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If you’re reading this article before you join your first game jam, congratulations! Joining your first game jam is a meaningful because it means you’re ready to share your game development journey with the world. You may be an expert indie game dev or you haven’t even completed your first entire game yet. Either way, joining a game jam is easy! I’ll be sharing the basics of game jams in general and things to look out for before joining your first one.
What Are Game Jams
Game Jams are competitions where indie and solo game developers create games from scratch under certain constraints. These constraints include the time allowed for the game jam, which could be anywhere from a weekend to several months. Some are even longer, some even shorter. Other constraints include the theme to the game jam. These themes could be adjectives like cozy, a style, like 1-bit, or a medium like pixel art. (PS if you like pixel art game jams, I recommend my article Pixel Art Terms and Definitions: a Beginner’s Glossary).
These either very lenient or strict themes are in place to help with the purpose of game jams. Game jams are for learning! You’ve had a successful game jam if you’ve learned new skills that you can apply to your next game. When we start learning any skill, it is best to learn in a controlled environment. These game jam constraints provide that. For this reason, I highly recommend you join a game jam to improve your game dev skills!
Game Jam Rules
On the game jam page, you’ll find all of these constraints under themes and rules. Sometimes you’ll even find listed prizes on the page. These game jams sometimes have prize money for top entries, like any competition. I would say the bulk majority do not, and either larger or specific community game jams tend to have prizes.
Lastly, the specific criteria determine game jam entry scores and ranks, which the game jam’s page lists as well. Some game jams prioritize fun and art, so games will be scored and ranked off of those aspects. In my joint entry with a talented game designer and programmer Enzed, we won #1 for Art, and #2nd overall. The game is Wild Paws if you want to check it out! I write about my experience winning and ranking in a game jam in my article How I Won a Game Jam & How You Can Win a Game Jam Too.
Where to Find Game Jams
Now before you join one, you need to find them! The platform called itch hosts the majority of game jams. Itch is a marketplace and online space for game developers to make and publish games, sell games, sell game assets, and connect via game jams, devlogs, and community posts. Itch’s open-revenue sharing model draws many creators. This mean creators decide how much they will split with itch, who hosts their products. In a time where game developers are preyed upon for their digital reliance on game engines and marketplaces (~ahem~ Unity), itch is a breath of fresh air.
There are other notable game jam sites. One website is Ludum Dare – the longest continually running and first official game jam, initially hosted by Geoff Howland and now hosted by Mike Kasprzak. Ludum Dare occurs twice per year, and great games come from it. Global Game Jam – the largest game jam held once a year in the beginning of the year, is another site.
Now, I don’t recommend these jams for your first game jam, but I hope they stay on your radar! Itch is a much better place to start, and here’s how you’ll do it!
Joining a Game Jam
First you’ll create a a profile in itch. Register on the home page, and make sure when you are checking the “About You” section, check “I’m interested in distributing content on itch.io.” You can also check “I’m interested in playing or downloading games on itch.io,” but we want to make sure you have a creator page.
You can design your page as little or as much as you want. Itch has a guide for how to do this, which I recommend you check out and follow.
Once you do that, you’re free to join any game jam that piques your interest! They’re listed under “Jams” in the top menu! It’s super easy!
Which Game Jams to Join
I would recommend giving my article How I Won a Game Jam & How You Can Win a Game Jam Too a read if you’re having trouble deciding on the many game jams to choose from. Especially section “Step 1: Think Small to Win,” where I share my mistakes joining one of my first game jams. At any given moment, there are dozens of game jams on itch, and having a strategy can make the process less overwhelming. One other thing I recommend for first-time game jammers who aren’t as artistically inclined: download your art! Don’t make it! Check out my article Where To Find Free, 2D Pixel Game Assets For Your Indie Game on my recommendations on a budget!
And now you are off to start your first game jam! Remember, the most important part of the process is what you learn. Because that is the point of game jams anyways! Good luck to you and this important part of your game development journey!
