GAMERella is a friendly game making event, focusing on inclusivity, accessibility, eduction and support! FREE and OPEN to the public!

GAMERella is the world’s longest running annual game jam and workshop series focusing on supporting marginalized game creators and aspiring game makers. Our next edition is planned for November 11-12, 2023.

Hundreds of people have made their very first game at GAMERella with the support of our amazing industry mentors, live and video workshops, and low-stress environment. NOW IT IS YOUR TIME!

For news and updates, follow us on Instagram!

As always, GAMERella invites women (cis/trans), trans men, non-binary/genderqueer folks, LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC, and any others who feel they haven’t had a chance to make a game, to join GAMERella in a weekend of fun game-making on November 11-12, 2023.

WHEN IS THE JAM?

November 11-12, 2023

For in-person jammers in Montreal, we will start Saturday at 10am and wrap up at Sunday 5pm. However, we think sleeping is more important than making games, so we will all be sending you home to have a good sleep at night's sleep!

All participants will be invited to submit their game to our itch.io jam page!

HOW TO PREPARE?

1. Look through our list of simple game making tools on our Resource page at http://gamerella.ca/. Lots of simple tools you can learn quickly! 

2. Please also check out our values before joining! http://gamerella.ca/

3. More questions? Check out our FAQ page!

4. Still unsure about something? Send us a message! We want to know if there is anything else you might need to make this weekend less stressful for you!

THEME

Extraction

Modifiers:

• Cocoon
• Depth
• Transitions
• Blend
• Resurfacing
• Everyone is a bug
• Shiver me timbers
• Ghostboss
• “Rules??”

ONLINE SCHEDULE

SATURDAY

• 9:30am Setup
• 10:00am Watch our Keynote stream (link coming soon)
• 11:00am Jam!
• 10:00pm Work is over, please rest!

SUNDAY

• 9:30am - 3:00pm Work, work, work!
• 3:00pm Updates & last-minute debugging
• 5:00pm Time’s up, upload games to itch.io!

HEALTH & SAFETY

At GAMERella, we want to continue to exercise caution, approaching public health measures from a place of mutual-care and in ways that ensure the wellbeing of all our participants. Our location is very well ventilated. But we are also amplifying ventilation with a large HEPA air filter. We encourage all in-person participants to wear a surgical or higher quality mask. KN94 masks will be provided free of charge to all participants.Furthermore, please ensure that you wipe down your work-space after use using the cleaning supplies we have provided.

If you have COVID symptoms leading up to/during the jam, or test positive, please remain/return home and immediately notify the organizers. Thank you!

WE WOULDN'T BE HERE WITHOUT...

GAMERella 2023 is supported by EA Motive Studio, Weird Ghosts, Behaviour Interactive, Warner Bros. Games and Clever Endeavour.

Our partners include Concordia University,  Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, and our host: D3 Innovation Hub.

OUR STORY

Dissatisfied with the game spaces and opportunities provided for women in Montreal’s game scene, Gina Hara and Charlotte Fisher created GAMERella in 2013. Since then GAMERella has welcomed over 1000 participants in a low stress, learner-friendly environment. GAMERella participants have come a long way over the years: founded over a dozen game studios, went to study games, became professional freelancers, got hired by many AAA studios, and even came back to GAMERella to teach, mentor and become organizers!