Are game jams a good idea for learning?

A topic by a_kimb0 created Mar 09, 2022 Views: 274 Replies: 5

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I apologize if this isn't the right place to post this, but I've been pretty on/off with game development for about two years now because I've always gotten discouraged from the learning curve and programming with Unity. For a while I've been considering joining a game jam but I'm pretty intimidated by the speed at which games are made / working with a group to put something out, especially for a newbie like me. Are game jams the ideal place to boost my learning? I don't want to drag anybody down with my lack of knowledge and experience, so I was wondering, if not game jams, are there any project groups where I could be taught as development goes along? I feel like I learn things best by having somebody mentor me if at all realistic. I'm tired of watching YouTube tutorials because I don't feel like I ultimately learn anything.

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Midnight Spire Games2 years ago(+3)

Making and finishing small games is probably the best way to learn, and game jams are a good way to get yourself to finish small games, if you have trouble doing it on your own. Working under a strict time constraint forces you to scope way down and just power through it. Finishing is a skill and jams are great practice at it. There are jams that run for all different durations, and in most of them you can absolutely work alone, if you prefer. I always work alone, and I've done jams ranging from one week to two months.

I do think that you will get more out of a jam if you are at least passingly comfortable with your tools before you start. Otherwise, you may spend a lot of time just trying to figure out how to perform unfamiliar tasks, which could be frustrating. Still, you won't lose anything by trying. Even if you don't finish by the deadline, you've still learned something, and you can still finish the project afterwards, if you want. Some jams and jam communities like My First Game Jam are explicitly beginner-friendly and might be a good place to learn.

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a_kimb02 years ago

Thank you for the link! I didn't know about beginner friendly game jams so I'll definitely check this out :)

Your point about being frustrated with unfamiliar tasks was precisely what I've been hesitant about when thinking about participating. In any case I'll make sure to check out My First Game Jam! Thank you once again.

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Midnight Spire Games2 years ago(+1)

You're welcome. If you don't want to attempt a jam right now, I would still suggest trying to make a small game, like a basic jumping platformer or an arcade clone. You will probably stumble and have to look up how to do some things, but that's the only way to learn. Don't worry too much about making mistakes or writing bad code. When you're done, you'll learn from those mistakes and do better next time.

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DarkBloodbane2 years ago(+1)

Participating in game jam also helps you to learn fast decision making. When jam is about to end and your game is 80% complete, you have to make quick decision to ensure your submitted game is complete.

So my suggestion if you're not sure about joining game jam yet, is to join game jams with long duration: one week for shortest and one month for decent time. Make sure your game is COMPLETE before submitting. This small suggestion should be enough for you :).

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Identical Games2 years ago(+1)

Don't be afraid of failure. My first game jam entry was horribly incomplete. I thought I could do much more than I had time for. The second one I entered was the Disc Room Game Jam. It was great because it suggested doing just one room. They even had an example built using GameMaker (I think). I rebuilt the example in Godot and then implemented my own entry.

I'm currently working on a 7drl entry. I have a minimum viable game that is almost there. Not sure if I will get to put in more ideas after that.

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Are game jams a good idea for learning?