The third annual Quantum Game Jam will be organized on November 25-27. Quantum Game Jam brings together scientists and game makers to create games that help solve scientific problems and teach intuition of quantum phenomena. This year the main site will be at the Centre for Quantum Engineering (Otaniemi, Finland), but there are will be satellite sites around the globe for you to choose from or you can even organize your own satellite site. You can register to the main site or as an online jammer through this link.
In order to participate, you don’t need to be a professional game developer or a quantum scientist. All skills are needed from programming to drawing, from thinking quantum to making coffee. Game jamming is a constant learning process for beginners and pros alike, so come and learn together with others!
Finnish Game Jam selected Panu Akrenius to receive a scholarship to join the InnoGames Jam at the gamescom and represent the Finnish jamming scene. Panu traveled to Cologne, Germany to jam among the 180 participants from 27 countries, and has now returned from the inspiring journey and shares his experiences in this report.
Jamming in Gamescom: The epic mix of work and fun
A very big Thanks to Finnish Game Jam and InnoGames for inviting me to a game jam in Cologne, Germany. I visited Gamescom two years ago, and I thought it was the best thing ever. Now I also had a chance to make games in there. The scholarship meant that basically my flights, accommodation and the ticket to Gamescom would be free. It’s difficult to think of anything as awesome as this.
As the third scholarship in Finnish Game Jam’s scholarship program, we awarded a ticket for InnoGames Jam in Germany. In addition to the ticket, Finnish Game Jam will cover up to 500 euros of the jammer’s travel expenses. This scholarship will take the jammer to the first major game jam arranged at the gamescom trade fair. Selected projects of the jam will have an opportunity to showcase their jam game at the world’s largest game convention.
We selected Panu Akrenius from several great applications. Panu has created music and sound design for several jam games, but is a versatile jammer and can take various roles. Panu sends his regards and describes his expectations: “Like most of the creative processes, I expect that the upcoming jam session is going to be about inspiration and discouragement, hope and despair, humans and zombies, awesome ideas that are a nightmare to implement, and so on. But in the end, it’s hopefully going to be an experience that leaves a positive sense of accomplishment, and a handful of new acquaintances.”
Have a great jam at the InnoGames Jam, Panu! We are looking forward to hear the experiences and lessons learnt from this jam!
Finnish Game Jam awarded a scholarship for one jammer to join the Castle Game Jam 2016. We selected Henri Sarasvirta to represent the Finnish game jamming scene on the week-long game jam happening inside a castle in Sweden. Henri enjoyed the journey and shares his experiences with us in his travel report. If you are interested in the Finnish Game Jam scholarship program, you can now apply for the scholarship for InnoGames Jam 2016.
Week in a castle
Back in 2015 Newnorth technologies had this crazy kickstarter project of doing a game jam in an actual castle. I hadn’t noticed the kickstarter in time, but luckily for me Finnish Game Jam association had an extra ticket for their scholarship. Big thanks for letting me be the one to get to jam in a castle! The jam differs from usual jams not only by its location but also by the length of the event. Jam started on Sunday with a pre-party and continued with lectures and group forming on Monday. From that point on it was jamming until Saturday morning. Continue reading →
Finnish Game Jam ry is proud to announce our third jam scholarship! This time we are going to send one jammer to Germany to the first ever game jam organized at the Gamescom! InnoGames Jam is a three-day game jam in Germany organized on August 17th-19th 2016. The best projects of the jam will have an opportunity to showcase their jam game at the world’s largest game convention.
Finnish Game Jam organization is awarding a ticket to the InnoGames Jam and a 500€ travel aid to a prominent jammer willing to represent Finnish game jamming scene and bringing back the lessons learned to the community. The candidate for the scholarship is selected based on the applications sent prior to Monday 1st of August 2016 16:00 (GMT +3). Apply now!
InnoGames Jam is organized by InnoGames.com, independent from Finnish Game Jam organization. Finnish Game Jam Scholarship Program is founded to improve the mobility of the Finnish jammers and further enhance the international collaboration of the global jamming scene.
What would Assembly be without rapid game development? Finnish Game Jam brings jamming to Assembly once again! ASM Game Jam is a lot like other game jams with an Assembly twist. This year ASM Game Jam is collaborating with FIVR, so we expect to see a lot of VR games – but you can always choose your own platform and technology.
You can participate by buying the special ASM Game Jammer ticket from Eventbrite or by purchasing a normal ticket directly from Assembly. The ASM Game Jammer ticket will include a computer place and all the normal access on Assembly area. If you already bought a ticket but would like to move to the jammer area please contact vesa@finnishgamejam.com. You can jam wherever you want during the Assembly Summer weekend as long as you are at the Assembly area.
