Before the Jam:

Video games are beautiful things; that is a statement I will proudly die on. My love for them can only be described as an uncontrollable flame set to devour the world in immaculate glory. But I’ve always been curious as to the inner workings of game development. I know at the surface that video games have many facets, programming, coding, art, sound design, etc., but I wanted to see it for myself. Thanks to the All Hallows Game Jam, my wishes came true, and within 48 hours, I witnessed a taste. Small and spontaneous, but absolutely ambrosial.

For those unaware, a game jam is a type of competition where developers make a game from scratch within a set amount of time. The time limit can vary wildly from 24 to 72 hours, but no matter what, a product must be ready to present by the end—finished or not.

I like to think of myself as an avid gamer, but I’d never heard of game jams until weeks before this article. As it turns out, game jams go back to 2002, with the appropriately named “0th Indie Game Jam,” taking place in Oakland, California.

Now that I’m aware, I decided to create a little series to bring some much-needed light to my local indie dev scene and help you, dear reader, gain a greater appreciation for the art of game-making.

With all that said, let’s jam, dear reader.

Day 1: Preparations

October 13th, 2023. The sheer coincidence of beginning the jam on Friday the 13th was not lost on me. Perhaps fate is working its otherwordly magic. In any case, the jam didn’t start until 6 p.m., so I had plenty of time to stuff my face with pizza and become acquainted with some of the attendees.

That’s when I saw an opportunity. Two attendees, a freelance photographer and a local journalist, were chatting. I went up to them and quickly asked if they were the Press. Being a pup in this vast world of wolves eager to learn, act, and swoop into the fray, I first needed to learn from the much more adept members of the pack. However, I must admit that interacting with strangers can either be so easy that the words fly out my tongue or so hard that I aggravate them just by breathing the same air. Luckily, it went well, although they appeared to be quite annoyed, not by me, but something about having an unintentional twenty-minute conversation and wanting it to end. Part of the journalistic life, I suppose.

Regardless, we got along, and they shared some great tips with me, such as having an actual camera. To which I, being the neophyte that I am, did not bring, as I thought my phone would be enough. To succeed in this field, you need a few number of tools. The photographer had two beastly cameras, while the journalist had her own. The pictures above were taken with my Motorola Edge+ 2022, and while I find the quality passable, they could be much better. Next time, bring a camera.

Now, we get to the pre-jam conference. With jubilant flamboyance, the host laid down the laws of the jam. The categories, the prize pools, the scoring system, the raffles, the taboos, the PG-13 rating…

Yeah… I’m not sure how to feel about that one. On one hand, horror doesn’t necessarily have to be mature and adult-oriented. One of my favorite horror series is Courage the Cowardly Dog. On the other hand, it’s PG-13. You can’t push the horror genre to its limits without gushing some guts, getting uncomfortably dirty, or questioning societal structures. With rules like these, I doubt I’ll see anything akin to my beloved Silent Hill. But their pitches sound promising, and I’m hoping somebody gets subversive.

But so ends the first day, with the participants scrambling to make teams and brainstorming their projects. I wouldn’t see anything until the next day, so I left shortly after, eager for tomorrow to arrive.

Day 2: Interviews

Indeed, I am cursed, for insomnia has stricken me, and my night bled into the day. Even now, I struggle to give shape to these words. But I must not be deterred; my job is unfinished, and I’m sure the dev teams didn’t get much sleep either. If there is one critical skill to learn from this event, it is the unfortunate reality of crunch time. I can only hope the world shows them mercy in their endeavors.

For the devs, the day begins at 8 a.m., and as I wasn’t competing, I went during the afternoon. Entering the venue again, I draw upon every ounce of my willpower for today was interview day. Although the air feels more casual than yesterday, it is on days like these that I pre-plan everything I do. What I’ll say and do, how I’ll act, it’s all burned into my mind and the words stitched into my throat. It was my first time conducting interviews; the last thing I needed was to make a bad impression. With my Samsung tablet in hand and Sony camera hanging from my neck, it’s time to talk.

I spent the entire day introducing myself and asking questions, and it’s hard for me to believe that it all started because one of the devs liked the shirt I was wearing. Speaking of clothing, here’s me wearing the complimentary T-shirt:

Everything afterward came naturally and somewhat eliminated the insomnia. I spoke with six teams, two duos, and one solo act. Below are their submissions; just click on a picture to visit their pages:

Summaries:

1. Carry On Troopers
   You are a robot traversing a desolate wasteland. As you progress, dialogue prompts will appear, and you must make a choice. To ignore and proceed onward or indulge in brief moments of respite.
   
2. Don’t Wait
   You are a victim of a mad scientist’s experiment and must find three items while avoiding the evil creature and other awful machinations. Don’t stand still.
   
