Game Jam Research Articles

The Sun Is in Your Hand(held): mediating solar imaginaries and technological ambivalence

ABSTRACT This paper adopts a media archaeological perspective to excavate the social, technical, and ecological protocols embedded within videogames with the goal of imagining engaged users and alternative futures centred around photovoltaic technologies. We begin by dissecting the media lineages and infrastructures that are entwined with the development of mobile media. Then, we turn to the regime of planned obsolescence and address how eco-critical modding practices have flourished as a response. Using these theories as a provocation, we summarize the workshops and game jam we facilitated in the summer of 2022 as part of Concordia University’s Solar Media Collective. Through these theoretical and practical explorations, we arrive at the clash between the optimism of solarpunk and the apathy of technological ambivalence. In our concluding discussion, we reflect on the realities of modding and DIY practices, closing with proposals for new (imaginary) research avenues.

Players, Take (Self-)Care: Bringing Humanistic Psychology into a Game Jam about Mental Health

Game jams are collective events that bring people together to think about, make and play games. As collaborative encounters built on community, game jams create unique interpersonal possibilities. Tapping into this relational potential, we integrated elements of humanistic psychology and the person-centred approach into a game jam: We engaged 19 participants in the making of games for self-care and mental health, over the course of a week, as a remote event hosted by the National Videogame Museum, UK. We go on to thematically analyse our shared discussions to unpack the jam as a mutual sense-making activity between facilitators and participants, demonstrating how the jam functioned as a space in which the status quo of mental health could be negotiated; contributing to the jam's sense of community, and generation of caring, novel designs. Finally, we outline two design opportunities for game designers, developers and researchers that seek to engage with the experiential nature of game jams care-fully.

Playful Resilience: Empowering Recovery through Autobiographical Game-Based Storytelling in the Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic is a persistent public health problem throughout Canada, with opioid-related deaths spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario, which have high rates of opioid poisoning, this participatory game jam project examines how 21 adults (ages 18+) with a history of opioid addiction make sense of their life experiences through the processes of autobiographical game-based storytelling, including ideation, narrative design, and environmental storytelling. Phenomenological interviews, processual artifacts like concept sketches, doodles, and reflections, and game prototypes generated through Scratch, Twine, and Bitsy facilitated the exploration of six key phenomena representing autobiographical game-based storytelling: maze metaphors, decision-making, compact games, morality and religion, resilience, and social communion. This interdisciplinary project explores how game-based storytelling supports recovery and restores dignity among adults experiencing opioid addiction while raising awareness of health inequities, thereby humanizing the opioid crisis.

What is “Learning” in Serious Game Jams? A Systematic Literature Review

Game jams, events where participants collaboratively create games within a limited time frame, have gained popularity as engaging and educational activities. Numerous studies highlight learning as a significant motivator for participation, positioning game jams at the intersection of pedagogy, design research, and game studies. A systematic literature review (SLR) using the PRISMA 2020 method was conducted to explore the state-of-the-art in game jams and game-making co-creation practices amongst Cultural Heritage Institutions, Creative Industries, Higher Education Institutions, and Youth Citizens in the context of X project. Out of the 68 eligible sources, 10 explicitly addressed the learning goals associated with game jams and constitute the sample of this study. The present article focuses on exploring what conceptualizations of learning can be found in the sources and how that learning process was structured throughout the game jams; specifically, what participants are learning, the methodologies employed, and how the learning was measured. A comprehensive understanding of the educational potential of game jams is important for game jam organisers as well for formal, non-formal and informal Education. The results show that although some articles use game analysis or questionnaires to measure learning, these results are not analysed or presented in depth. Furthermore, it could be noticed that serious game jams, explicitly designed to teach something, usually featuring more time consuming, due to the specific nature of an added layer to game jam: a serious theme that needs to be learned by the participants but also reflected in a game for educational purposes. This underscores the potential use of (adapted) game jams to promote learning regarding social issues, culture, or science in an engaging and dynamic way. This article reflects on those processes and the different conceptualisations of learning that can be found in sources that tackle this topic with regards to Serious and Cultural Game Jams.

