Global Game Jam 2023

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Global Game Jam 2023

A still from game Four Door Plant War. An acorn hovers centre screen in front of a grassy path lined with giant toadstools.

Three students sit in a row at computers. The photo is taken from the back, so we see the faces but not their screens. Two are interested in the same screen, while the third is concentrating on their own computer.

A still from game 'Verdant'. A character stands next to a futuristic control panel shaped like a root. The scene is lit by flaming torches set into gothic-style brick walls, casting a red light across the image.

Published: Monday 20 February 2023

The Global Game Jam is the world’s largest game creation event, with 33,665 people working from over 100 countries worldwide. Participants, or ‘jammers’, have 48 hours to design and produce a playable game in teams of up to 11 members. Students from BA Games Art and Design and BSc Games Development produced a grand total of 25 games between the participating teams.

Norwich University of the Arts has long been a supporter of the jam, and was a ‘jam site host’ this year. Participants were invited to use the University’s games development labs to create their games. This year Norwich had 95 jammers, the highest number of participants the University has ever seen. This made Norwich the 11th largest hub in the UK, and 71st in the world – an impressive ranking out of 786 jam sites globally.

The goal of the game jam is to stimulate innovation, experimentation, and collaboration across games design and production. It’s not a competition, and anyone in the world is welcome to sign up and take part. Each game jam encourages participants to explore new technology and development tools. Jammers often also try their hand at roles and skills they might not have experienced before. It’s an excellent opportunity for students to try their hand making something outside their course.

Verdant Still

Still from game 'The Hardest Route'. A bird's eye view of a torch-lit room with a grid pattern on the floor. A character with a target on his head is being chased by three green orcs with glowing white eyes.

Hardest Route Still

Still from game 'Ingrained'. A junction in a street of tall buildings, some modern and glass and some much older brick buildings. At the intersection of two roads there is a small shop with 'Ingrained' in red neon letters above the door.

Ingrained Still

Images in order: Verdant, The Hardest Route, Ingrained

This year’s event kicked off on Friday afternoon with a message from Global Game Jam HQ and advice from leaders in the game development industry. Each year jammers are given a theme as a starting point, a closely guarded secret until the jam begins.

The theme for this year’s jam was ‘roots’ and saw Norwich’s jammers invent an incredible variety of games. The room was awash with games based around plants, but also more reflective interpretations focusing on memory and ancestry. The final games varied from 2D side-scrollers and tower defence games, to turn-based dice formats and first-person horror-puzzle titles. Naturally, there was also a good helping of cyborg investigators, head-butting orcs, earth-purifying worms, portal-travelling plants, and mysterious forest spirits. Not bad for a few days’ work!

Still from game 'BlackSmith'. A white-hot metal brick is glowing on an anvil, surrounded by sparks. Next to it a hammer waits to strike the ingot.

Still from game 'Vertex'. Arcade-style game; a black box is on a white background, with multicoloured shapes moving across the screen. Large yellow text shows a 4 streak has been achieved.

Images in order: Four Door Plant War, BlackSmith, Vertex

“It was an outstanding jam. I was really impressed with the turnout and the interaction between our students, industry, and external jammers. Everyone put on an excellent show throughout, and it was awe inspiring to see the creations that the teams were putting out in 48 hours. The level of imagination, problem-solving and application within the students’ creative code shows the true power of passion and collaboration. I would like to personally thank everyone who took part and look forward to seeing them at next year’s jam. This year was an absolute privilege to be part of.”

BA Games Art and Design lecturer Ian Griffiths — Jam site organiser for Norwich.

Despite this year seeing a record number of jammers in Norwich, the target for next year is to hit over 100 jammers, so watch this space!

Take a look at the Norwich University of the Arts Global Game Jam games.