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In this paper, an analysis of game jam descriptions and definitions in academic papers is presented. A total of 20 papers from various publication venues from 2006 to 2014 are analyzed in terms of their conceptualizations of a “game jam”. The background of the papers and their contribution to game jam research are also critically examined. A further explication, “an advanced definition”, is proposed as a basis for future academic discussions and collaborations. The advanced definition sums up game jams as: accelerated, constrained and opportunistic game creation events with public exposure.
DiGRA 2020: Play Everywhere, 2020
Game jams encourage participants to define, explore, create, and disseminate games with respect to a pre-defined time-period and under specified constraints. Various methods and approaches have helped with establishing conventions, rules, and processes, and culture surrounding game jams, with practical guides for participants (Kaitila 2012) and organisers (Cornish et al. 2017) available. The popularity of game jams has resulted in an increased demand for game jams that explore a range of different topics, issues, and objectives through game development (Eberhardt 2016; Pirker et al. 2016). Stakeholders interested in ‘applied game jams’ have utilized traditional game jam formats to explore game development across various contexts, including health and wellbeing (Preston, 2014), community engagement (Decker et al. 2015), and social development (Myers et al. 2019). There is a perceived gap to establish a universal method with which to design, execute, and evaluate applied game jams against intentional outcomes.
Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events, 2021
In less than a year's time, March 2022 will mark the twentieth anniversary of the first documented game jam, the Indie Game Jam, which took place in Oakland, California in 2002. Initially, game jams were widely seen as frivolous activities. Since then, they have taken the world by storm. Game jams have not only become part of the day-today process of many game developers, but jams are also used for activist purposes, for learning and teaching, as part of the experience economy, for making commercial prototypes that gamers can vote on, and more. Beyond only surveying game jams and the relevant published scientific literature from the last two decades, this paper has several additional contributions. It builds a history of game jams, and proposes two different taxonomies of game jams-a historical and a categorical. In addition, it discusses the definition of game jam and identifies the most active research areas within the game jam community such as the interplay and development with local communities, the study and analysis of game jammers and organisers, and works that bring a critical look on game jams. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Interaction design; • Software and its engineering → Interactive games.
2016
Game jams are social events involving the integration of enthusiasts from various game making disciplines (e.g. programming, art, design) to make games under constraints, such as a short fixed time (Goddard et al 2014) and a common theme (Fowler et al 2013). Research on game jams has suggested that they have the potential to provide an effective and focused experience and that participants gain valuable skills in prototyping and collaboration (Fowler et al 2013), exploring technology limits, experimenting with interfaces, and exploring themes (Goddard et al 2014). This paper investigates whether game jams have an effect on the sense of community among developers in a weak and unsupported development ecosystem. Results from two local game jams suggest that they can in fact provide an opportunity for increasing awareness, familiarity, and participation amongst community members, and open up opportunities for identifying potential work partners – all essential elements in the move towa...
While the concept of game jams has been around for a number of years, their potential as a viable design research method has yet to be realised. This paper will provide an insight into how game jams can be beneficial to the research community by exploring how they can tackle difficult research questions and disseminate information in an effective and engaging manner. Game jams are evolving, they are moving beyond the idea of creating games for entertainment and are instead focusing on using data in ways that can help solve specific issues and real world problems. The noPILLS project was a European research project with the long-term aim of reducing pharmaceutical micro-pollutants in the water cycle. The aim of the jam was to produce games that would make a complex scientific and environmental issue understandable and accessible. A total of 10 participants took part in the 48 hour game jam from which three games were produced; Sewer Sweeper, Polluted and Purity. Sewer Sweeper is a first person shooter that teaches players about water filtration by offering them the opportunity to select different zones to play in, all of which are reflective of rural and urban communities. Polluted is a game aimed at young children. It teaches them about the effects of sewage in the water by concentrating on the effects this has on marine life. Purity is a simulation-based management tool designed to be used by professionals or final year University students to educate them about the management of a water treatment plant with a focus on filtration methods. The research partners involved in the noPILLS project were very satisfied with the games that were created during the jam. All three games were funded by the partners to be fully developed. The paper will discuss the both the benefits and drawbacks of using game jams by using the noPILLS project as an example.
