Hi all,
I always wanted to try a game jam, as it forces to finish a project, and allows space to be adventurous, never done it for a few reasons, which includes time.
Then, I thought, let’s ask the community.
Any thoughts?
Hi !
I found game jams to be super rewarding and fun, especially to learn new things and meet people.
There are alot of game jams on itch.
I like the ones that are not too popular, but not obscure either (about a 100 games submitted).
The wild jam is Godot only and happens every months, it should be a pretty good first jam !
As for the time you can allow the jam, I think 1 hour a day is a little short (but not impossible).
I would recommend you find a team that is okay with your schedule, that way you will end up with a game that isn’t too small.
There are some jams that last weeks (or months), these could maybe work better if you want to work alone.
Hi,
I would definitely advise anyone to take part in game jams, I’ve been doing lots of them since 2018 and I always had a great time and made cool projects (okay, maybe not that cool, but at least I enjoyed making them 
).
Now, to answer your questions:
Which game jam would you recommend?
In 3 weeks starts the GMTK game jam (GMTK Game Jam 2025 - itch.io). It lasts 4 days, which is 2 more days than the typical weekend game jam, which is very cool for people who doesn’t have a full weekend to spend on the project. Also, the GMTK themes are, imo, very interesting and fit the game jam mood perfectly, as they always tend to find short and fun game ideas.
I’m not doing as much jams as I did a few years ago, but I still (almost) never miss the GMTK as I believe it’s one of the best out there.
I suppose you already know about the Ludum Dare (https://ldjam.com), which is one of the biggest jams. There are multiple ways of participating, you can either submit a game made completely alone in 48 hours, a game made with a team in 72 hours, or take a few weeks to finish the game, which will not allow you to enter the leaderboard, but that doesn’t seem like something you’re looking forward to anyway.
You can share your progress on the website, react to other people games, ask for help, etc. Since there are lots of developers doing it, the jam is very active.
And, as @qaqelol said and I couldn’t agree more, there are tons of jams on itch (Game jams - itch.io) so you can find that you think is cool and go for it!
Also, working fulltime, having limited time to work on a project (circa 1h per day) is it even worth considering it (it is one of my main roadblock)?
Time is indeed a precious resource when it comes to game jams, but if you are okay with the idea of working only a few hours in total on your game, then it’s worth considering it. One could even argue that, if you eventually don’t like the jam or the game you’ve made, at least you won’t have spend too much time on it.
Also, game jams are a great way of testing some new game ideas, new game engines, etc. so maybe you’ll build something small, but that you will keep working on afterward, who knows?
I participated in a bunch of game jams in the early and mid 00s, including early Ludum Dare jams.
Always ended up spending most of my time helping others In the IRC Channel a bunch of us Garage Games associates and Torque engine users would hang out in daily, but more so during jams.
The social dimension was a big part of the fun for me, having shipped a few titles already at the time, pressure to complete wasn’t the main impetus for me.
Now, if I was to participate today, I’d focus on a simple “one trick” game loops, one level, one etc. And focus on completion.
Have fun Jammin’,
Cheers!
Hi all,
Thank you for sharing, this consolidates my idea that it could be worth it. And you are right, for me, it isn’t the leaderboard that matters, but the experience and the motivation to actually “finish” a project, not starting it again from scratch.
And a break from my current project that takes longer than I thought (and probably than it should…)
I will look at those mentioned, and if I decide to do one, I will share it here!
Thanks
I started with a Micro Jam. It was like 48 hours over the weekend. I also like the Godot Wild Jam. Next one starts tomorrow and runs 10 days: Godot Wild Jam #83 - itch.io
The best advice I’ve gotten so far is make the shittiest game possible and submit it. Submitting something crap is better than submitting nothing. The feedback and experience is worth it.
Also, check out Butler, itch.io’s package management software. It functions very similar to command line GIT, and allows you to upload your games reliably. It is really great for game jams because once you upload your game, it only uploads a diff. This means the last day of a jam you can upload a number of quick fixes.
I’ve only joined one game jam since I started, so take my input with a grain of salt.
My first one was Godot wild jam and it was a blast. Is it worth joining (any) jam? Absolutely. It’s fun and you’ll learn a ton!
Even with limited time I’d advice so. Sure your chance of winning is slim, but if your goal is to learn and have fun, than that’s irrellevant. Focus on finishing something but scope really small.
If you are too tired to crunch on gamedev on week-end, you could also join a game jam spanning on multiple weeks (between 2 and 4 weeks). This way, you can use your 1h/day without burning yourself out.
I am not fond of the 48h time constraint. Yes, it forces you to finish, but this is pushing everyone to get bad habits and give more than what they healthily have.
I just finished a month long game jam, and I felt the same way about that one. I pushed myself for weeks on it. I’ve realized game jams may have run their course for me.
I actually prefer shorter game jams, like GMTK, because you get it done and can move on relatively quickly. If you have a week or month-long jam, you’re stuck with this project for at least this amount of time, which you could spend working on your actual project instead.
That being said, if I had only 1h/day to spend, short game jams might not be viable at all, because you realistically can’t properly finish anything within 2-4h, you need more time. Then these week or month long jams make more sense.
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but please remember that game jams aren’t for everyone.
I’m not saying you won’t like/love it or learn a ton, quite the opposite actually. But this won’t guarantee you’ll have a great time.
Point is, if at any point your heart’s not in it, you can leave. I’ve done so myself. Twice, actually.
I’m speaking from experience here, I don’t like game jams.
This is because of my own personal priorities and goals as a game developer, not the jams themselves or the people apart of them. I much prefer long-term commitments rather than short-term sprints.
But you should try it at least once to get your own experiences and opinions.