Prior to game jams, there were rapid creation challenge events such as the Interactive Fiction Competition starting in 1995 and a writing challenge NaNoWriMo from 1999.
The earliest known game jam is SpeedHack, which began in 1999 and ran until 2015. SizeHack 2000 is another early jam.[non-primary sources needed]
Some game jams are local events, taking place in universities, conference halls, or other private spaces. The Global Game Jam takes place at the end of January of every year, with over 800 locations in 100+ countries around the world. The Ludum Dare is an example of a virtual game jam, an event where participants largely remain at home, but present their efforts at the conclusion of the jam.
Game jams typically have restrictive time limits, ranging from a few hours to several days. This time constraint is meant to simulate the pressure of a deadline and to encourage creativity among ideas produced by game jam teams.
A game jam may be centered on a theme, which all games developed within the jam must adhere to. The theme is usually announced shortly before the event begins, in order to discourage participants from planning for the event beforehand and from using previously developed material. In addition, themes are meant to place restrictions on developers, which encourages creativity.
The type of technology can vary depending on the type of game being developed, and among the different disciplines involved.
In a video game jam, teams are generally made up of at least a programmer and an artist. A programmer build using game development tools. It should allow rapid prototyping to meet the time constraint. An artist may use creative tools to produce the game assets, or they might use those that come with tools such as Scratch and Kodu Game Lab. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and GitHub are available for participants. These are inappropriate in the educational context of young students, where moderated game sharing functionality on websites of Scratch and Kodu may be used instead.
Game jams are held for a variety of purposes. Lai et al. (2021) present the following taxonomy and examples:
In classroom, game jams promote team work, creativity, planning, problem solving, and diversity. Educators may further mix social exercises such as "circle flap", "social ball", and "name gesture". Together with physical prototyping, they engage team communication.
Meanwhile, the participants joined game jams to learn skills, network with others, and have fun. A study found that participants improved their social skills after a game jam. The time dedication needed was often a reason for not attending a game jam for university students. Long-term programs that span over several weeks does not work well with their schedules.
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Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
Fowler, Allan; Pirker, Johanna; Pollock, Ian; de Paula, Bruno Campagnola; Echeveste, Maria Emilia; Gómez, Marcos J. (2016-07-09). "Understanding the benefits of game jams: Exploring the potential for engaging young learners in STEM". Proceedings of the 2016 ITiCSE Working Group Reports. ITiCSE '16. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 119–135. doi:10.1145/3024906.3024913. ISBN 978-1-4503-4882-9. 978-1-4503-4882-9
Lai, Gorm; Kultima, Annakaisa; Khosmood, Foaad; Pirker, Johanna; Fowler, Allan; Vecchi, Ilaria; Latham, William; Fol Leymarie, Frederic (2021-08-02). "Two Decades of Game Jams". Sixth Annual International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (PDF). ICGJ '21. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–11. doi:10.1145/3472688.3472689. ISBN 978-1-4503-8417-9. 978-1-4503-8417-9
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