Welcome to My First Game Jam: Winter 2022! For those of you just joining us, it's been a tradition to kick things off with a little getting-to-know-you questionnaire! For the first-time game developer, things can be pretty intimidating... which is why we want to show you you're not alone! This is not a required activity— it's just meant as a way to break into the community for returning jammers and newbies alike.

We'd love for you to share your influences, passions, and jam goals with the rest of us. Who knows — you might meet a potential team member, or even a new friend!

(These questions are entirely optional; they're just here to warm things up, so feel free to skip them as needed!)

Onto the questions!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

For returning jammers:

7. Any advice to new participants?  8. What can the admins do to improve your jam experience?  9. What are some of the past works you've made for the jam? Show off your favorites!  10. Bonus: Got any question suggestions? Let us know for next year!

I guess I will be the first here

1. I am Paul and well I have always been interested in making my own games

2.No I did nit particapte in last year's jam since I didn't know about these till Dec (I joined in on the Secret Santa Jam) My reason for joining is that I want to learn some new game engines beside RPG Maker

3> I am fan of JRPG games the art style is one that I have always liked, I have like pixel art games due to their simplistic design  and art style. 

4.I am versed a bit in RPG Maker more specifically RPG Maker VX Ace, I created my first RPG game in Dec with it. It is not much but it was my first attempt at it you can find in on my itch.io page.

5. I have several passions, one is video, the other two are Retro gaming and game design, so I have combined all three on my youtube channel 

6. My goals for this jam is to learn some new game engines more specifically I would like to learn Unity a bit more .

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

Jason Terry

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?   

I did not.This will be my first Game Jam, and I am really hoping to meet people and help others accomplish something.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Ogre Battle 64, Battle Hunter (From PSX), Legend Of Heros: Trials Of Cold Steel, Melty Blood, Grandia III.

These are some of the games that make me want to make games. They really really inspire me. Ogre Battle was the first game that made me really think about it's design and systems as a young kid and want to build something similar.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

On and off for around 15 years I have been dabbling in different game engines / designing board games. I have about 5 years of Software Engineering experience ( that's what I do for my day job. ) but it is a recent goal to really commit and making game dev something more than an idle hobby.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

Really passionate about helping others learn, clean code.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Soak up some knowledge, lend a hand when able, and learn more about participating in Jams.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

Hey, hello! I'm Jude, a 24y/o hobbyist game dev!

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

I missed the last one sadly but I have done these jams in the past. I always say this, but I'm hoping to be able to judge scale better and actually get a finished product for this jam. 

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

The first game to make me think about making my own was OFF! and I take a lot of inspiration from cozy comfort games like Stardew Valley, but I take a little bit of everything honestly. I love exploring how different developers and different genres tell their stories. 

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I have a little experience with Godot and a fair bit with a tiny engine called Bitsy (and all the hacks that go with it). I love figuring out how things in Godot piece together to make functional and fun games. It's almost like a puzzle!

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

Outside of game design and storytelling, I'm really passionate about tarot! 

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I'd like to use this jam to play with some more technical concepts of development. I think my main mechanic I'm going to focus on is a character select. 

7. Any advice to new participants?

Pace yourself! It's better to set a small goal that you can easily achieve than it is to stress yourself out trying to be impressive. This jam is for learning, not for showing off. Just take it easy and see what you can do.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 
Hello! Iam Petr Hampl and Iam 21yo.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 
Yes I did.  I am really hoping to meet new people and help others accomplish something.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 
My favorite game is stellaris and then civilization and heroes of might and magic and now Project zomboid. I want to be able to create in future some nice strategy game. But what inspired me was fun when programming and solving problems and goal to get job in game company in future.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 
I started sometime around november in 2020. As for game engine I use Unity. 

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 
Iam passionate about game development and I recently started 3D modeling as I find it very calmlming when I just want to chill after rough day. And I love trying to help others.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?
My main goal is to meet new people so in future we could help each other out.

