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Tips on Hosting A Student-Org Hosted Game Jam?

A topic by DoodleLor created Aug 10, 2023 Views: 257 Replies: 1
Viewing posts 1 to 2

Hey y'all! 

I'm reaching out to the Gam Jammers of the itch community to ask if anyone has advice on hosting a game jam. Here are some things to know (sorry in advance): 

- I've never participated in a Game Jam :( 

- I want to host one for the Game Development Club at my University 

- I want the game jam to be low stakes and low time commitment   ( 1 week to make a game? )

- Probably going to encourage development to be on any platform (Visual Studio, Unity, GameMaker, you name it!) 

- I was thinking the game jam could be centered on assets (e.g. make a game out of these assets)

- This game jam would be private; hosted solely for the students interested in the student org and to the general campus

This is where I currently am in terms of developing the game jam, and I was curious if there were things that I was forgetting to consider... or things that I need to change about my current outline. Also, would it be meaningful to have this game jam posted on itch? Or some other platform that can showcase all the participants works at the end of the jam? 

Sorry if my question is super vague, but I'm happy to follow up as needed !

Perhaps making it private, so only members of your club can participate? I'm unsure if such an ability exists. The games would still be posted, even if the jam isn't public. I've seen plenty of games that state "made for college project."

Assets are a good way to limit things, so you know they were made for your game jam. Most game jams go with a theme, or 3 themes "dark," "pink," "world shifting." Bonus points for including all 3!

As for the 1 week, seems fine. I've seen others argue 1 month is lower commitment, if you're busy with stuff for 3 weeks, you might not be busy that one week. Then again, people like me, might work that entire month.

Best of luck to you and your game development club.