What is a Game Jam?

The 4th Klagenfurt Game Jam is open to everyone who likes games and wants to create, test and talk about games. Starting on Friday the topic will be revealed to all participants at the same time and random groups will brainstorm games. Then, after the ideas are pitched, team will emerge around ideas and games are to be created. Finally, on Sunday, the projects are presented to a jury and a price for the most awesome project is awarded.

The game jam is not restricted to game designers or programmers, but is open to everyone who wants to build games. Each team is in desperate need for visual and audio artist, animation experts, web page writers, storytellers, testers, ...

A game jam is a gathering of game developers for the purpose of planning, designing, and creating one or more games within a short span of time, usually ranging between 24 and 72 hours. Game developers are generally made up of programmers, game designers, artists, and others in game development-related fields. [...] The term game jam is a composition of the words game and jam session

from Wikipedia

It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression.

from the Global Game Jam web page

How to participate?

You can come for the whole event, drop by for just a day, whatever you want. There is no admission fee, but we need your registration to make sure everything is just as you need it to let your creativity flow. Just bring along whatever you need to jam, ie. graphic tablet, audio samplers, your laptop, your computer, mouse, keyboard, game pad, ...

What is here for you?

Free admission
Drinks & snacks provided
Internet connection

Work space
Doors open nearly 24h
Coffee, coffee and even more coffee

Game Jam Photos

Topic

Cloud & Cookies

Diversifiers

These are optional criteria your game can match if you want to. If two games end up with equal ranks after voting, the diversifiers make the difference.

Spaghetti Western - Italian cousine is part of the game
Make it real - The game utilizes VR
Take me with you - Runs on a mobile device
Multinational - Use more than two languages
We don’t need dragons - Include the “Lindwurm”
Background Actors - Anexia’s CEO Alexander Windbichler has a supporting role

Rules

All sorts of games are allowed, eg. video games, board games, card games, etc.
Your game must fit the topic.
You can work in a group (preferred) or alone.
You can use pre-existing code, like libraries or code samples.
You can use pre-existing art, like from OpenGameArt or FreeSound.
You can use external tools like Tiled or Spine 2D.
Do not re-skin an already existing game or prototype!
You must publish the source of your game, e.g. to GitHub.
Your art, sound, and music must be licensed under Creative Commons.
You must submit your game to the itch.io Jam page before 30.04. 16:00 CEST.

Useful Resources

Check out Mario's Guide to Game Jam Survival.
Decide and get familiar with a game dev framework or engine, ie. libGDX, Phaser, Unreal, Unity, ...
Check the Resources for Game Jammers or GDR
Install and test your tools before entering the jam! This saves a lot of time and network bandwidth!

Program

Registration is possible throughout the whole event. The registration desk is on Friday outside room E.2.42, on Saturday and Sunday it's in room E.2.42.

Day	Time	Location	Program
28.04.	08:30	I.1.43	Tutorial: "Phaser Tutorial for Beginners" (Andreas Leibetseder, AAU Klagenfurt) Slides, Github Repo
28.04.	14:00	HS C	Registration
28.04.	15:00	HS C	Invited talk: "Core Strategies for Effective Game Design: Prototyping and Iterative Design" (Felix Schniz, AAU Klagenfurt)
28.04.	15:45	HS C	Invited talk: "Game – Development in Marketing" (Daniel Wuggenig, ANEXIA)
28.04.	16:30	na.	Break
28.04.	17:00 - 20:00	HS C	Game Jam Topic Announcement, Brainstorming, ...
28.04.	20:00 - 24:00	E.2.42 u. E.2.69	Game Jam
29.04.	09:00 - 24:00	E.2.42 u. E.2.69	Game Jam
30.04.	09:00 - 16:00	E.2.42 u. E.2.69	Game Jam
30.04.	16:00	HS C	Game Presentations