7. Any advice to new participants? 
As someone said before me in this thread go for small scope dont overestimate what you can make in 2 weeks. 
But my main advice would be to join team. Even if you feel like you can make it alone easily it is better to do it in team, because you alone will notice a lot less mistakes than others and most importantly you will meet people who are interested in the same "hobby" as you are. Game development journey is a long road and it is always good to have some people you can count on when you will be lost and wont know what to do. It will also help you stay focused on game development if you will know someone you can share your progress with. 

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

My name's Leonid! I really want to have a hawaiian shirt collection.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time?

I did, actually! Even though the jam lasted for a whole month, I messed it up. I'll try to not overengineer my game this time!

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

I love indie games! I also play Delver, Gothic, and Old-School Runescape. Even though i never played it, TES 3: Daggerfall inspired me to start developing a simple rpg, which I havent finished yet.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I have made 3 (if counting 1 unfinished and 1 joke game) games in godot, and they aren't that good.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

I love cycling to random places and baking!

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Make a more or less polished game!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

Hey! I'm Justin, and I've been playing around with game dev for years in various forms, but I want to get more serious about it this year.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

I did MFGJ summer 2020 as literally my first jam and had a great time making a tiny platformer that was way too hard (but had rad music!). I fully intended to update it a bunch and be back for the next jam, but life got in the way and I mostly shelved game dev for a while. Since then I've tried out Godot and I'm pretty sure I'm in love with it and ready to jump back in.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Lots of games have inspired me, but the biggest are probably almost anything by BioWare and anything by Supergiant. Though I recently finally played Firewatch and wow did that one hit home.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I made a bunch of half-functional things in Clickteam Fusion 2.5, a few false start VNs in Ren'Py, a bunch of experiments that went nowhere in Twine, and the aforementioned jam game in Unity. Finishing stuff is not my strong suit.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

Worldbuilding! Specifically for the fantasy world of my dream game, but also it's just fun in general.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To have some motivation to put in the work and finish something even if it's small, and to make absolutely sure whatever I try to make is small. Also to learn more about Godot and get a better handle on how to make stuff with it.

7. Any advice to new participants?

First, just adding to the chorus of "keep your scope small", and secondly, join the jam Discord! It was a big help to me last time.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

Hi! You can call me Candy or Artie, I respond to either. I'm a transmasc writer who has dabbled in game design here and there over the years.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

I didn't, I haven't participated in a game jam since I was... 17? 18? Something like that. I want to get back into creating after a months-long slump and game development has been calling to me.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Honestly, dating sims tend to be my favorite.  Games like Arcade Spirits, Dream Daddy, and Monster Camp, specifically! They all inspire me in their own ways.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I've dabbled here and there. I've only completed one game ever, and it was in Godot engine. Though I've also started projects I never finished in both RPG Maker VX Ace and Ren.py.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

The Sims! Particularly The Sims 3. I've talked my fiancée's ear off about The Sims lore, gameplay, hidden secrets, interpersonal dynamics, build mechanics, etc. etc. 

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I want to push myself creatively and actually finish a project.

So, I'm just going to jump in here and say Hi :D

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 
Hey there, I'm Jenny, 29 years old and just to get it out of the way: English is not my native language, so I apologise for any mistakes in advance ^^

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 
Nope, I didn't participate in the last jam. Actually, this will be my first jam ever, so I'm pretty hyped :)

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 
I have a ton of games I like. I wanted to make games since I was very young but never did. I want to get more serious which is why I joined this jam.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 
Well, I done some little things in RPG Maker but I wouldn't call those things real game development experience. I recently started fiddling around with Blender, Unity and Unreal Engine. But I'm still at the very beginning with these engines though.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 
I'm passionate about various nerdy things. I like writing my own stories, drawing (anime style as well as my "own" style), pen & paper roleplay as well as LARP. I'm a trained designer and am doing a second apprenticeship as a programmer right now (only in second year now).

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?
I want to finally finish a game and learn a thing or two in the process. Maybe it will be the kickstart for my game developing career.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

I go by Adrienne online. I am fairly shy and usually prefer to lurk on forums.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

This will be the first game jam I have ever participated in.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

I have many favorites that are narrative-based, such as Uncharted or Mass Effect.

