The Global Game Jam is a worldwide event in which thousands of developers, designers and creatives come together for 48 hours to create games on a given theme.
“The main thing you need is a sense of creativity and fun”
And, with a region full of digital innovators to draw on, the Bristol Games Hub is inviting local enthusiasts and talented coders along to join in the fun, putting Bristol alongside over 1000 global locations taking part.
With last year’s event selling out fast and this year’s tickets going on release from 5 January, we caught up with Tomas Rawlings (pictured left), who is Design & Production Director at world-leading games consultancy and independent development studio Auroch Digital, and co-organiser of the Bristol Global Game Jam, to get in on the excitement for next year’s event.
Check out some of the amazing games created at this year’s jam in the video below:
The 2017 Global Game Jam is due to take place at Bristol’s creative hub the Pervasive Media Studio over 3-days, from the 20 – 22 January.
Get involved
Bristol’s Global Game Jams have a reputation for being a very welcoming space for newbie coders and non-techies alike. As Tomas explains: “The main thing you need is a sense of creativity and fun.
“We welcome complete teams who know the scope and individuals who want to take part and we’ll help curate you into a team.
“It’s not essential to be a coder”
“It’s not essential to be a coder. However, you do need to let us organisers know what skills you do bring – be that game design, graphics, audio or something else – so we can help match you with a team. While most tend to create digital games, you can make board or card games. As long as it’s a game you’re on the right lines.
“Once everyone is in a team, and at the appointed time, the theme is revealed and everyone then creates a game in response to that theme.”
Green light for games
Not only do amazing ideas begin and flourish at Global Games Jam’s across the world, but they’re often the start of something more. In fact, one of the teams behind one of the games built during Bristol’s Global Game Jam this year has recently taken their game to Steam Greenlight (which is a bit like crowd backing for indie games).
The Breakfast Club: Built at this year’s Global Game Jam and seeking support
on indie gaming platform, Steam to take it viral
The game, built by student and graduate game studio PlayWest, is called ‘The Breakfast Club‘. It is a collaborative, physics-based party game where players must work together to make delicious morning meals. Since its original build at the Global Game Jam, the team has added more levels and the game which, for all the gaming geeks out there, has been described as ‘I am Bread’ meets ‘Surgeon Simulator’ with its tricky controls and simple art style.
“I love the bit at the end when you see what people have made in those 48 hours”
There does seem to be something special about seeing creativity thrive at local events like the Global Game Jam, but also the end result of real games that often go on to be a great success.
Tomas agrees: “I love the bit at the end when you see what people have made in those 48 hours. We always come back together and have a pitch session where all the teams show what they’ve done with the theme. The creativity on display is always huge fun.”
Thanks to Tomas for telling us more about Bristol’s Global Game Jam. Tickets won’t be released until 5 January but you can find out more by emailing Nina at: Nina@aurochdigital.com. To make sure you don’t miss out on tickets, look out for announcements on the Bristol Games Hub website or follow them on Twitter: @bristolgameshub.
