638

The Global Game Jam was this past weekend. And I didn’t participate. Because I was doing this writing jam. A jam is a jam though. One of the major parts of a jam is that you are given a prompt, or a bunch of prompts and what you make from those prompts will be anyone’s guess. I have done a lot of jams by now and I have a few rules for dealing with prompts. It turns out, for me at least, the rules are the same if I am jamming on a game or jamming on some writing. I’ll drop some of them here.

• never take the prompt literally. If the prompt is, say, breaking glass, don’t just make a game about breaking glass. Like a breakout clone where all the bricks are glass. That’s dull. Maybe you are in a submarine and you are trying to patch a leaking window before too much water comes in or it shatters and kills you. Maybe you are doing a workplace simulation and you are trying to break the glass ceiling. Maybe you doing a crossing that transparent bridge… wait. No. Squid Game already did that. Just do something that isn’t the most obvious thing and you will have so much more fun.
• Combine prompts. If you happen to get more than one prompt, or even if you didn’t, mix a couple together. This seems like it would make it more difficult, but, strangely enough, I usually find it makes the entire process easier. Something about adding extra constraints seems to make it more clear what sort of idea to chase.
• Arrive with an idea. Now don’t come in thinking that you will make a certain sort of game or a certain sort of story, but set yourself some goals. One game jam I came in and my only goal was to animate something. Another jam, I only wanted to do pixel art. If it’s a writing jam, think about writing something sad, or in a strange style. Arrive thinking that you will write a sonnet and then work the prompts into that structure. But, of course, be ready to ditch that structure if you come up with a better idea during the jam. It will happen.
• Do something fun. Doing jams is stressful, but it can be a very positive sort of stress. If you aren’t having fun with an idea pretty much right away, you definitely won’t be having fun when you are trying to squash some impossible bug at 3am. Same goes for writing… except without the bugs. Fun doesn’t have to mean funny or light hearted either. Sometimes making something very grim can be fun.

If you do any, or all, of those your jam experience will be so much better, believe me.