Join our Facebook event page to get all the updates to the jam. If you have any further questions on ASM Game Jam 2016, please contact the main organizer: vesa@finnishgamejam.com
Finnish Game Jam run a second round of our scholarship program with the Scholarship for Castle Game Jam 2016 (SWE). The ticket for the scholarship came from a private donor, as Rachel Ponce was not able to participate to Castle Game Jam and wanted to hand out the ticket to our scholarship program. We thank of this opportunity! In addition to the ticket, Finnish Game Jam will offer a stipend of 300 euros to cover the travel expenses.
We decided to select Henri Sarasvirta from the applicants for his outstanding jamming background. He has participated in more than a dozen game jams and every Global Game Jam since the very first Finnish Game Jam in 2010. Henri sends his regards: “Jam jam jam! Castle jam sounds like an awesome possibility to take jamming one step further. Having one week to develop games means a total of 168 hours of active development time (Not…). Big thanks for FGJ for making this possible!”
We are happy to send Henri to represent the Finnish game jam scene, and look forward to hear how jamming in a castle feels like!
Castle Game Jam is organized by James Newnorth from Newnorth Technology. For more information, go to: http://www.castlegamejam.com/
Finnish Game Jam ry is proud to announce our second jam scholarship! This time we are going to send one jammer to Sweden to the amazing Castle Game Jam! Castle Game Jam is a week-long event in July 4th-10th, 2016 where jammers and game developers around the globe gather to create games and party together – in an actual castle!
Finnish Game Jam organization is awarding a ticket to the Castle Game Jam 2016 (http://www.castlegamejam.com/) and a 300 Eur travel aid to a prominent jammer willing to represent Finnish game jamming scene and bringing back the lessons learned to the community. The candidate for the scholarship is selected based on the applications sent prior to Sunday 13th June 2016 16:00 (GMT +3).Go and apply now!
Castle Game Jam is organized by Newnorth Technology, independent from Finnish Game Jam organization. Finnish Game Jam Scholarship Program is founded to improve the mobility of the Finnish jammers and further enhance the international collaboration of the global jamming scene.
Finnish Game Jam ry organizes the annual jam organizer get together, FGJ Jam Jam, at the Sappee ski resort during July 1st-3rd 2016. Sign up now!
If you are an organizer of FGJ affiliated game jams, planning to become one or an active member of the jamming community running your own jams, we would love to see you there! The main task for the weekend is to put together #FGJ17 and other game jams to come, but even more important, we need to chill and chat about the jamtastic Finland – create new ideas and share thoughts, join our forces.
Participating is free of charge, but includes a donation for the shared food and drinks budget. Minimum donation is 1 eur + expenses (Eventbrite fees). You are responsible of your own traveling costs, but if you are a student or unemployed traveling far, we have limited number of tickets that comes with a grant of 50% compensation (maximum of 50 eur) of your travel costs (reimbursed after your trip in return of receipts).
This year, Finnish Game Jam ry gave awards to games from different jams organized by FGJ, including of course our biggest game jam, #FGJ16. Out of over 250 games from the 2015-2016 season, these nine games stood from the crowd in one way or another – and their awards are as special as the games themselves. Check them out, enjoy the jam, spread the message!
Brotality Award Bro Fist Simulator, FGJ Otaniemi Lauri Rustanius, Kim Valori, Juha Ylimäki
Bro Fist Simulator is an accurate description of the dangers of the bro code. Even when you’re in a danger of losing your fingers, you never leave a brother hanging. Under the surface of silliness the game contains a genuinely fun gameplay and imaginative use of the Global Game Jam 2016 theme.
Alternative Pants Award Shaman of Rituals for working games, FGJ Kuopio Tapio Väisänen, Pasi Saastamoinen, Matti Saarinen, Ville Turunen, Joni Pekkonen
What is the best thing you can do with your pants on? What is the best thing you can do with your smart pants on? Shaman of Rituals for working games is a simple, yet oddly compelling rhythm game which you can play with smart pants. As you work your shaman magic, you get surrounded by your strange villagers dancing around you. The game combines the persuasive powers of a digital game, the appeal of alt ctrl and the benefits of an exergame. What else do we need?
