Summary from Valmuen Game Jam

We've officially held the first Valmuen Game Jam!

Thank you to all participants who came and made this happen! We even had people joining in from Gjøvik and Oslo! I had been so nervous about organizing this event, but the day turned out great thanks to you guys! I counted 27 beautiful developers, and 8 interesting games have been submitted. You can try the games here!

The day started at noon with an introduction of what the jammers had in store for the day. We also had Gisle and Rune from Hamar Game Collective over to talk about Global Game Jam. After that the theme was revealed; "endless runner". Participants brainstormed and pitched ideas, before forming groups. Then we spent the day making things as best we could. At seven we got together and presented what we had made during the day. There were bugs, crashes and laughs. I'm overwhelmed by the creativity and quality of what people can make in such short time! At the end of the day we played a nerdy game of Kahoot, with the winner walking away with a Bulbasaur plushie. The first Pokémon representing our first game jam.

I found that a one day jam absolutely works, and can make for a really fun day of intense production. Within a few hours you get to know new people, and work through the process of making a game from idea to (ideally) playable product. Nobody makes a perfect game on a jam, but we learn, and we have fun.