Cultural Game Jam Model: A Quadruple Helix Intervention

The EPIC-WE Cultural Game Jam: Óbidos UNESCO City of Literature (CGJ) was a purposeful game jam, and part of the EPIC-WE Horizon-Europe project. CGJ empowers youth to participate through ideating cultural worlds, by creating and exchanging cultural values and heritage through game-making (game jams experience), within the Quadruple Helix (QH) Cultural Innovation Ecosystem. The study is focused on the specific presence of jammers at the game jam venue, within the cultural spaces and cultural agents. Describing the development of unique Game Jams applying the QH model, linking a municipality region, a games company, university researchers, and a youth focus group to foster the production of games for culture and games through culture. With extensive experience in organising game jams since 2014, the researchers confronted the literature review study focused on youth empowerment and cultural game jams (Costa, et al., 2024), ensuring the project research protocols to define a model for 4 game jams to be held from 2024 to 2025. The ongoing research demonstrates the creation of a research protocol for the 1st CGJ model: student recruitment; Pre-Game Jam with the theme reveal and ideation; Game Jam activities and conditions; Reflection Day; Data collection; Post-Mortem analysis; CCIs games evaluation; and future outcomes. 8 games produced on the 1st CGJ demonstrated the effectiveness of the CGJ model for cultural purposes. Besides the cultural theme limitation, participants (N=26) evidenced a high level of satisfaction evidenced in the final survey. Several recommendations for improvement were given (survey reflection 2) and outlined so that future CGJs can produce games that delve more deeply into the topics covered.

Community, Socialisation, and Empowerment in Cultural Game Jams with Youth Citizens

This paper examines social and collaborative elements of Cultural Game Jams developed and implemented in the large-scale Europe Horizon research and innovation project, EPIC-WE: Empowered Participation through Ideating Cultural Worlds and Environments (2023-2026). The project explores and develops transdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation across cultural heritage institutions, creative industries, higher education institutions, and youth citizens (ages 16-25) towards Cultural Game Jam interventions across three European sites: Óbidos (Portugal), Hilversum (Netherlands), and Aarhus (Denmark). The Cultural Game Jams are held at cultural heritage sites and are aimed towards value-sensitive game design and youth empowerment. This paper explores Cultural Game Jams as a potential format for enabling and developing youths’ empowered participation, communality, and cultural socialisation by analysing the first Cultural Game Jam (2024). Framed by a Design-Based Research methodology and guided by experimental and short-term ethnography and design experiments, the analyses draw from qualitative empirical material, e.g., interviews, participatory observations, field notes, and the Cultural Game Jam participants' reflective process and design documentation. The analyses illustrate how co-creating games within cultural heritage contexts can develop youth perceptions of community, cultural socialisation processes, and individual/collective empowerment. Furthermore, the paper offers insights into the co-creation of games as new expressions of cultural heritage through epistemic collaboration and cultural participation in game jams while discussing possibilities for enabling new experiences of empowered participation, social learning, and community among youth citizens.

Evaluating and validating the Serious Slow Game Jam methodology as a mechanism for co-designing serious games to improve understanding of cybersecurity for different demographics

We present an evaluation of a Serious Slow Game Jam (SSGJ) methodology as a mechanism for co-designing serious games in the application domain of cybersecurity, to evaluate how the SSGJ methodology contributed to improving the understanding of cybersecurity for different demographics. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the SSGJ contributed to improving the understanding of cybersecurity for young persons between the ages of 11 and 16 years old who had no formal training or education in cybersecurity, and to validate and compare these results to previous work where the same SSGJ methodology was used with a different target demographic (i.e.,M.Sc. students with no formal training or education in secure coding). To this end, we engaged 23 participants between the ages of 11 and 16 years old for 5 consecutive days over a one-week period, in a multidisciplinary SSGJ involving domain-specific, pedagogical, and game design knowledge, and encouraged engagement in-between scheduled events of the SSGJ. Findings show improved confidence of participants in their knowledge of cybersecurity, for both demographics, after undertaking the Serious Slow Game Jam (from 41.2% to 76.5% for young persons, and from 12.5% to 62.5% for M.Sc. students). Free-text answers specifically indicate an improved understanding of cybersecurity in general, and one specific security vulnerability, attack or defence for a quarter of young persons, and the trichotomy of security vulnerabilities, attacks, and defences for three quarters of the M.Sc. students. Also, confidence in knowledge of game design improved for both demographics (from 47.1% to 82.4% for young persons and from 12.5% to 75% for M.Sc. students). The SSGJ methodology also successfully engaged both demographics of participants in-between scheduled days. Finally, two serious games in the application domain of cybersecurity are presented that were co-designed during the SSGJ with participants and produced as an output of the SSGJs.

