I have participated in over 18 game jams so far and here is some of what I learned.
Game jams are opportunities for you to prototype ideas and check whether they are as good as you thought they would be before making a large game with similar mechanics. You also get to meet new people and learn from them. Networking is also great if you plan on building a career in related industries.
Spend most of your time polishing the core mechanics, gameplay loop, and the level. More mechanics does not necessarily mean it is a better game, but a game with well-polished mechanics and gameplay means it is more likely to be a good and effective game. It is better to full-ass a few things than half-ass many things.
Gather references for visuals and audio so the artist and music composer would know what kind of aesthetic and mood to aim for.
Create a shared spreadsheet with a list of all the required assets and progress. Allow your team to update the spreadsheet. This helps the team to see quickly and clearly what is required and how much is completed.
If you are new to game jams, team up with one or two members, optimally an artist and a music composer. Having someone working along with you makes it easier for you to focus on your own speciality.
Working as a team can also lead to a better game since each element has a specialist working on it. However, having too many teammates can be challenging to coordinate with and to maintain consistency in "game feel" if you are a beginner.
Be clear about what you want from the jam and what your teammates want too - is it a hobby or are you gaining experience to eventually become a professional? Make sure your commitment level aligns enough with that of your teammates for the project.
Trust your teammates' judgements- especially if they are not new to their fields. You may give them prompts and references to work with, but let them come up with their own ideas. Higher level of creative freedom can lead to creation of better assets. Micromanaging your teammates' works can lead to inconsistent "game feel" since a significant amount of your influence would clash with that of your teammates.
Share the progress of your game with others from early on during development and consider their feedback.
At the end of the jam, take feedback from other developers and from players, and reflect on it. Write down the feedback somewhere easily accessible- maybe in the project folder. This helps keep track of your growth and experience.
Analyse others' games and learn from those games while also providing feedback to the devs.
1. What did you like about their game?
2. What was difficult to do or understand?
3. What could be changed for a more enjoyable experience?
Take feedback from your teammates - ask them what you could have done differently to make their work easier. This helps you better plan or communicate with teammates in the future.
Write a postmortem- mention what you aimed for, what worked out, what did not work out and what could have been done differently to make it work. This helps you reflect and learn from your experience.
Published on 18 December 2023