However the first game to inspire me to make my own was Stardew Valley.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I have no experience with game development, but have adjacent skills. I have very basic knowledge of C++, and have a degree in 3D animation.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

Telling stories! Character development :)

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I would like to finish a prototype at the least, I am going to set my goals to something manageable as I have not finished a game before.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

Hi, I'm Pepper, I use he/him pronouns, and I'm mostly a baker, trying to be a writer, dabbling in game dev.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

No, I've never participated in any game jam ever because I've never made a game! But I plan to participate in nanoreno, and figured a smaller project would be good before that larger project, before an even larger project.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Disco Elysium absolutely inspired me trying my hand at game dev, but Skyrim is my favorite game of all time. (Ask me about my Skyrim tattoo!)

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

Nope, but I've been doing a bunch of research, and I'll be making this in Ren'py.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

This! But, legit, my degree/career are in the world of sugar and spice. If you don't know why your cookies came out wrong, or why your cake is crooked, I probably do.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Finish making a short game, meet people in this community, and really kickstart this new hobby!

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

I'm Nathan, 32 from the UK, I am a writer and a fantasy author, looking to get into the games industry

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

This will be my first one following advice from my career coach. I am excited to see what we can achieve.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Super mario bros on the snes was where it all started for me, since then I have owned virtually every console, it's always been a big passion. Final fantasy, monkey island, gta and red dead redemption are just a few of my favourites but I could go on listing great games forever.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

Not so much, I did make a small intro to a game on RPG maker Vx a few years back. I also have done a few tutorials with unity

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

Video games! Writing, my children (maybe I shouldn't say it in that order)

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

My goals are to start building my portfolio and learn the skills involved with game development. I look forward to working with you all. 

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi, my name is Dani , I'm 21 years old (He/Him). 

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

No, this is certainly my first jam. It caught my attention because it seemed accessible

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

I love indie games, and that inspire me to try making my own little games

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

A year ago i did a Unity course.  I've done a few little projects, but nothing too complex

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

I really love nature, so the theme that you propose is perfect for me <3 

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

I have  vacations and thought that participate in a jam would be fun :)

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

You can call me Momonica! I use she/her pronouns

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

No, I'm pretty new to this stuff. I really wanted to join one, as I see a lot of people improving and making great projects in these jams.

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

My favorite games are Celeste, Psychonauts 1 and Stardew Valley. The game who really inspired me was undertale, but I can't lie Celeste had a huge impact on me and got me thinking that maybe I could put my stories out there.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I'm currently developing a game of my on with the RPG maker engine. I still have a lot to learn but at least I understand what i'm doing... sort of...

 5. What are your goals for this game jam?

To learn and finally have courage to post something! It will be great to get feedback and support from a completed project, or something I can finally post and share with people :)

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

My name is Dmytro. I'm a CS student with few other hobbies besides gd and code. 

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

Never took part in any jam, this will be one of the first ones for me & my current team.  We're aiming to do some experimentations and explore new genres and ideas, as well as strengthen our teamwork. 

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Rain World, Pathologic , Titanfall  & Half Life are ones of my favorite games. I generaly wanted to do gd for most of my life.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I have some experience with Unity 2D - numerous failed prototypes and one somewhat working "game" for uni assignment. I am a somewhat experienced programmer though.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

Game design & management, worldbuilding. And doing obnoxious stuff. 

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To upload a game. 

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself?

Hi I am Dave  and I am really excited to be participating in this game jam

2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

No I did not , but I have done two other really small game jams before .   I really want to meet other people in the game creation space ,learn more game dev stuff and posiblly have others learn form me too

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

I absolutely love 2d games and artistic games that tell a story . it is so hard to pic a favorite but a game that really sums it up for me is Celeste !

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I have been using Unity for about 2 years now.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

I am really passionate about my YouTube channel that  I just started, it is called  deeraghoogames and I am currently working on a tutorial series for making 2d games, I really enjoy making videos that may help others learn about game development in Unity.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?
hoping that I can stick to the theme, finish my game on time , learn a lot , meet other developers, pass on some of my own knowledge and play some awesome games !

