This year's Global Game Jam recently came to a close, and it was quite a confidence-building experience!
Admittedly, this was not my first time participating in the Global Game Jam, as I also took part last year. To be back at the NYU Game Center was a familiar sight. Once the introduction nearly began, I entered the room and conversed with fellow EGD members about teams.
I truthfully did not have a team before the start of Friday, so I had to scramble to find one like last year, but this year, I managed to find myself in a group of seven jammers. Once our team assembled, we headed to the sixth floor to discuss game ideas related to the theme: bubbles. With some deliberation, we decided to focus on a restaurant-like experience underwater with fish as customers. Thus, the first day ended with an idea established, and our requirements for the game mostly set in place.
Unfortunately, on the second day, I had to skip out on most of the morning and early afternoon due to a monthly Saturday workshop requirement outside of Global Game Jam. Honestly, this was the most painful thing I had to do since it meant that I missed out on a lot of the early work. After completing my workshop, though, I made my way back to the NYU Game Center. Since the whole team was currently in deep progress in the mechanics and art, I decided to be instead the project manager, which meant that I did check-ins with the rest of the team to note what progress had been made, what still needed to be done, and what changes and new mechanics could be made. This was not the first time I focused more on project management, as during the summer, I had to do project management for two other games.
The last day of the jam was the calmest morning by far since I got to drink Red Bull. Once the rest of the team arrived, we got to work as we finished up the game. Unfortunately, we encountered two hiccups: one of our laptops suddenly died for a few minutes, and the audio was either distorted or unavailable on our laptops during the showcase. It was sad since Carter, our music and audio guy, cooked with the music. In terms of reactions to the game, some said it felt fun, while others said it stressed them out. Someone from EGD even claimed that he was going to have a heart attack from the game but that it was still a blast.
The jam concluded with an awards ceremony, in which EGD won 2 awards (just like last year)! So overall, this year's Global Game Jam was miles better than the first time I participated in a game jam, and that’s what game jams are all about, as we attempt to improve and try out old and new skills!
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