Game Jam 2021

What is a Game Jam?

Have you ever wanted to make your own game but you just didn't have the time to make it happen? Have you thought to yourself "I can definitely make a game, but I just need 48 hours! no distractions, just pure focus and I got this!" well that is game jam in a nutshell.

A Game Jam is an event where you make a game around a secret theme in just 48 hours.

This a fun experience where you get to flex your creative skills and dedicate your focus in producing a game, which might just be a huge hit. Once you find out the secret theme, you can use any game engine to bring your ideas to life. 

From Scratch, a block based programming tool or Unity 3D which is a game engine based on the C# programming language. The tools you use to create your vision is up to you.

This December, abiliti is bringing a creative buzz around games, while at the same time exploring the different process around development, programming, iterative design, narrative exploration and artistic expression. We at abiliti want to give everyone an equal opportunity, are you thinking to yourself, "I don't know how to use unity.. I've never made a game before in my life, I don't even know where to start." It's fine! we encourage everyone to participate and flex your creativity.

The structure of our game jam

We want this event to be safe as well as accessible to anyone within Dubai, therefore, it will be hosted online from December 11th 12:00 PM - 13th 12:00 PM.

Communication

We will be using Discord as our primary form of communication. Discord is an online platform for groups to communicate through channels. We will have multiple channels that will be available, where you can talk to us and we can update everyone about upcoming events, status of the current game jam etc. Everyone needs to make sure they have a discord account days prior to the event.

Submissions

Submissions are broken into 2 parts. 
You will have a presentation that accompanies the project itself. Both the presentation and the game itself needs to be uploaded into google drive and the link to that folder shared on discord, submissions channel.

Part 1 - Presentation

Your game needs to accompany a presentation, which can be made using google slides, it is a free online google presentation tool. This presentation needs to be 4 slides minimum, maximum can be whatever your heart desires. A rough idea of what needs to be covered in the 4 slides are : 

Slide 1 - Game name / title, Introduction to the game, quick introduction to everyone in the team and their responsibilities

Slide 2 - Inspiration - What inspired you to make this particular game? How did you come up with this idea?

Slide 3 - Ideation - The process of ideas you experimented with, what idea did you start with and where did you finally end.

Slide 4 - Final Product - A few screenshots of the game, closing statements, and how would you take this game further if you had the time.

Part 2 - The game itself

The game itself. If you've made a scratch game you have to save the game to the computer and upload the saved file. If you made a game using unity or any other engine, you will have to build your game and make sure all the dependencies are in one folder. That folder needs to be submitted.

The jam is known for helping foster new friendships, increase confidence in younger kids getting into the field of computer science. These jams are always an intellectual challenge. People are invited to explore new technology tools, trying on new roles in development and testing their skills to do something that requires them to design, develop create, test and make a new game in the time span of 48 hours.