Rotary Dial Award Luurin Luikaus, ASM FGJ ‘15 Salla Huttunen, Timo Korhonen, Janne Koski, Joona Pääkkönen, Riku Rajaniemi, Pyry Takkunen
Remember the time when there were TV games and you couldn’t participate because you didn’t have a modern phone at the house? Now you can experience why you were not allowed to call in. Luurin Luikaus feels like a true trip to the past with flowery wallpapers, CRT televisions and simple yet unapologetically hard-to-play games.
Don’t Cook and Drive Award Gotta Have Pancake, FGJ Tampere Mikko Lasonen
Sometimes you just Gotta Have Pancake. This game is for all of you who get the urge while travelling and are considering to cook and drive. This incredibly ingenious game concretizes the fact that cooking and driving significantly increases the possibility of traffic accidents. If your friends are considering cooking while driving, offer to cook for them. They’ll thank you later.
Ultimate Cultist Award Casually Cultist, FGJ Tampere Eric Hartin, Matti Isotalo, Miikka Lehtonen, Juuso Mattila, Tony Sundell
Casually Cultist excels both in style and in the interpretation of the Global Game Jam 2016 theme. It uses two of the frequently used topics of this year’s jam games – cults and everyday rituals – in an unexpected way. When the cult comes to an end and everyday life begins, how can a single cultist migrate and survive within the loneliness of mundane?
360 Elegance Award Asteroids Redemption, Quantum Game Jam Veli-Pekka Kokkonen, Timo Anttila, Atso Sariola, Boris Sokolov, Jaakko Vainio
Asteroids Redemption’s black-and-white, grainy graphics, distortion effects and simple arcade-like gameplay comprise an elegant game that you enjoy not only playing but also watching. Its true potential is released on the full dome projector. And this is not all: the game has a basis in the quantum physics, demonstrating the beauty of quantum tunnelling.
Survival Yogi Award Ragdoll Yoga, FGJ Survival Mode Jere Sanisalo, Antti Svenn
When the apocalypse begins and we start running out of power, it is soothing to know that game making will continue until the end of days. All you need is a couple of tablets and willing programmers. Amazingly awful graphics, mesmerizing soundscape and addictive as hell gameplay. With an odd interpretation of the theme “Ritual”, Ragdoll Yoga takes the player on a journey to the world of stretching.
Sinusoidal Oscillations Award Come As You Are, FGJ Helsinki Art Museum Perttu Hämäläinen, Ville Seppänen, Joonas Häll, Jeremia Kunnari, Bahadir Gürkan, Serdar Bingöl
This is what we suspect the ritual of a sound designer might look like. You don’t have to be a sound engineer to solve the addictive puzzles of this game, but that might help. With a philosophical backstory, eery atmosphere and simple yet inventive mechanics, Come As You Are stands out not only from the multitude of other ritual games, but from the Global Game Jam 2016 games altogether.
Sauna Award Sauna Simulator 2016, FGJ Turku Aapo Peltola, Aukusti Manninen, Jami Aho, Jaakko Susi, Taisto Suominen
If you give a theme of “ritual” to a Finn, you cannot avoid sauna games. After all, the sacred ritual of sauna is important to us all. The Sauna Simulator 2016 goes a step further: It wants to spread the sauna love to those without the luxury of it. Just put on your virtual reality goggles, get naked, grab your beer and throw water on the stove. It’s almost like you’re there.
In addition to the game awards, Finnish Game Jam awarded Samuli Jääskeläinen as the Superjammer of the Year 2015 for exemplary and courageous jamming, Remedy Entertainment as the Jamtivist of the Year 2015 for their remarkable and continuous support for the Finnish Game Jam, Anna Permala and Minna Eloranta for their outstanding contribution for the game jam organizing in the FGJ’s graphics team, and Meanfish, Viope, and PlayRaven for their outstanding support as the sponsors of the #FGJ16 event.
We selected Panu Akrenius from several great applications. Panu has created music and sound design for several jam games, but is a versatile jammer and can take various roles. Panu sends his regards and describes his expectations: “Like most of the creative processes, I expect that the upcoming jam session is going to be about inspiration and discouragement, hope and despair, humans and zombies, awesome ideas that are a nightmare to implement, and so on. But in the end, it’s hopefully going to be an experience that leaves a positive sense of accomplishment, and a handful of new acquaintances.”
We decided to select Henri Sarasvirta from the applicants for his outstanding jamming background. He has participated in more than a dozen game jams and every Global Game Jam since the very first Finnish Game Jam in 2010. Henri sends his regards: “Jam jam jam! Castle jam sounds like an awesome possibility to take jamming one step further. Having one week to develop games means a total of 168 hours of active development time (Not…). Big thanks for FGJ for making this possible!”