As part of this week's course content, we were asked to watch a video that addresses the topic of Game Jams and Hackathons. As the subject was raised, I could feel it inducing a mild panic and I began to wonder why this particular part of the course was making me so apprehensive. I came to the conclusion it was related to time constraints and pressure - delivering something in a very limited amount of time, usually 24/48 hours. I didn't feel comfortable with the idea of working into the early hours of the morning, eating on the go, and the general frenetic scenes it conjured in my head. I myself do not do my best work under extremely tight deadlines or at 3am. As I continued to watch the video my concerns seemed warranted:
Jams and Hackothons are done over small periods of time, expecting near 24/7 commitment....
(Rubino, 2022)
As a working father of two small children, this monopoly on time and focus sounded unrealistic and exhausting. After expressing some of my concerns on week 3's Spark Forum about the concept of both, I was more than a little surprised to see that I was not the only one on the course that share this anxiety. I hope I played some small part in encouraging the group to voice their collective anxiety on the subject. I was also heartened to see, countless posts from those cohorts that HAD done Hackathons or Game Jams in the past, and shared their positive experiences. Many acknowledged the prototypes they made weren't perfect but talked enthusiastically about the process, proud of their achievements as part of a team or on their own, considering the constraints.
The video content also came some way to alleviate the dread, as Giovanni addressed these issues directly and describe the process the Games Academy has adopted.
[Jams and Hackothons ]... are problematic for both peoples wellbeing and their existing commitments. We therefore encourage the use of an approach inspired by the slow movement.
The values adopted by the academy
Limited and regular work time
No Pressure, nor expectations from the academy team
But get something done
Keep your plan and expectations flexible (in the spirit of Agile)
As the course is a part-time Master's, I was very happy to see this approach was used. I also remembered I had been involved in some rapid ideation at work. We used Crazy 8's to come up with ideas and then wireframed these and presented them to the stakeholders. I found the process very enjoyable and rewarding.
However, I still couldn't quite work out the dynamics of a Game Jam in regards to the team and the roles the UX and Indie game cohorts would play. Would the UX design students be involved more in the initial ideation and the indie game students code the prototype or would the UX students roll up their sleeves and code along? Although I have some experience as a front-end developer, I know many of my peers come from design backgrounds and may not have coded before, so I am intrigued to see how this is managed.
Hackathon and Game Jam Research
This week we were also asked to research Game Jams and Hackathons we might be interested in participating in in the future. Doing a google search produced a lot of events that had either just finished or were just about to finish. It seems January is a busy time in the calendar for these challenges. DeveloperWeek and Global Game Jam seemed to be running at the same time. One a Hackathon on technical challenges the other a pure game challenge.
DeveloperWeek
24 January - 8 February 2022
DeveloperWeek 2022 Hackathon, 24 January - 8 February 2022 (DeveloperWeek 2022 Hackathon, 2022)
Global GameJam
24 January - 8 February 2022
Create a game in 48 hours (Global Game Jam, 2022)
T-Challenge
October 2021 - June 2022
I also found the T-Challenge on Hackathon.com, although on further inspection, this looked more like a long-term design and innovation competition for a commercial entity rather than a classic Game Jam, Charrettes, or Hackathon.
How can we leverage real time XR to improve customer engagement at points of sale & service?
There appeared to be two challenge "streams" that applicants could choose to participate in:
Solution Development Stream: Deliver innovative XR solutions in the form of a minimum viable product (MVP).
Concept & Design Creation Stream: Live beyond the status quo – deliver a tangible research or design concept on future customer experiences.
This looked like a really exciting challenge and one I could see producing an abundance of interesting opportunities to innovate. The Concept & Design Creation Stream looked perfect for a UX design student and my mind already began to anticipate the process of ideation for the brief. However, my enthusiasm was short-lived as the submission date had already passed. It seems again, that the season for Hackathons is in January and the January intake just missed the boat.
Itch.io
All year round
I also found itch.io which looked more like a place for game jams to be hosted and posted about. There appeared to be quite a full calendar of events, unlike other avenues I had pursued where it appeared I was too late to get involved.
itch.io is a place for hosting and participating in game jams online. Anyone can instantly create and host a jam.
I like the idea that at any point there was a game jam going on at any one time and that the format could vary widely. From 2-3 days to weeks.
ProtoJam
25 - 27 February 2022
ProtoJam is an online, weekend long, no-code design competition - a designathon - where students tackle design challenges focused on UX/UI design (user experience and user interface).
The Canadian-based "designathon" looked like a good fit for a UX design student. With an emphasis this year on "Technology for good" there is a focus on designing for social change, in collaboration with local non-profit organisations (which are yet to be announced).
I think I need to take the same approach I have done for the rest of the course content and just get stuck in. Part of my hesitancy is a lack of exposure to the concept and to a certain extent, Imposter syndrome. I had a feeling particularly with Game Jams, that I had stumbled onto the wrong course, that the process was geared towards indie game developers, and as a UX designer student I was left wondering how the process related to me. After reviewing the course notes and doing my own research, I can see how the process can work for both cohorts, and looking forward to week 4, I can see that I won't have to wait too either.
References.
DeveloperWeek 2022 Hackathon. 2022. DeveloperWeek 2022 Hackathon. [online] Available at: <https://developerweek-2022-hackathon.devpost.com/> [Accessed 9 February 2022].
Global Game Jam. 2022. Global Game Jam. [online] Available at: <https://globalgamejam.org/> [Accessed 9 February 2022].
Ichack.org. 2022. IC Hack 22. [online] Available at: <https://ichack.org/> [Accessed 9 February 2022].
Protojam.ca. 2022. ProtoJam 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.protojam.ca/> [Accessed 9 February 2022].
Rubino, G., 2022. What is rapid ideation?. [online] Learn.falmouth.ac.uk. Available at: <https://learn.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/241/pages/week-3-what-is-rapid-ideation?module_item_id=12918> [Accessed 8 February 2022].
T-Challenge. 2022. T-Challenge – XR In A Hybrid Environment. [online] Available at: <https://telekom-challenge.com/?utm_source=BMA&utm_medium=referencing%20platform&utm_campaign=BMA_referencing_platform> [Accessed 9 February 2022].
The World Institute Of Slowness. 2022. The World Institute Of Slowness. [online] Available at: <https://www.theworldinstituteofslowness.com> [Accessed 8 February 2022].
Cover image "iStock.com/william87."
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