The Revolution
in 48 hours:
The Global
Game Jam Annakaisa Kultima
University of Tampere
Finnish Game Jam
Global Game Jam
• “Innovation, Experimentation & Collaboration”
• Physical locations all over the globe
• Students & professionals get together to make games in 48 hours
• World's largest game jam event
Global Game Jam
GGJ 2013:
• Over 16,000 participants
• 319 locations worldwide
• 63 countries
• Over 3,200 games made
History
• Susan Gold, Gorm Lai &
Ian Schreiber
• Inspired by: Nordic Game Jam,
Indie Game Jam, Ludum Dare
• International Game Developer's
Association (IGDA) project from
2009-2012
• 2013 Global Game Jam, Inc.
GGJ rules
• Participants must meet in person
in an approved jam site
• Global theme and diversifiers
– Selected by committee every year
• Non-digital games are welcome
• All games must be released open
source (Creative Commons)
– Must be uploaded to
GlobalGameJam.org
Theme & Constraints
• 2009: “As long as we have each other, we never run out of problems”
• 2010: “Deception”
• 2011: “Extinction”
• 2012: [A picture of Ouroboros]
• 2013: [A sound of a heart beat]
• +Additional constraints
Typical Schedule
• Friday – People come in
– Listen local presentations
– Watch the keynote videos
– Theme is released
– Brainstorm
– Sell your ideas
– Form groups
– Start developing!
Typical Schedule
• Saturday – Continue
developing!
– Stay nourished
• Sunday – Rush your game
ready
– Upload the game
– Presentations
– Party!
Finnish Game Jam
• 2010 – 3 cities
98 participants 25 games
• 2011 – 5 cities
163 participants 39 games
• 2012 – 8 cities
280 participants 85 games
• 2013 – 12 cities
513 participants 138 games
500+ participants of GGJ
in Finland
~2000 game developers
in Finland
What does it take to
run a GGJ event?
• Minimum: – 1 organizer
– A place to stay
– Electricity
– Internet connection
– 1 participant
What does it take to
run a GGJ event?
• Tampere style: – 10+ enthusiastic organizers
– Sponsors for food
– Around 70 participants; students and professionals
– A place to stay overnight
– A reliable internet connection
– Webcam, “Twitter wall”, etc.
– Press release, blog etc.
– T-shirts, badges etc.
Example Games
• Finnish Game Jam 2013
Example Games
• International Fame: – Johan Sebastian Joust
• IGF 2012 Seumas McNally Grand Prize Finalist
– Surgeon Simulator 2013
Competition or not?
• Global Game Jam
is not a competition
• Local competitions
• Some get motivated,
some get intimidated
– Some play
TOO SAFE!
Truly International?
• 319 jam sites in 63 countries covering all time zones
• Countries hosting for the first time in 2013: Bolivia, Chile, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Latvia, Macedonia, Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia and Tunisia
How to get on board?
• Participator? Organizer?
• Check for more information Globalgamejam.org
• Executive directors – Zuraida Buter
– Elonka Dunin
– Foaad Khosmood
– Gorm Lai
Interested to sponsor?
• Contact our Fundraising & Sponsorships Chair,
Susan Gold +1 415 286 3489
Annakaisa Kultima University of Tampere
Global Game Jam
Finnish Game Jam
@AaKoo
@AaKooPlays
Aakoosgamelab.com
Gamelab.uta.fi
Finnishgamejam.fi
Globalgamejam.org
