How to, if you're lucky, make an interesting game at a game jam!
Hey there!
For this year GameDev GBG calendar I wanted to spend some time waxing on about the almost impossible challenge that is creating a (fun) game in 48 hours. Though I'll try and skip the advice you've heard a hundred times over.
A game jam is and isn't a competition all at the same time, its competitive aspects not a primary focus, yet many larger jams have a jury and a award ceremony at the end. The goal of this little writeup is not to necesserily shift your priorities from having fun to competing - but if you, like me, enjoy the challenge of butting heads with fellow gamedevs for a couple of days then this little guide might be for you.
A quick note before we dive in: for your first 5 or so jams, the focus should be on just finishing something at all, feel free to disregard any of the tips below.
Tip #1 - Don't be boring
This might really be the crux of most games that don't find their time in the spotlight at the end of a jam. Complexity really has nothing to do with how interesting a game can be. But a platformer where you stand on buttons to open doors will struggle to stand out. Be a bit dramatic, over the top and different. We all know what games we find interesting, but somehow when we jam we often forget this point. The odds of creating something interesting if the idea wasn’t interesting when you “brainstormed it” is very low. For Gecko-Rocket-Golf we at least thought that a lizard with a rocket strapped to its back would create some emotional response.
Tip #2 - don't make a demo
Create a finished (and therefore short) experience. Why make a (shitty) roguelike game where the idea is that through multiple sessions build up hours and hours of gametime, when the average playtime of a jam game is somewhere around 5 minutes. Make those 5 minutes sing! Creating the scrolling credits of HeroGlyph and I Live Here are some of the most satisfying moments in the jam, it makes the experience feel complete. I would much rather play 5 great minutes than 10 that feel like they are dragging.
Tip #3 - lie, cheat and steal
Borrow an artstyle, copy a core mechanic from another games. Using TikTok I have a folder called "GameDev" where videos, not necessarily, about games are catalogued, these are a great jumping off point. What Grows up is just an attempt at creating a Foddy-Like and an earlier jam game, Get Up has that climbing flavor but in a 2-player shell. I Live Here crudely started as an attempt at working with the artstyle of Felix Colgrave, but then morphed into something different. For Heartburner I mostly wanted to try and combine the combat avoidance gameplay from Undertale with the smooth flying of Luftrausers as well as looking at the artstyle found in games like Helltaker. And even though it’s a sore topic to a lot of people, Music is difficult, not many musicians are at game jams and the songs that are free to use at those “free-sound” websites are IMO more often than not terrible.
Tip #4 - spend a liiiiitle more time in the idea stage
Short and to the point. Don’t stop brainstorming when the first idea forms in the collective mind of the group. Write it down then forget about it. Now try and create ideas that you yourself aren’t even sure you think are a good idea to make. Start with an idea “How can we teach an alien language?” “Can the inside and outside of a building be the same thing?” “Can a plane fly in such a cool fashion that it makes huge attractive anime-esque ladies fall in love with it” (HeroGlyph , I Live Here and Heartburner respectively)
Tip #5 - Just make Vampire Survivors…
Yupp, unfortunately, it’s probably the right idea just trying to make Vampire Survivors. But you know, better.
Merry x-mas if you’re reading this in December.
And PS: Global Game Jam is in january, Ludum Dare is in April and GMTK game jam is yet to be announced.