How to Game Jam?

I have met a lot of people that struggle with having a successful jam experience, so I would like to share the best advice I can give around the subject, in the hopes that it can help anyone else hit that submit button.

This is only my 3rd game jam and it had many flaws, so I am by no means an expert on the subject (postmortem to come in the future).
But what I can share having worked in the video game industry for over 16 years, are my thoughts on things you should really consider going into a Game Jam.

Game Jams are a lot of hard work

It's best to assume it is going to be much more work than you think. Get comfortable with that idea!
You do not want to bite off more than you can chew!

I'm not trying to scare you away with this fact, but rather help you aim for a project you can manage.
Always start with the simplest version of the project you can. Don't let scope creep be your own personal final boss!

When you start, you should create a list of all tasks and features you can think of, and then organize them into "Required" and "Not Required". This will help you build the core of your project as early as possible. It is important to have a solid working foundation to build off, before anything else fiddley eats up your precious time.

Like, a LOT, lot of hard work

Many people are excited to dive into their first game jam, but can quickly bounce off of it if they do not have realistic expectations going in.
A great practice is actually researching and even experimenting ahead of time so you are not completely caught off guard.

Research and write down what tools you think you would need to use. Also write down how you think you would go about using them to accomplish your goal, I mean it, try this. It will really help inform you about what you do not know, ahead of time. What resources are required for a simple project? How do you create animations? Import sounds? What is level design? How does anyone do any of these things? etc...

You do not need to be familiar with tools and skills, but rather it's about knowing what challenges you're likely to run into and having some idea about how you'll deal with it. As they say, knowing is half the battle!

Wait, how much time do I have left?

 Don't build a timeline where you plan to have the project completed by the deadline. Instead, plan to have the game completed by the first half of the Jam deadline!

Even if you are exactly right, and you would get your project fully built in time for submission, you need to leave room to test, tune and polish. I promise that you can take the simplest game ever and productively spend months simply fine-tuning and polishing it in valid ways which can really make it into a better game. Developing more responsive feeling controls, providing the player with as much clear feedback as absolutely possible, developing captivating visuals and adding "juice" aren't something to consider as some unimportant priority as some might expect.
Yes, this "Polish" stuff should often come at the end of a project, but do not dismiss the incredible power it has to take a simple game from "hey, you did it" to "Oh wow, that was really cool!"

But really, you won't regret keeping the scope low enough to spend half of the jam polishing up your completed project. There is always something to tweak and improve!

The most important skill you can bring to any team:

COMMUNICATION.    

Do I really need this awkward and difficult to learn skill?

Jams are often messy, challenging and life always wants to get in the way. It's okay and quite normal to run into struggle in the middle of a jam. Almost always there are hurdles that make it hard to make progress, but it's not okay to leave your team members in the dark when you are struggling.

If you aren't able to keep up with the project. Perhaps you are not feeling it and needing to step back? Or you're struggling with a frustrating bug you can't solve or any other number of reasons you might not be able to contribute to the level you were intending. It is infinitely more acceptable to be honest with your team and share this with them, rather than be silent and hope that it won't be a problem for them. Chances are, that by knowing where you are at, they can either help you, or adjust course so they're not caught off guard in an unfair way at the last minute.

That high tier skill of learning how to communicate is not merely an incredibly important thing for Game Jams, but over the years, it has become quite obvious to me that it is potentially the most valuable skill you can possess in the industry. You can learn skills like how to code, how to make art, how to build levels. You can also learn how to be a better communicator and it starts with deciding to try that skill out.

For your next team project, I encourage you to actively engage your communication skill.
Earn some xp and level that skill up!

Anyways, I hope anyone found this helpful, best of luck on your future game jams!

~ Jacob, Project Lead

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Here are some post jam thoughts from my fellow team members:

Naomi, Art Director: 

I'd like to go over my experience and decision factors throughout this jam to assist other pixel artists with these specific technical issues we might stumble into as art devs!

FROM THE BEGINNING

Starting off with resolution, what it means for us is what pixel size do we want to see on screen? If the pixel art is too zoomed out (resolution is too high) it stops looking like pixel art but if the pixel art is zoomed in (res too low) we lose the ability to add detail to our work! A good balance that worked for us is 540p! That means we see 960x540 pixels and we zoom our camera 2X, the result is what you see in Science of Realms!

NOW WHAT

Now that we know our resolution, we make assets! We made a 960x540 background and tileset that is sized 32x32 pixels (any multiple of 4 works) and begin carving out our world with props, creatures, and characters! When deciding your art style try to keep in mind what vibe/genre you're going for and what kind of art you like to make! Will it be realistic? Cutesy? Creepy? It's your call!

Just remember to ALWAYS have ready art and backgrounds near the new art you're making so that your sizes are appropriate!!

LET THERE BE MOVEMENT

Don't forget, your art will most likely need to be animated so make sure not to make it too detailed/difficult and stick to a limited palette and clear shapes without too many patterns or dithering!

FINISHING TOUCHES

Now that you have critters and tilesets it's time to add touches that will liven up your game! Add props that fit thematically and size wise, make colorful UI elements, add VFX or lighting effects that will make your game feel alive! Just don't forget to have fun with it, this is YOUR art after all!

I'd like to add some tips for breaking into the industry:

-Be open and flexible to multiple types of jobs, you might find yourself being happy and fulfilled as a pixel artist with multiple years in the industry when you originally wanted to be a 2d illustrator ;^)

-Make projects like free asset sets, passion projects, game mods or anything that shows "hi I can draw art for video games"! Working with teams is even better, it will look good on your cv!

-Collect a backlog of art that shows your skills, versatility AND your passions and put it on your portfolio, carry that (digital or physical) portfolio around like a briefcase, employers WILL ask for it!

-Joins forums and chats with game devs and artists, networking is key.

-DONT GIVE UP!!!! It might take you months, it took me 4, but it will happen! Just keep looking, applying, chatting until it will happen!!

Luke, Coder:

"Learning a new language and game engine in a short time span was a challenge, but I was able find solutions by using resources like youtube, google searches, and even AI to help me see where one could start, as well as asking other team members for help."

Kay, Artist:

"I picked up some incredible information and experience. I got to make some levels and inspire some art. I hope we can add a little more to it. Next Game Jam, I would plan to take some vacation time. xD"