Global Game Jam

Participants in the Global Game Jam are of all skill levels and in various fields. Everyone from professional game developers to educators to artists and designers is welcome to participate. Once the jam begins, participants come up with game ideas, before pitching those ideas to each other and forming teams to work together on a project. == Event organization ==

Groups wishing to host a jam site must fulfill certain requirements. Their location must have Internet access for everyone involved, access to development resources such as an IDE, possibly preinstalled at the location, an event coordinator, beverages and nearby food access, if possible, round-the-clock availability of the location, and security for belongings. At the beginning of the event participants are given a theme, such as "Extinction" in the 2011 Jam. Participants are asked to create a game that in some way relates to this theme. Additionally, participants are given a list of "achievements", also referred to as diversifiers. These are designed to drive creative development by adding a unique or limiting factor to their game's design. == Past events ==

The first Global Game Jam was held from January 30 – February 1, 2009, at 53 locations across the globe. During the jam, 1650 participants created 370 games. The second Jam expanded further in 2010, increasing to 138 sites and resulting in 900 games made by 4300 creators. The 2012 Game Jam ran January 27–29 with over 10,684 participants in 242 locations (47 countries). 2209 games were created. According to a March 2 press release, the Global Game Jam is recognized as the largest in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. The 2013 Game Jam was held January 25–27 with 16,705 participants in 319 locations (63 countries). 3248 games were created. The 2014 GGJ was held January 24–26 with 23,198 participants in 488 locations (72 countries). 4290 games were created. The 2015 GGJ took place from 23 to 25 January with 28,837 participants in 518 registered jam sites in 518 locations (78 countries). 5438 games were created. The 2016 GGJ was held January 29–31 with over 36,164 participants in 93 countries. == Event themes ==

• 2009 – "As long as we have each other, we will never run out of problems" (plus extra time-zone-specific themes, including "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain") • 2011 – "Extinction" • 2013 – Sound of a Heartbeat • 2014 – "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." • 2015 – "What do we do now?" • 2016 – "Ritual" • 2019 – "What home means to you" • 2020 – "Repair" • 2021 – "Lost and Found" • 2023 – "Roots" • 2024 – "Make Me Laugh" • 2025 – "Bubble" • 2026 – "Mask" == Intellectual property ==

All games produced are created under the Creative Commons Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0 free license, therefore they remain the intellectual property of their creators, while the Global Game Jam retains the ability to use any game as promotional material. As a part of this and as part of the license, every game is archived, along with source code for many digital games, on Global Game Jam's website. == References ==