The sixth edition of LubJam 2020, part of Global Game Jam, is over… So it’s time to make a little summary of this year’s edition!
It’s the first time we were in Labyrinth Gallery as a game jam. We had two rooms for us for the whole 48 hours! One for jamming, and one with a big cinema screen for presentations! Love it! ?
And what’s the most impressive, in only 48 hours attendees made 11 games! ?
Before all started… ?
Before the whole event can start, we had to organize it, and I have to thank Magda, Staszek, and Karol for making it happen this year! Huge shoutout to them! ?
With a little bit of preparation to make a comfortable space for jammers and to prepare the stage for the presentation at the beginning, we had everything set and ready to start!
5 PM. ?
Just after 4 pm. people started arriving at our place. They can meet each other, make new friends, and share some previous experiences.
Of course, it didn’t take long, and it was already time to start our presentation.
As Labirynth Gallery was a new place for most of the people, we had to explain safety rules and what we can and we can’t do there.
We had a lot of new people that didn’t have a chance yet to take part in any game jam, so I needed to make a little bit of explaining on that part also.
It was our responsibility to make sure everyone will have a good time there.
Global Game Jam also has its own set of rules, like “don’t disclose theme before everyone starts“, which we all have to follow!
But now, all sites are already closed so I can tell you that the theme for 2020 is…
REPAIR
Let’s discuss the theme… ?
Tradition on our LubJam is that after the theme reveal, we are giving people some time to think about what they want to create.
It’s typically 30-60 minutes, after which we are bringing them together again.
We are creating a little environment for brainstorming. All of the jammers can introduce themselves to others, tell who they are, what they can do, and what ideas they have.
This way, we are hoping that people that came without a team can form a team of their own or join other teams! ?
Time to get to work! ?
After discussions, people start working on their projects. They still have over 40 hours to meet the deadline, so they can’t waste any time.
Teams still need to clarify the vision that they want to pursuit.
But the real fight is about to begin…
24 hours in… ⏲
After the first 24 hours of hard work, some teams already had some playable demos of their games.
Often people are walking around, trying to find some guidance from more experienced attendees.
That’s a good sign, as time is quickly running out, and you have to push your project forward.
But the real crunch is just starting. Often teams at this point realize that their projects are too big to finish in time. So to still make it, they need to start cutting features! ?
Which I think is actually a good thing. No matter how hard you would work, you can’t make the GTA or the Witcher game only in 48 hours. Sadly…
You have to focus on the essence of your game at that time!
Final touches! ?
The deadline to finish work on projects is set to 3 PM. on Sunday. This way, teams still have some time to upload their games to the Global Game Jam site.
But till then, work is on fire! Everyone in a team has to help to finish the game as the time is almost over!
Adding fixing the last bugs and adding some additional texts and sounds might be a little bit stressful. But it’s also bringing the team together to work more efficiently. ?
I see only benefits in it… ?
But the time is over now…
The final on a big screen! ?
Work on games stopped as we hit the deadline. After that time, we give people a little bit of break, so they can upload their games and take a breath.
An hour later, we are starting our jam summary in which each team has to tell about the idea and interpretation of them, combined with the game presentation.
With that, everyone is sharing their wins and struggles with the game jam.
You can also check the games that were created on our site going to: GGJ – LubJam 2020.
Special guest! ?
This year’s edition was special because of one special guest!
Yes! For the whole game jam, we had Luna with us helping everyone making games! ?
I hope to see all you in the next edition of LubJam in Lublin, Poland!
Last words
So that was a little summary of LubJam 2020, do you have your own story of attending Global Game Jam? Share it in the comment section below! ?
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See you next time! ?