University Gamejam is a week long event where Staff, Students, Alumni and Professionals 'come along' and try to make a game during normal office hours. It has been running since 2009 and has included events in China, USA and Europe.
The Gamejam T-Shirt & Merch Shop is here - https://tinyurl.com/GJTshirtShop - so if there is a previous t-shirt design you are looking for or you just fancy a new hat, then head to the Gamejam T-Shirt Store
Join us on Discord Join us on ITCH.io
Game jams are generally social, collaborative competitions where competitors, usually form into teams, have to make a video game from scratch and in a set period of time.
Unlike other gamejams, our format lasts a week, during normal office hours.
This year the event is open to anyone 18 or over (unless specific arrangements have been made with us before hand). You can take part as part of a team, or just work on your own. You don't need experience or specific skills, just enthusiasm.
Closer to the event date/s, an application form or other kind of registration will be available from here, or via facebook/twitter/discord.
Each centre has slightly different resources, but will normally try to make everything on site available should you need it. At Portsmouth you would have access to standard university software, including 3D Studio MAX, Maya, ZBrush, Mudbox, Adobe CC and Visual Studio. We also have 20 PS5 Dev kits, although special arrangements need to be in place to use these. There is limited access to Unreal Engine 4, Unity and Gamemaker.
Anything you like. You should be aware, however that your game will need to be demonstrated to an audience, therefore will need to be downloadable and playable on a Windows PC. For non computer game entries, you can discuss this with the organisers.
If you have software with a valid license and want to install this, then this is at the discretion of the host institute.
This is up to you. You can work on own, but if you want to form a team, we would suggest that anything bigger than 5 gets unruly.
Any kind of game can be made. The themes will be announced in the Opening Ceremony. There are options and you should discuss this with the staff on discord before the event, if you have specific questions.
We normally have a panel of judges from industry to look at the entries. Failing this, the entries will be judged by the competition organiser. Some categories will be judged by Participants.
Prize categories judged by professionals:
Best Adaptation of the Theme(s)
Best Use of Technology
Most Ambitious Idea
Diversity
Best Overall
Prize categories judged by you/guests
Best Looking Game
Best Audio
Best Design
People's Choice
Note, prizes are not always awarded for all of these categories, additional categories will be added at judges discretion and categories get reviewed before each event. These are provided therefore, as examples. There is no financial reward for any of our prizes.
No. The theme for your game will be decided on the Monday, at the opening ceremony. This will be agreed upon, based on three random Wikipedia articles (excluding stubs). You must then base the theme of your game around one (or more) of those three articles.
Yes.. And no. Game jams are meant to be more fun than competition, and we would not want to see almost complete games being brought in with a view to trying to win. We would rather you made your game from scratch. The event is more about meeting new people, learning new techniques and passing on your own profound wisdom to others.
Entrance cost if free for physical or virtual participants this year
Online registration will be linked from this site when it is live.
Initially, we ran this event to trial innovative new ways of learning and teaching at the Portsmouth location. Nowadays, we run the event for fun, learning and networking /recruitment. Judges, often from industry are invited to join us for the awards and post awards drinks and this forms the recruitment part of the event - we plan to expand upon this in the near future.
You do.
Your team owns the IP of the game, however the licenses of software may limit your use, and may not allow it to be used for commercial purposes unless you acquire the professional version of the software.
We would, however, seek your approval for us to take photos and/or videos of you and your work in order to promote the event in the future. If you're really, really nice it would be great to have a copy of your game and permission to use it for promotional purposes too. If we asked really nicely, could you include the Game Jam logo in your titles?
The staff (and I'm sure, visiting professionals) will be more than happy to help you in your endeavours.