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

My name is a Jacob and just discovered this game jam.  I have schizophrenia  and game dev seems to be the only thing keeping me going these days.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining? 

Now it was impossible for me to know about this before it happened so I started working on my project 3 days prior to this event starting. that being said no systems were implemented just some artwork. I decided to join this jam because this would be the first  game I've ever made!

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Skyrim, the Witcher(all three), lost odyssey for xbox 360,  Diablo 2 aka action rpgs and jrpgs. They haven't inspired me  as my game will be about my mind.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine? 

I've learned c# though 3d buzz's hyperion tutorial. I also have extensive 3d modelling experience through my time modding cs:go.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

I'm passionate about video game modding and creating the artwork. I believe in constant incremental improvement.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

Create a game independently and improve my enviromental and drawing skills.

1. I’m Bartek and I’m a professional writer (technical writer by day, science fiction writer after hours).

2. This is my first game jam ever.

3. Return to Castle Wolfenstein probably has the record log of hours, while Blood and Shogo felt the best, still playing The Great American Cross-country Road Race, Montezuma’s Revenge, and Boulder Dash sometimes.

4. I made one “walk around and do stuff” GB/GBC game with GB Studio.

5. I like cooking and eating meat, I like fantasy and I do plenty of stuff, writing books and comics, building card models (and 3D printing), and plenty of other trash.

6. I’m making a game based on my short novel, about rescuing a broken space station (which is based on the 1980s events on Salyut 7). I want to make as much of the game as I can within the timeframe, before the law of diminishing returns gets me. Also trying not to use tons of free assets, but instead, make all I can by myself.

1. Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

Hello! My name's Mark. I'm very new to the game dev scene and I just recently created my very first game.

 2. Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining?

Haven't participated before. I'm joining because this is my first ever game jam and I also would like to improve my skills by participating 

 3. What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own? 

Tekken and Arma are some of my favorite games. My friend from Arma actually inspired me to make games when he started working on his Arma projects which required a lot of scripting, audio design, and pathmaking and that really inspired me seeing him on his drive for like 6 months straight.

 4. Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine?

Somewhat? I tried Gamemaker years ago and just now I got back to it. Fresh start but I now understand the DnD and GML.

I basically experimented mostly but only this year did I actually make my first game.

 5. Tell us about something you're passionate about! 

This whole game jam is what I'm passionate about. Creating your own worlds and your own characters in games is all I ever dreamed of doing, and accomplishing that is possible with video game development.

 6. What are your goals for this game jam?

To create a fun game that everyone would enjoy and to improve my skills.

My real name is a closely guarded secret, but you can call me Mcniner.

This is my first jam to participate in, but I have created a few projects on my scratch.mit.edu account.

My favorite game to play is Minecraft, no questions asked. My game for this jam was inspired by Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon.

I LOVE Technoblade, a popular Minecraft user who recently hit 10 million subscribers!

My goal for this jam is to create a game that at least a few people play and like, and to finish a project. I have made a few small projects before, but I never finish any big ones, and this is my chance to force myself to finish one. I'm really excited!!!!!

Hi there! What's your name? Want to introduce yourself? 

= Hey, just call me me blazepowder, blaze or AJ. 

Did you participate in the last jam we held? If so, what do you plan on doing better this time? If not, what's your reason for joining

= Nope. Just bored and thought of learning game devlopment.

 What games are your favorites? Did any of them inspire you, or made you want to make your own?

= I have no particular favorites. i just like fun games, games which make me think either by its gameplay or story. i do have some inspiration tho, games like megaman, cuphead, enter the gungeon, the mario series, banjo kazooie are some of them.

Do you have experience with game development? What did you do/with what engine

= not much, ik the basics. i use godot engine.

Tell us about something you're passionate about!

= Movies, music, games, just art and entertainment in general.

What are your goals for this game jam?

= finish a game, duh. i intend the game to be sweaty hands level hard but also fair at the same time, balancing this out and finding a perfect difficulty is something this game jam has taught me. Now let's just hope the game will be fine