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How long does it take to create a video game? According to the trail blazers at the Global Games Jam, just 48 hours – all in the spirit of good fun of course!

The flagship event of the 2017 TAFE Open Week saw 183 game developers converge on the North Sydney campus for the Global Games Jam. Global Games Jam is an annual international event in which competitors from around the globe are given a theme to create a fully playable game in just 48 hours. 2017’s event saw over 36,000 jammers in 702 sites across 95 countries create over 7,000 games in just one weekend!

Artists, musicians, coders, designers, writers, producers and more spent a hectic sleepless weekend creating games inspired by the deceptively simple theme of “waves“, with matters being complicated by our list of optional diversifiers. The games that emerged at the end of the weekend took the theme in many directions, some very literal and others more esoteric. We had ocean waves, sound waves, Mexican waves, enemies attacking in waves, players communicating by waving their hands, and so much more.

“Global Games Jam offers both TAFE North Sydney students and the wider Sydney gaming community the chance to come together and share their love and passion for gaming.” says Daniel Hale, Game Development Course Coordinator at TAFE North Sydney.

Having competed in every Games Jam since January 2015, Ray Frihy and Memia Lin are certified Games Jam veterans – at just 18 years of age! Both began their studies at TAFE North Sydney at 16, completing the Diploma of Interactive Games and are now currently completing an Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media.

For them, Games Jam has been instrumental in developing their technical skills for game development, as well as giving them the real-world experience of working towards deadlines and collaborating as a team – essential skills necessary to succeed in the highly competitive gaming industry. This sentiment is echoed by their teacher Daniel Hale; “Ray and Menia are both great examples of the budding talent we are seeing at TAFE North Sydney. Games Jam offers them and others students the chance to meet directly with industry professionals and demonstrate their amazing talent, we believe it is really important to nurture talent and provide them with the skills necessary for a successful career in games development.”

Now in it’s third year, TAFE’s Global Games Jam saw the cream of Sydney’s video game development crop come together as a community to share their knowledge and passion for gaming. A fantastic live stream hosted by Bajo (Steven O’Donnell from ABC’s Good Game) led to the reveal of the “waves” theme after a keynote video created by the team at Extra Credits. This led to a frenzy of creation, which didn’t stop at the weekend. Many games developed in previous Game Jams have become fully realised games. The Global Game Jam is open source, hardware and software agnostic and all projects are protected under a Creative Commons license. Some standout mentions from this year included:

Wave Breaker – A tsunami survival game with a bizarre Nicholas Cage Easter egg.

CYCLONE_RYDER.EXE – A wave pattern maze game that is deceptively difficult.

Electric Surfaloo – A surfing themed game which pits Broseidon against an onslaught of beach goers.

That’s My Queen – A truly unique and entertaining concept that requires you to make the correct hand gestures to your kingdom’s subjects as you pass by in your car.

For a full list of games created and participant lists follow the link to the official Games Jam site here.

image source: TAFE North Sydney – Global Games Jam