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Second post 2024,

I love participating in game jams. They are similar to playing dark souls, difficult, you fail often (till you get good), and the satisfaction is immense when you complete a submission. For every game jam, I find the largest hurdle to be the team. Between poor communication, unspoken disagreements, and style differences I can lose all my energy to participate. So I’ve incorporated some strategies to mitigate these issue.

Game Jam strategy number 1, never let your feathers get ruffled. People are not always graceful when they dislike what you’re working on. The easy instinct is to become a defensive or just roll over, basically fight or flight. So I fight these urges and ask questions to figure out what they actually dislike.

Game Jam strategy number 2, ask questions along the way. Questions solve problems, misunderstandings cause them.

Three, contribute early. I find it ridiculously motivating when someone just starts contributing right away. There’s so many tasks that can get done early even if the design of the game isn’t concrete. Menus, sound manager, and placeholders are just a few.

I haven’t had time to dedicate to a Game Jam recently. Writing this reminds me how much fun it can be. I also enjoy meeting new people so I may make time for one some weekend soon.

Thanks for reading.