Citizen science games on the timeline of quantum games

This article provides an overview of existing quantum physics-related games, referred to as quantum games, that serve citizen science research in quantum physics. Additionally, we explore the connection between citizen science and quantum computer games, games played on quantum computers. The information presented is derived from academic references and supplemented by diverse sources, including social media publications, conference presentations and blog posts from research groups and developers associated with the presented games. We observe that the current landscape of quantum games is shaped by three distinct driving forces: the serious application of games, the evolution of quantum computers and open game development events such as Quantum Game Jams. Notably, citizen science plays an influential role in all three aspects. The article points to existing design guides for citizen science quantum games and views future prospects of citizen science projects and quantum games through collaborative endeavours, human–machine collaboration and open access quantum computers.

Urbanism and Minecraft: Designing a game jam to reimagine the city

This article presents a theoretical–methodological experience that combines a card game and a game jam in Minecraft to re-imagine cities. A game jam workshop was designed for the City and Science Biennial 2021 held in Barcelona with three central components: (1) the identification of urban space problems in the chosen environment, (2) the co-creation of stories about the future and improvements for the city areas using speculative storytelling techniques based on cards, and finally (3) the creation and modelling of urban spaces and the resulting actions in the Minecraft environment, in which the participants are both designers and players. This experience is an original combination of game jam methodologies and research in the field of digital and non-digital storytelling. The results show that adding the speculative narrative dynamic in the form of a card game to the co-designing of an environment in a video game world generates a creative methodological environment that allows participants of different ages to become involved.

Formal Constraints and Creativity: Connecting Game Jams, Dogma ’95, the Demo Scene, OuBaPo, and Renga poets

In a fast-paced world of ever-changing trends, connecting historical roots by linking new movements to existing traditions can be a challenge. Similarly to how Mary Flanagan’s book “Critical Play” situates and contextualizes play in history, we propose and start similar work on game jams. While we don’t have as much room for self-expression in a paper, we focus on two main contributions. The first is to link existing definitions of game jamming and creativity. Secondly, we show how game jams build upon existing traditions of co-creation—sharing and confronting ideas with peers by using formal constraints to fuel creativity and direct the process. To this end, we examine four historic movements—the Danish film movement Dogma ’95, creators of audio visual programs from the demo scene, OuBaPo a group of French comic book writers, and the Japanese renga poets—and relate them to game jams.

Using Nintendo's Game Builder Garage to Facilitate Hands-On Learning in Graduate Game Design Education

This activity is built around the hands-on use of Nintendo's (n.d.a) Game Builder Garage as a tool for teaching game design principles in an online, graduate-level course. Throughout the course, students use Game Builder Garage to design and create a fully functional game over four weeks, applying the course concepts to their projects, demonstrating their practical application of these principles, and receiving feedback. This activity details a four-week game jam implementation of game design theories and best practices using Game Builder Garage.

