Do you enjoy coding, video games, designing or even soundtrack creation? Then Gamejam is the event for you.
Gamejam is a 24-hour coding competition to create a game from scratch. It is a time for students to have fun, create a game and see what they can do with a deadline.
Participants are allowed to either work in teams or work individually. At the end of their time, there is a big reveal of the games. People have the chance to play them, then students vote for the winner. The games are judged on their quality of audio, originality, how well the game fits the theme and their playability.
Gamejam is hosted by Jon Denning, department chair and associate professor of computer science and engineering. Participants are encouraged to work in the Euler Science Complex to build community as they work, but they are also allowed to work remotely.
The prize for winning is a 3D-printed miniature arcade trophy, along with boasting rights.
Juniors Noah Wills, computer science visual media and systems major, and Riana Schultz, computer science systems major, both participated in this year’s competition, with Schultz being the winner of this year’s Gamejam.
Since this year’s theme was Glitch Hunt, she and her partner, sophomore Sadie Miller created a game called Glitch Grove. In this game, there is a witch, and she collects pumpkins as decorations for her house. The witch is cursed by the glitch monster, so she periodically glitches, and she also has to defeat six other glitches in order to win and get back to her house.
Schultz has participated in Gamejam since her freshman year. She has enjoyed seeing her own growth as a programmer over the years.
She also enjoys working with others and the challenge of having to focus and be intentional about how she spends her time during the challenge.
“Learning how to set a good scope for how big your project should be or shouldn't, and just working with another person, because that's a part of life, and you have to figure out how to do that,” Schultz said. “I think that's been a really good learning experience.”
Miller was in Japan during this time so they both had to work around a 13-hour time difference, which was a learning curve for both of them.
Wills found managing time hard as he brainstormed an idea and also made it happen.
“It forces you to get good at time management and making hard decisions quickly because of how little time you have,” Wills said.
Since this was not Schultz and Wills first time participating in Gamejam, they both had experience they worked off of. Wills had a strategy where he started small with a very basic game, and built it layer by layer so that, even if the time ran out, he would still be able to submit it.
Although Gamejam can be very intense, it is also a good way to hangout with your friends and get to know other people as well.
Participants do not need a deep interest in computer science or coding to participate in this event. Miller is a professional writing major, and she and Schultz still won first place. It’s a great event to join if you like art, music, gaming or all three.
There is a place for everyone at Gamejam.