2013
Game jams have become a rapid growing phenomenon. Every year brings new and larger game jams. In this study, we closely followed the world’s largest single location game jam in order to explore the engagement among participants. The authors joined the organizing group of the Nordic Game Jam 2013, and gained a favorable opportunity to observe the 470 game developers efforts during the 48 hours of non-stop development. The paper presents the results of two surveys conducted just before and after the event as well as observations during the game jam. The main motivational factors among participants were to develop games and to meet new people. We believe that the community building as well as the motivation and engagement due to social aspects and the desire to learn more about game development among participants at such events might have beneficial ripple effects, which are valuable to investigate more closely.
Proceedings of the 32nd …, 2010
Can games be made at the pace of news? The Newsjam, an event held in Miami, Florida in November of 2017, aimed to investigate whether short, simple games about current topics could be made in less than two days. While the plethora of game jam events does demonstrate that such games can be made, the larger questions was by whom and how? The Newsjam event convened a mixture of media professionals and non-gamers to test the hypothesis that game-making tools have become so simple those who have never made a game previously could make a game in a single weekend. The results indicate that while it possible to make simple digital toys, the highest quality contemporary newsgames were made by teams that had previously existing experience in game making. 19 participants, produced 5 games in just over 36 hours. Their expertise ranged from first time game maker to seasoned independent developers.
Proceedings of ICGJ 2018, 2018
This paper presents the findings of a pilot study for game jam organizers' design values. The study builds on top of previous research on game design values and emphasizes the role of game jam organizers as cultural intermediaries within the game ecosystem. For the purpose of the pilot study, the survey was directed towards 27 main organizers of Global Game Jam (GGJ) 2018 in Finland. The responses covered 74% of the whole population (20 out of 27), providing a good coverage of the population of Finnish main organizers of GGJ in 2018. The pilot study presents support for the utility of the research instrument and interesting openings for future research.
Making digital games can help people learn collaboratively. Recent advances in game education allow for experimental game development in a short time period with low cost. To examine the possibilities of game development and learning, we focus on the recent ``game jam'' approach in collaborative game development. The concept of game jam becomes well-known these days, however, its historical development, goals, and strategies have not yet been explored. To bring game jam into the education and learning, we first look at its historical development and key concept referencing Global Game Jam, the biggest annual game jam in the world, and then we discuss the recent case of ``localized'' Global Game Jam--style events embedded in the social context of a specific region.
2021
ToDIGRA is a quarterly, international, open access, refereed, multidisciplinary journal dedicated to research on and practice in all aspects of games. ToDiGRA captures the wide variety of research within the game studies community combining, for example, humane science with sociology, technology with design, and empirics with theory.<br>This special issue of ToDiGRA gathers revised versions of some of the best papers at the DiGRA 2019 conference held at the Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. The theme of the conference was 'Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo Mix'. Ludo mixes may include several versions of a game or several different games together with other content thus resulting in novel media ecologies, business models, and development and consumption cultures
Proceedings of the 2016 ITiCSE Working Group Reports
There is a wide range of implementations of game jams throughout the world. Game jams have been organized in a number of di↵erent formats, themes, and timeframes [43]. What they all have in common is the opportunity for participants to make a game within a specified constraint such as time, location, technology, or theme. Additionally, game jams as social experience support active and collaborative learning formats. In this paper, we discuss the potential of game jams for young learners, describe successful jam events in this context, and provide a list of tools useful for organizing game jams for this target group.
Homo Ludens
There are some studies on the educational potential of game jams, but their number seems insufficient given the hundreds of thousands of game jam participants every year. What emerges as the largest research gap is the game industry perspective: its involvement in game jamming and motivations for doing so. This study is a reaction to this research gap. Current research defined some educational benefits of game jams, but how these benefits are relevant for the game industry is radically underresearched. Clarifying this missing link might be essential to the widespread use of game jams as platforms for collaboration between the academia and the game industry. This explorative study answers the following questions: What do we know about the learning outcomes of game jams for participants? How are (or are not) those outcomes relevant for the game industry? How and why do (or do not) video game studios engage with game jams? If so, are the studios also motivated by educational benefits? ...
