Global Game Jam 2024

Story by Syd Morgan, Editorial Intern

This past weekend, January 26-28, game enthusiasts from across Northeast Wisconsin came together to participate in Green Bay’s Global Game Jam. In a Game Jam, game developers ranging from professionals to amateurs are given a theme and 48 hours to create a game. This year’s theme was “Make Me Laugh,” or create a game that was humorous.

“Jammers” come from all different backgrounds and bring different skills to contribute to the game development process. Each group sources artists, programmers, writers, audio designers, as well as many different types of creatives that all work together on the game design.

Global Game Jam has a heavy emphasis on collaboration and encourages a do-it-yourself approach as opposed to competition. There is always hesitation from newcomers, but the Game Jam space is inviting and embraces people from all creative backgrounds and skill levels.

Zane Petrie, a UW-Green Bay student that participated in the Global Game Jam, worked as a writer in a team of four to create the game “Russ Russ.” The best part—they were complete strangers to Petrie going into the weekend. “The socialization was my favorite part,” says Petrie. “We hung out, and we were just best buds for two days straight.”

Professor and Co-director for UW-Green Bay’s Center for Games and Interactive Media (CGIM) Julialicia Case also participated in this year’s Game Jam, and worked with other UW-Green Bay professors to create the game “Spirits and Septuagenarians.” In the game, you work as a retirement community developer that keeps getting possessed by different deceased older folks asking for increasingly weird features to include in the retirement home you’re building.

Case says about Global Game Jam, “The thing I like most is that it’s such a short period of time, but you work hard, you get to know other people, and you make something really cool in the process.”

Global Game Jam is about making connections and having fun with others while stepping outside your comfort zone, and challenging yourself. Someone coming to the Game Jam site doesn’t need to have any experience making games, but just need to come prepared to share their unique gifts and learn something new along the way. Check out some of the awesome games from this weekend, and to stay updated on the next Game Jam, follow @uwgb_cgim on Instagram.text

Click to advance slideshow or view the album on Flickr.

– Photos by Dan Moore, UW-Green Bay Marketing and University Communication