Another year, another Game Jam

Its that time of year again, game jam time at Michigan Tech. Last years event was a success, everyone had a great time and we were able to see some great games. This year we hope to make the event even better! Details are still in the works, but we will update everyone on the status of the event as we get them.

Ryan will be live blogging the event this year so everyone gets to see the games as they are developed. Stay tuned for the date and theme of the event!

Well then.

The game jam has come and gone (two weeks ago, actually!) and I’m happy to say that it was a great success. Big props go out to everyone who participated, but I want to especially thank everyone who went out of their way to help out with equipment, administrative tasks, publicity, you name it. I’m not going to write out everyone because there are just too many (and I’m certain I’ll forget at least one) but I think you guys know who you are.

Though the event itself is over, the legacy lives on (we hope). You can re-live the game jam via the excellent live blog, which Sean wrote up as the event progressed, even after we lost internet access! Alternately, you can visit the Flickr account for photos.

Of course, the best part of all is that you can download and play the games! They’re all available (those that were finished and digital, that is) and, in addition, many of them have excellent postmortems written by the authors. Speaking of postmortems, if your desire for game jam information knows know bounds you can read the postmortem for the jam itself over at my personal site.

Thanks again to everyone who came by and all those who helped out. Here’s hoping that the next Houghton Game Jam is an even bigger success!

Attendee list and schedule.

For administrative purposes I’m (temporarily) putting the current attendee list here. If you plan to come to the game jam and you don’t see your name here please e-mail me and I will get you signed up if there are slots remaining.

• Matthew Amsden
• Jason Anderson
• Sean Bulger
• Jason Cope
• Mike Haka
• Elizabeth Hartwick
• Garrett Hoofman
• John Lattin
• Ryan Mathewson
• Norm Nazaroff
• Nathan Paul
• Tristan Penokie
• Christ Steinberg
• Ryan Ploetz

Also, we have the (almost) final schedule for the game jam itself still being worked out. It’ll go up later tonight or tomorrow. The most important part of it is really the start time: you can arrive early starting at 11:00am on Saturday to set up your gear and get hooked into the switch. It’s not required, but you’ll probably want to save as much actual development time as you can!

We are go for the Internet.

Thanks to the generous donations of a 20-port switch from Peter Corbett and a router from Garrett Hoofman we should have no trouble providing enough ethernet jacks for the game jam. Of course, if anyone is caught using up our narrowed bandwidth with something silly they will be battered about the head and neck (but I don’t expect this to be an issue).

Yet another reminder: please remember that you must bring an ethernet cable if you expect to be able to access our network!

In more important news, the final schedule for the event will be up on this site tomorrow. Since the game jam is only twenty-four hours it’s nothing terribly complicated but we’re doing our best to be thorough here. Also, depending on whether or not we have them already, a few photos of the room and fabulous prizes will go up as well. Please note the slight sarcasm in the previous sentence. We can’t afford Ferraris.

Announcement: this year’s theme!

That’s two entries in a row whose titles end with exclamation points. Will this become a trend? Only time will tell.

More importantly, though, the theme of the first-annual Houghton Game Jam is: space! As is traditional with most game jams we decided to go with a theme that was open to broad interpretation, and thus when we say “space” we’re not just referring to outer space but anything having to do with the word. It could be as mundane and silly as using the spacebar and as unusual as the emotional distance between people. It’s all up to you, the artist!

We decided to give out the theme a little earlier than most game jams to facilitate the event itself. Most game jams give a minimum of 36 hours, and so at 24 we’re pushing the edges of what you can reasonably expect people to accomplish. As such, it would be a good idea to think about the theme and how you might use it to create an inventive new game. Keep in mind, however, that you shouldn’t come to the event with a fully outlined and designed game…bring your ideas, but we expect to see everyone furiously brainstorming for the first hour or two!

In other news, there are still a few spots left for this year but they are few and far between. If you want to be a part of the Houghton Game Jam please don’t hesitate to e-mail us and sign up.

The spring game jam nears!

If you’re reading this it probably means you’re interested in participating in the (hopefully) annual Houghton Game Jam! This event is open to all MTU students and faculty as well as alumni and members of the IGDA. To participate, please visit the events section for more information and an online registration form.

Some of you might be wondering exactly what constitutes a Game Jam. If that sounds like you it would be a great idea to visit the about section to learn more. In essence, a Game Jam is (generally) a gathering of professional, indie and would-be game developers where we can try out our wackiest concepts in a fun, cooperative environment.

We’re very excited about this project and hope to make the first Houghton Game Jam a smashing success. Stay tuned for further information over the next couple of days!