SANDBOX.SPACE WEEKLY #007

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Happy Wednesday and Issue #007!

This week we’re covering some of the continuing news about layoffs in the industry, while also discussing game industry happenings in several parts of the world. As a global industry it’s exciting to see the rise of game development in areas we don’t typically hear much about. Additionally, China maybe doing a walk back on its push against online gaming in the country. We’ll have to wait and see on that one, but overall we’ve got a lot to discuss on this weeks show!

Have fun,

volpe

Issue #007 | Jan 24th, 2024

007 | Procrastination And The Power of Game Jams

This week is the start of Global Game Jam so it seemed like taking a little time to talk about Game Jams could be a fun time. For those of you who don’t know, Global Game Jam is the world's largest game jam, featuring people from all over the world working on games at different sites in many cities around the globe. GGJ is something we’ve supported and been a part of for over a decade in our office as it’s a wonderful way of getting your community together and having a creative collaboration with people you might not otherwise work with. Game Jams themselves are an activity that I feel many people don’t give enough credit to as a way of “clearing out the creative cobwebs” and they are an excellent way to re-motivate yourself on those projects you’ve been working on forever and can’t quite seem to maintain that high interest level on.

It’s very common in game dev, in fact it’s kind of a running joke, that we start a project super excited and then after working on it for awhile when suddenly have another idea and want to jump over to that one, thus creating a continuous loop of exciting ideas that never get completed. This is something you’ll see in pretty much every creative/artist endeavor. Finishing stuff is hard and requires a lot of work. It’s often said the last 10% of any project is the hardest, because that’s when you really have to buckle down, do all the testing, hunt down those annoying bugs, etc. It becomes really easy to get jazzed about a new concept, and the idea of starting fresh on something new is really appealing. And that’s where Game Jams can come in. They can be that short burst creative output that helps “get it out of your system” but since most game jams have a tight timeframe, usually 48-72 hours, you won’t get too far away from your current project.

Game Jams are also a great way to meet new people and discuss new game ideas. Maybe there is something you’ve been struggling with in your designs and bouncing it around with a few new folks might help. I’ve found that participating in Game Jams has been an incredibly rewarding experience and it has allowed me to get some of the ideas rattling around in my head. And Ultimately it has been a great way to help me remember why I love making games in the first place.

Global Game Jam 2024 is happening now with most events start on Friday January 26th, 2024. You can learn more about it at https://globalgamejam.org

Have fun,

volpe