A Game Jam is one of the most important things you can do if you are trying to break into the games industry. They teach you what the game pipeline looks like, introduce you to other game devs, and help you bust out a TON of good interview material in only a week or less.
What is a Game Jam?
Can a Game Jam get you a job in games?
Read on to find out!
What is a Game Jam?
A Game Jam is an event, usually hosted online, where a group of game developers with various skillsets get together and try to make a fully playable game.
These are often based on a theme and within a tight time constraint.
You basically try to find a team of game developers to make a mini game studio.
You can create a team of any number of different skills depending on the game you want to make.
For example, one artist and one programmer can do a game jam together if they are both creative and willing to learn new things along the way.
It’s best to acquire a team with well rounded skills so each person can easily be the master of their domain, and hopefully collaborate well with you.
if you’re lucky enough to have any friends in the industry it can be a rewarding project to do in teams of your friends, but I always recommend bringing in new people to help meet new devs!
If you have never seen what a game jam game looks like:
https://artngoodfeelings.itch.io/seal-force <—This is a jam that I worked on!
The theme of the jam was “Stronger Together” so we made a game about a squad of seals who work together to destroy a building. The player has to control multiple seals, bounce them off each other, distract the human, and solve a few puzzles to beat the game. We only had 1 week to make this game, and we both work full time, so in reality we did almost the entire game over one weekend.
Is it the best looking game around? No absolutely not.
Did we win the Game Jam? Not even close.
So what is the point???
- We learned SO MUCH, because we had to learn new things in order for the game to be finished
- We proved to ourselves that we can make a game! Just the two of us! Even if it’s bad.
- We ended making some really fun assets that can be reused in the future
- It’s a good “proof of concept” for a larger more complex game later.
- It was fun
Honestly it was worth it just for the seal rig, which everyone loves, and who’s animations have gotten me A LOT of new followers on Instagram.
Can a Game Jam really lead to a job in games?
YES!!
It is the number one thing I would recommend to anyone trying to break into the games industry.
Here’s why:
- Getting a job in games is far more about WHO you know than WHAT you know. Doing a game jam is the easiest way to meet and work with people who are already in the industry!
- You get to show ’em what you’ve got! (Think about it, who would you be more likely to hire: a person you’ve never met who’s just telling you they will be good at the job, or someone you’ve worked with before who you know will be good at the job?)
- You get hands on experience working in the game pipeline, and you will learn a TON in a very short period of time. It’s like a learning speed-run.
- At the end of the week you will literally have a fully playable game to add to your resume/website/portfolio.
- You will have some actual experience to talk about in your interview.
To get my point across with number 1 I have to tell you a secret. I haven’t applied to a job since I got out of college. Every. Single. Job. I have had in the past 7 years has been from referrals of people I worked with at my first game industry job. I haven’t updated my resume in 7 years.
Have I got you fired up about game jams?! They’re awesome right?
Now, game jams may be fun, they can also be stressful so make sure you get a lot of sleep beforehand.
When in doubt, communicate with your team. Stay hydrated, I believe in you!