Developing and validating a scale for motivation in participating in time-bounded collaborative events

Time-bounded collaborative events bring together participants from different backgrounds to address a problem by creating a computational artifact over a short period of time (e.g., one or two days). Examples of these events include hackathons, game jams, codefests, ideathons, etc. Time-bounded events present minimal restrictions for participation, with hundreds of people attending an increasing number of events each year. There are different reasons why people decide to participate in time-bounded collaborative events. While several studies focused on studying the motivations to participate in these events, there is no consensus on how to measure this motivation. This paper aims to develop and validate a measure of motivation that addresses the participants’ willingness to attend a time-bounded collaborative event. The construction process of our scale used quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. Our model of motivation is composed of a set of 20 questions that are grouped into five sub-constructs that measure different motivations: Technical, Personal Curiosity, Personal Ideation, Social Teamwork, and Business Connections. Our results show that our measure has internal reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. Our findings contribute to a broader understanding of the motivations for participating in time-bounded collaborative events and provide some implications for the research and practice of such events.

The effects of children’s participation and co-creation in science

The scientific literature shows that children’s participation in video games is increasingly common. However, there is no analysis of the involvement of children in the development of video games promoting social science learning. The framework of the EU H2020 funded project “ALLINTERACT. Widening and diversifying citizen engagement in science” contributes to filling this gap by analysing the co-creation process between children, families, teachers, and researchers of a video game for children to distinguish between hoaxes and evidence to overcoming bullying. To this end, a 24-h Science Game Jam was recorded, which took place in a virtual space for group meetings in which five children, five family members, four teachers and four researchers participated in the co-creation of the video game and a collaborative document in the cloud including the guidelines of the video game, with their proposals for the development. Finally, they participated as well as in the co-creation of the video game itself. The key finding is that co-creation through an egalitarian dialogue, solidarity, and focus on scientific knowledge allowed these children to play a leading role in developing a video game where children of all educational stages learn to distinguish hoaxes and evidence in overcoming bullying. The involvement in science and the co-creation of science-based products benefited these children; as they were protagonists in science, they could express their concerns and the real problems they faced in their schools, which increased their scientific knowledge and strengthened their critical capacity about bullying. Furthermore, the adult participants also benefited from the knowledge provided by the children, especially in the development and creation of the video game.

Game Jams for Academic Libraries: Lessons Learned from a Collaboration with the Makerspace

Game Jams for Academic Libraries: Lessons Learned from a Collaboration with the Makerspace

Teaching Intentionality through Game Jams

Abstract This article addresses game jams and similar events as pedagogical opportunities where critical learning outcomes can be generated through making. The article starts with a definition of game jams, how they are structured, and the communities around them. Then, it highlights intentional art and design practices that can be implemented in game jams and similarly structured fast-paced making practices. That is followed by how educators can leverage game jams further to implement these informal learning outcomes in a structured manner, which is exemplified through a study conducted by the author. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion where the author highlights the outcomes for educators who can apply this approach in a variety of settings. This article is important for addressing the ways game jams can be leveraged in educational settings where the learning outcomes are not only focused on skill development such as coding and modeling but also critical thinking.

‘Could this really be a place for me?’ Women’s experiences in game jams and video game communities

ABSTRACT Video game communities, as new emerging creators of contemporary culture, have been identified as paradigmatic gendered contexts and are considered essential for understanding gendered contextual dynamics in contemporary society. This research is based on a multi-sited ethnography study of five game jams as contexts of creation and participation in video game communities, to which was added discussion from eight focus groups and an online forum with 30 female participants. It explores and discusses three analytic emerging dimensions about the perceived gendered dynamics, experiences, interactions and characteristics of these contexts through the women’s perspectives, silences and meanings. In particular, it focuses on the unequal representation and uncovered power dynamics between men and women, the perceived gender stereotypes, and the internalised discourses. Considering the perceptions of devaluing women´s capacity, experience and knowledge, is discussed the impacts on women’s participation. The importance of decoding the video game-gendered contexts is reinforced to create gender-integrated and gender-sensitive environments towards a more diverse and inclusive gaming culture.