3. Hold Your Breath
   You are exploring a space occupied by grotesque monsters. Be mindful of your breath, for they can hear it.
   
4. Sir Francis
   You are a young girl who lives with her evil mother. Complete tasks and puzzles within a weekly timeframe or suffer.
   
5. Soothing
   You are a guest at the Spamen’s resort. The Spamen will try everything to make sure you never want to leave.
   
6. The Eclipse Mall Tape
   Navigate through a haunted mall while solving various puzzles. Greatly inspired by analog horror.
   
7. The Subordinate
   You and a friend must repair a broken submarine while avoiding a shadowy threat. Can you reach the surface in one piece?
   
8. The Walk Home
   Explore a town and search for clues to your home while avoiding the evil ice cream truck.
   
9. Wrap
   You are a wizard, and a burglar has stolen your arms. Use your trusty magic scarf to complete numerous platforming challenges.

Interestingly, only two of the teams had sound designers, but their methods for integrating sound were even more peculiar. I wish I could have gotten footage of it, but the sound designer of Don’t Wait used a USB keyboard, while The Subordinate’s designer used a shoe being slammed against a wall and other miscellaneous noises. Nice.

When I think of competitions, my mind defaults to Super Smash Bros. tourneys where the stakes are high and it’s winner-take-all. I find the juxtaposition between what I’m familiar with and the environment here in the venue to be at odds. That’s when I realized this was more of a massive team-building exercise. One member was hoping between teams, and overall, a lot of laughter filled the room. Part of me does wonder if anyone here’s ever made enemies or rivals during these events or has ever been a victim of sabotage. As much as I like to imagine, I better not jinx it.

It is something special to see such friendly cooperation. For the veterans, it will be another jam for their books, but for the neewbs whom I’ve had the pleasure of speaking to, it will be their first. To be part of a dev team, work some pixelated magic, and try not to walk over each other when sharing ideas. Something I would not be able to tolerate.

Indienomicon hosts several game jams throughout the year, with the All Hallows Jam being the newest in their catalog. By working closely with them, I’ve learned that there are many industries that video games are influencing, from Health to Defence and Aerospace, to name a few. Indienomicon is community-funded and collaborates with local universities to allow the next generation of game developers to show their stuff, build a repertoire, and make connections. At the forefront are the fearless indie developers who like being unconventional.

But the day ends once again. Tomorrow will be the most important day, and I hope it’s a banger.

Day 3: Presentations and Winners

The third day begins peacefully. No insomnia, a healthy breakfast, and plenty of time to reflect. Within three days, I have pushed my journalistic skills to their limits, and I’m not the one crunching. Now, I sit in anticipation to see this jam come to a close. All things considered, I had an absolute blast, and I’m happy to interact with my local gaming community like this. There’s a lot more I can learn from game jams, and I definitely plan to attend as many as I can. So, let’s add this one to our books.

3 o’clock, and the games are in… sort of. Some of them were fully playable, while some were not. It really puts into perspective the varying scopes of each project. At first, I thought it was absurd that a game could be constructed within 48 hours. How can one possibly make resonant art with such little time? Then I remembered that video games are not artistic by default. At their very core, video games are functions, controls, and actions. As long as they’re interactive, then time is irrelevant.

4 o’clock, the judges arrive, and there is nowhere to run. It’s now make or break for the devs.

8 o’clock, the results are in. But first, we’ve got some side challenges to address.

Best Scary Face: Gabriel (Hold Your Breath)

Best Scream: Shay (Sir Francis)

Best Costume: Alexis (Carry-on Troopers)

The winners were given 50 dollars to spend as they pleased. Then, the main presentation began, and halfway through, my mother texted me this:

None of the games scared me, but oh boy, was I feeling it after this. Thank the almighty that it was just a mistype…

But anyway, the winner of the first All Hallows Game Jam is…

Personally, I was hoping for Wrap to win since I’m biased toward platformers and is the most aesthetically charming of all the games, but I understood why The Subordinate won. Its developers implemented everything they needed: a playable world, a threatening enemy, and, for the icing on the cake, multiplayer. Even if the game was barebones in terms of an intriguing narrative, its premise tells just enough to create mystery. They can proudly go to Halloween Horror Nights knowing they aced it.

Final Thoughts:

As the event ended, the competitors breathed a sigh of relief and joy as they could now huddle together and sing each others’ praises. What this competition meant to them was for sure lost on me, as I’m not a developer. But I recognize friendship and camaraderie when I see it. My only regret is that I wasn’t as sociable as I could have been. Rookie mistake; next time, it will be better. Maybe I’ll even compete, who knows.

I know for certain that I can’t wait to jam again!