FAQ

Anyone! Stevenson University is now also accepting participants high schoolers with a legal guardian.  The spirit of a jam is innovation, experimentation, and collaboration. All skill and interest levels are encouraged to give it a try! 

Students who participate get a first hand immersive experience in a whole host of important career building and creative skills, regardless of their major. Students will network while boosting time management, collaboration, and leadership skills and improving their more specialized skills in writing, design, art, programming, acting, film, editing, musical scoring, and managing. Even students who feel out of place managing a group or working on specific parts of the game will find themselves useful during brainstorming, testing, and presenting. There is a role for everyone! Game jam is also open to non-video games, which lends another dynamic to the creative sphere.

Additionally, Global Game Jam gives students a global audience for their work, a positive online presence as collaborators and innovators, and opportunities to work with publishers and game industry professionals in the future. Groups who participate are often invited to share their work in other venues and networking events, engage in additional learning opportunities with other organizations, and are even encouraged to submit their work for publication!

Working on game projects also gives students a chance to test a potential career avenue. Maryland, in particular, is a hub of game development companies, and with massive advances in virtual and augmented reality, not only for games, but for educational programs. This area has seen job growth of over 400% since 2014. Writers and artists are particularly in need as games become more narratively focused and companies begin to search for creatives whose first skill isn’t programming. While traditional game development positions are not seeing such increases, it is a massively growing and dynamic industry, meaning that game-related jobs in other disciplines are growing rapidly.

It's free! Plus, we additionally provide free dinner on Friday and lunch and all-day snacks throughout the weekend, and further purchase any and all physical materials necessary for those building board or party games. 

Global Game Jam will take place on the Owing Mills campus in the Brown School of Business and Leadership.

Rooms:

Opening and closing events will take place in SB 106. There will be plenty of seating. Dinner will be served in the hallway right outside the room.

The bulk of our event will take place in the basement in rooms SB 101, 102, 106. Computers and software will be provided. Computers are connected to the Internet, but Wi-Fi and ethernet cables will be available for those wishing to bring laptops. Other unused rooms are available in the building, and a parent/guardian lounge space will be set up either in the library or in a nearby room when needed.

PARKING: 

Park in the Brown School of Business and Leadership lot or in the Mustang Stadium lot down the hill. Handicap parking is available if needed. Parking is free for all. 

Friday Night:

Groups will gather, register, and mingle. A keynote speaker will give insight and advice on the process and purpose of Global Game Jam as well as discuss a related topic of their choice. The speaker will then reveal the theme. Participants brainstorm as many different potential games for that theme. Then students share their ideas, posting them where everyone can see. Once all ideas are gathered, groups are formed based on who wants to work on which game. 

Saturday - Sunday: 

Groups spend the remainder of Friday, all day Saturday, and most of Sunday working together to make their game. Depending on the complexity and type of games, by Sunday evening groups will have one of the following to present: A full, playable game; one level of a larger more expansive game; or a detailed game proposal with clearly defined art, mechanic, and narrative choices, samples of which can be shared.

Sunday Evening:

Each group then presents their creations. Presentations are open to anyone, whether they participated in the Jam or not. After each game is presented, games are played and there will be an opportunity to ask the creators more specific questions.

*Food: Dinner is served Friday, snacks and lunch Saturday and dinner Sunday.

Yes! We have everything you possibly need. Computers, Unity and other software, advice, mentoring, and craft materials. 

No. While, registering in advance ensures we have enough food and t-shirts for everyone, we welcome walk-ins on Friday night as well! We'll help you get registered on the site and ready to jam. 

Nope! In fact, many of our jammers at this site come with zero previous game experience. Plus, you'll be surprised how the skills you already possess in other disciplines can be applied to games! 

While the goal is to create a new game in 48 hours, and many teams strive to finish that game, the truth is just as many games don't get completely finished in one weekend, and that's okay too! You still created something new, learned new things, and have something you can build on for the future. 

The scope of some game ideas may be too large for your tools, team, or time, so instead focus on perhaps just the first level. If you're trying a game enginge for the first time, you may set your sights on just getting a character, controls, and first setting finished, even if you know how the rest of the game will progress. If you want to finish a game, keep your goals realistic. Aim for short games and use tools that help expediate the process. Work in a larger team so you have the help you need to see it through. At the end of the weekend, whether you have a fully playable game, or just an awesome collection of concept art and outlines -- you should be proud of what you've created and what you've learned! 

Yes! Whether they're finished all the way or not, you'll share your work on the Global Game Jam website and during the showcase. This is also where you'll be able to see all the games that were created all around the world this same weekend! How did others envision the them? How did they implement diversifiers? What fun new games are going to be hitting the markets fully formed in just a few months? Share and explore! 

You will also have a showcase on Sunday where you can invite friends and family to play your games at Stevenson University. They'll learn about your process and have a chance to actually play your game for the first time!