising within and outside of your cohort, and to foster community spirit. The jam will run across Starting Block, and we recommend aiming for 24 hours of development time over the week around module introductions and your own personal schedules, with the intent to produce something that takes 5-10 minutes total to play.

This game jam is designed for all students of various year groups, skill levels and experience to participate in - we welcome whatever kind of game you want to make with whichever tools you wish to use. For students with limited experience with game development, we have a suite of game software we recommend: 
Bitsy- for students wanting to dive straight into game content
PICO-8 - for students wanting to get technical with code
Twine- for students wanting to focus on story / narrative
Downpour- for students wanting to try mobile game development

For new students with more experience, or for returning students, our specialist computer labs are available with Visual Studio, SFML, Unity, Unreal, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya and Blender to use. Additionally, we welcome any student/s to produce and submit board games, paper prototypes and other games for tabletop play. There will be guidance for uploading and submitting your games over the course given towards the end of the game jam.

Location

Opening Ceremony: Friday 19th September, 11:00-12:00,
2B20

Teams Link for remote participation

Game Jam: Friday 19th September, 12:00 - Friday 26th September, 12:00
2Q24, 2Q28, 2Q52, 2Q53, 3Q22 and 3Q69 (Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00)

Closing Ceremony: Friday 26th September 12:00-13:00
**2Q50** Updated!

Showcase Event: Wednesday 1st October, 14:00-16:00
2Q24 and 2Q28 

If you are needing to navigate around campus, attached are a link to the campus map and the interactive room finder.

Campus Map: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/life/campus-and-facilities/frenchay-campus/frenchay-campus...
Room Finder: https://clients.mapsindoors.com/uwe/56e2bce7bc1f570e68886097/search

While we encourage on-campus participation where possible, if you would prefer or need to develop your projects remotely, the opening and closing ceremonies will be streamed through Microsoft Teams. The links to join these will be made available through Blackboard Announcements.

We wish you the best of luck, and welcome you (or welcome you back) to UWE Games!