Book Image

The Game Jam Survival Guide

By : Christer Kaitila
Book Image

The Game Jam Survival Guide

By: Christer Kaitila

Overview of this book

<p>Game jams are fun. They are a creative, exciting, social experience. The goal of a game jam is to design a video game, either alone or in teams, as fast as is humanly possible; usually in a single weekend. <br /><br /><em>The Game Jam Survival Guide</em>, written to help you have more fun and achieve greater results at your next game jam by building a successful game without burning out, leads readers through each 12-hour phase of a 48-hour weekend game jam.</p> <p>Weekend warriors: dominate your next game jam! If you follow the system shared in this book, you will be able to build an amazing game that you're proud of and will entertain players, all in just one crazy 48-hour game jam weekend … and survive to tell the tale! <br /><br />Embrace the best practices and techniques of past game jam winners and avoid common pitfalls along the way to the finish line. You too can survive a 48-hour game development marathon with your mind intact and an amazing game to show off to friends and family!<br /><br />With <em>The Game Jam Survival Guide</em> you will learn the secret techniques that master game jammers use to create winning entries. It starts by showing you great ways to brainstorm and design a game based on a theme. It then moves on to highlight the best tools and techniques to finish a game in a weekend of coding. Anecdotes and advice from past winners and losers combined with humorous words of encouragement are sure to help you on your way. The author presents a list of game jams around the world, online communities worth checking out, fantastic game engines, and art resources. Finally, learn how to monetize your game by gaining sponsorship from big gaming websites. It's the fun way to make your own video game in one weekend!</p>
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
The Game Jam Survival Guide
Credits
About the Author
About the Contributors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

What the experts say: Austin Breed


To finish your game before the deadline, start on the hour the theme is announced, even if you only have time to jot down ideas. When you go to bed you will have the theme fresh in your mind, and sometimes the best ideas are discovered when you're in a relaxed half-sleepy state. Being able to wake up already knowing what the game will be gives you a head start; just don't forget to write it down!

A great way to come up with an idea to fit the theme is to get away from your computer and live in real life for a bit. I read somewhere that Shigeru Miyamoto created the mushroom kingdom after a walk in the woods. In my personal opinion, the best games reflect on things we feel and interact with in nature. Perhaps if more people thought like this we'd have less Call of Duties and more Katamari Damacies.

Note

Austin Breed is one of the organizers of the Newgrounds Game Jams, a freelance artist and the creator of games such as Covetous, A Mother in Festerwood, and...