Global Game Jam 2016 at MIT

The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The GGJ encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity.

FAQs

When is the Global Game Jam held?

We open our doors on Friday, January 29th at 5pm and run until midnight that day. Our site is open Saturday, January 30th from 9am until midnight, and Sunday, January 31st from 9am until 6pm.

The Global Game Jam is a 3-day event, but our site closes at night so participants can go home and get rested for the next day. Participants should plan to attend the entire duration of the event as your team will need you to complete your game!

Food

Food is available in the nearby area and participants are allowed to bring their own. We will provide dinner on Friday night and coffee throughout.

Restrictions

This site will not have on-site security. All participants must be 18 years or older, or accompanied with a participating parent or guardian. We currently have 60 slots open for this site.

Registration is required!

What to bring?

Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop, especially if they already have licenses of any software they want to use such as Unity.

We have a mix of older laptops available with the following software: Adobe Creative Suite (including Flash Builder), MS Office, Visual Studio. These computers can support various development environments including Java, Python, Game Maker, Processing, Javascript/HTML5, and C#.

I’ve never made a game before!

Great! Maybe you don’t know how to program but can provide assets (art, sound, etc…) or you are an experienced game player and want to take a stab at testing or design. We want you here!

We’ll also be making tabletop games (board, card, live action, etc…) so don’t let not being able to program keep you from participating!

What kind of skills should I have to participate?

It depends! Do you want to make a digital game or a non-digital one? It’s great to have knowledge in programming and game design, in visual art and sound and music, and in writing. Rather than think that way however, try this: “What kind of skills do you want to practice at the game jam?”. This is a great environment to try new things!

The MIT Game Lab is a safe space

The MIT Game Lab is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of race, color, sex, disability, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age, physical appearance, or body size.

We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Event participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the event without a refund at the discretion of the event organizers.

The full anti-harassment policy can be found at http://gamelab.mit.edu/harassment-policy/.