It's time for another epic Westman game jam!

Our community is raring to go for another Winter-ready remote Game Jam.

The Jam takes place over the March 24-26, 2023 weekend on Discord!

Poster by K.Henningsen13 on Instagram!

Details:

The theme is...  Accidentally Broke The McGuffin

This game jam will start on March 24 at 5pm CDT, over our Discord, which you can join here. Jammers will meet up in our Meetup Voice Channel. There, a screen share will be present for all to see. The screen share will show off a random option picker, where multiple game jam themes will lie. Depending on the one picked, the games made by Jammers will change. Jammers will show off their games on March 26, 5pm CDT, for Show and Tell!

Friday, March 24th, the event starts at 5pm. After hearing the theme, it's an evening of brainstorming and conceptualizing, and maybe getting a head start on making your game!

Saturday, March 25th, the event rages on all day! It's a full day of creators making games to their heart's content - solving problems, playtesting solutions, and being creative.

Sunday, March 26th, the event ends around 5pm for Show and Tell! Creators will be able to show off their games starting at 5pm, for an hour-long show and tell! Games finished or in-progress are welcome to be shown over Discord, either by the Jam host, or the creators themselves.

Submission Rules:

Participants can submit to this jam until the following Monday, March 27th, to make any last changes they'd like! Games are not limited by genre and don't need to meet a certain interactive threshold to be shown off. Other individual creations, such as songs, 3D renderings, or artworks, are also welcome to be shown individually by creators. Games can utilize all sorts of practices, and so while game submissions are the focus, they are not mandatory.

We are a'okay with the use of preexisting video game templates and assets, so long as the submitted video game has creative input from its Game Maker. (i.e, you can take a template of Space Invaders, and swap out enemies and sounds to make it your own). We are also okay with the use of preexisting tutorial based projects, so long as creative input is there as well.

The most common submissions we receive for jams are WebGL projects that can be played in web browsers, or launchable .exe files that can be played on Windows computers.

FAQ:

What is a Game Jam? A game jam can be described as a short period of time dedicated towards making a video game - typically related to a theme. In the case of West Jam Seven, participants will have just a weekend to make a video game.

Are Games Ranked? No. Participants are encouraged to experiment / learn about game development. In that spirit, submissions are not judged in a ranking system. 

Where is this Game Jam? The Game Jam is entirely remote. The start and end of the Game Jam will take place over Discord, which you can join by clicking here, to keep everyone in the loop. Otherwise, the jam can be done at your own pace over the weekend!

When is this Game Jam? West Jam Eight takes place from Friday, March 24th at 5PM CDT, to March 26th 5PM CDT, 2023.

I've Never Made A Game, But Want To Participate. Will Someone Help Me? West Jam Eight won't be a workshop or class with an instructor guiding people step-by-step - which is what's part of the fun! At West Jam, we welcome Game Makers of any level to participate in our event. In that spirit, newcomers are encouraged to use existing template projects (such as those found with Unity, Game Maker, or Unreal Engine), and/or follow tutorials on YouTube / the Internet, and lead their own project development. We believe anyone can make a great game! 

Can I Participate With A Friend? Absolutely! Collaborations are awesome for Game Jams. The event is open to Game Makers of all ages. Teams can be comprised of both in-person / remote people.

Can I Be Assigned To A Game Jam Team? We will do our best to help creatives find teams, but we recommend teams be made prior to the event, given the size of our growing community. 

Can I Present Something That Isn't Really A Game, At The End of the Event? For sure! We welcome those who would like to present digital creations such as sprites, 3D models or renderings, custom sound fx, music, etc., at the end of the event. Given how games consist of many different types of digital creations, we'd be stoked to see what you make!