2014
Recent years have witnessed a rise in Game Jams organized events to create playable prototypes in a very short time frame. Game Jams offer a unique and quick way to prototype games. Beyond that, we believe Game Jams can also be seen as a design research method, situated in the research-through-design tradition, to create knowledge in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. The goal of this Game Jam is thus twofold: first, participants will use the Game Jam approach to investigate a research question; second, participants can, through actual practice, identify advantages and disadvantages of Game Jams as a research method. Hereby the Game Jam workshop provides a unique opportunity for HCI practitioners and researchers to gain experience in applying gameoriented methods for research.
Game jams are social events involving the integration of various game making disciplines (e.g. programming, art, design) to make games under constraints, such as a short fixed time. Game jams are emerging in areas such as research, education, and industry as events to facilitate game making for designed outcomes; i.e. outcomes elicited from appropriately designed game jams. Game jams continue to grow and be appropriated to new contexts, however, little is known about how to design game jams to facilitate designed outcomes. We identify participation in game jams as a constructive form of play defined as ludic craft. Consequently, we investigate the properties (e.g. rules) of game jams under the lens of play on the playful vs. gameful continuum. Reflecting on our experiences as facilitators and participants of jams in indie, industry, and academic contexts, we have derived a set of guidelines for game jams to facilitate ludic craft in its playful and gameful forms. We present this set of guidelines for jam facilitators to cultivate experiences that support designed outcomes in contexts such as research, education, and industry.
CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems on - CHI EA '13, 2013
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We report how the Global Game Jam was introduced in Japan. Introducing events like the Global Game Jam can assist in promoting the benefits of new methods and technologies to the developers, educators, and students throughout the world. In our case, many Japanese jam attendees were not well-acquainted with the practice of the participatory design or prototyping well before the Global Game Jam. To raise awareness at the Global Game Jam about those key elements, local site organizers tried to not only offer backgrounds but also to emphasize some game jam strategies.
2015
This paper explores the current conventions and intentions of the game jam contemporary events that encourage the rapid, collaborative creation of game design prototypes. Game jams are often renowned for their capacity to encourage creativity and the development of alternative, innovative game designs. However, there is a growing necessity for game jams to continue to challenge traditional development practices through evolving new formats and perspectives to maintain the game jam as a disruptive, refreshing aspect of game development culture. As in other creative jam style events, a game jam is not only a process but also, an outcome. Through a discussion of the literature this paper establishes a theoretical basis with which to analyse game jams as disruptive, performative processes that result in original creative artefacts. In support of this, case study analysis of Development Cultures: a series of workshops that centred on innovation and new forms of practice through play, cha...
International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 2020
Game jams are intensive events focusing on creation. Their popularity and visibility have soared in recent years. The phenomenon has attracted the attention of scholars interested in education and learning, and the potential of game jams has been studied in various ways. Increasingly, game jams have come to be viewed as a site for learning. They are seen as activities for developing technical skills needed for digital game development, developing so-called soft skills such as collaboration and communication skills and as a way to teach and learn science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics (STEAM) skills. In this article, the educational aspects of game jams are explored from multidisciplinary points of view. Combining education science, design research, and game studies, the authors position game jamming at the intersection of these disciplines to explore its various learning dimensions. This positioning provides a starting point for future studies of game jamming in the con...
One of the many challenges facing the growth and proliferation of game jam communities is the ambiguity between game jams and allied activities including hackathons and other high intensity events. This research identifies the distinguishing characteristics of games jams and uniquely identifies the technical, cultural and experimental differences that define the game jam practices. The benefit of such understanding not only supports the continued growth of such act activities, it helps to disambiguate game jam activities from other productive practices.
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