Introducing Game Jams for Ecology and Citizenship Education in High School Classes

This paper deals with the preliminary results of some applied game jam events integrated with the Citizenship and Civic education project in some Italian high schools.
 In Italy GBL is not systematically used as a didactic tool, especially in secondary school and game jamming is not well known nor used. A set of specifically designed game jam events called (EcoGJ - the game jam for ecology) were implemented in Italy during the 2022/2023 school year. The game jam format was designed to promote the discourse about climate change and ecosystems, and implemented to demonstrate how a more student-centred didactic approach can be used at school to foster collaboration and team working skills.
 Students in the 15-16 target age from different high schools have been involved in the EcoGJ format. Outcomes have been recorded with a survey and with on-field notes. Preliminary results show as game jams had a positive impact on students, encouraging them to use critical thinking and team working as well as activating them in discussing ecology and climate change issues. Notwithstanding, some critical points emerged both for students in terms of engagement and knowledge. It seems that game jams can be a valid working method to teach and learn new skills, as well as increase students’ self-confidence and their desire to learn more about complex issues such as climate change. Further explorations are needed to find the most adequate way to introduce game jamming in high school and the best format to use these events in the most effective way to foster students’ engagement in learning and to help them in deepening their scientific-based knowledge in ecology and climate change.

Facilitating an Educational Board Game Jam: Analysing Different Game Design Strategies

There is a long tradition of using board games for educational purposes. Moreover, the growth of the game jam events where participants typically gather at physical locations with an aim of creating new games, has expanded over the last decades. This paper is based on an exploratory study, where we wanted to create a game jam for teachers, student teachers, facilitators, and consultants interested in designing and redesigning board games to enhance learning for different target groups. With a point of departure in design thinking, the game jam was framed through three phases: ideation, build a board, and playtesting. The participants were given the challenge of designing a board game incorporating co-op elements such as collaboration, problem-solving in teams, collective efforts towards a mutual enemy, etc. The game jam was held in a university college where the participants had access to a variety of materials such as pens, papers, cardboards, and discarded board games. The empirical data consisted of observations of participants, who were divided into groups of 2-4 persons based on their prior game experiences and game interests. The analysis presents preliminary findings in relation to the participants’ different strategies for developing board games. The empirical data showed how the groups struggled to balance simplicity vs. complexity in their designs in relation to both time frame and target group of their board games. The playtesting session fostered discussions around the essential game mechanics and elements of each board game prototype. Furthermore, the ongoing feedback and playtesting created a joyful and curious bridge between the groups. Based on the analysis, the paper presents a series of design principles aimed at facilitating educational board game jams.

Review of Educational Benefits of Game Jams: Participant and Industry Perspective

There are some studies on the educational potential of game jams, but their number seems insufficient given the hundreds of thousands of game jam participants every year. What emerges as the largest research gap is the game industry perspective: its involvement in game jamming and motivations for doing so. This study is a reaction to this research gap. Current research defined some educational benefits of game jams, but how these benefits are relevant for the game industry is radically underresearched. Clarifying this missing link might be essential to the widespread use of game jams as platforms for collaboration between the academia and the game industry. This explorative study answers the following questions: What do we know about the learning outcomes of game jams for participants? How are (or are not) those outcomes relevant for the game industry? How and why do (or do not) video game studios engage with game jams? If so, are the studios also motivated by educational benefits? Our paper is based on a systematic review of resources from 10 academic databases using search operators and pre-defined criteria, and also on direct data collection from the video game industry. The study suggests that game jams can improve soft and hard skills that the video game industry appreciates. Also, the findings suggest that the video game industry is aware of game jams’ educational benefits and that these benefits are one of the main motivators for game companies to get involved in game jams.

The GameBling Game Jam

Gambling scholars may be unfamiliar with the research methods used by their colleagues in game studies. Yet, as gambling becomes gamified, and gaming becomes gamblified, the intersection between our two fields continues to grow. The GameBling game jam, which took place in 2022 at Concordia University, proposed to explore this growing intersection by applying a game making and game studies method—the game jam (see, for instance, Kultima 2015; Meriläinen et al., 2020; Ruberg & Shaw, 2017)—to a gambling object—the slot machine. This post argues that game jams can be used in gambling studies to learn more about public perceptions of slot machines, to reverse-engineer black-boxed gambling algorithms, or even to help new research interests emerge through the process of game creation. We ultimately propose that the practice of creating games from scratch in a limited time frame, or "game jamming," is an innovative research method that can help uncover new ways to think about and question social science concepts.