Last week I wrote about game jams and why you should give them a try. Though I still love game jams and think that every game designer should try them out at least one, most game jams are far from perfect. While they can be a great opportunity to meet new people, refine your design skills, and inspire your creativity, those benefits come with some notable drawbacks. Not everyone has 24-72hrs of consecutive free time available to make a game. Even if you do have the time, making a game within such a tight deadline is super stressful. Some people certainly thrive under that kind of pressure, but for people like me I wish I had a bit more breathing room. So how can you make game jams less stressful? Slow them down.
In 2019, I participated in the PIGS 2019 Summer Slow Jam. Unlike most game jams with take place over a single weekend, this slow jam gives you almost two weeks to create your game. Not only did this additional time make the jam way less stressful, it also came with some additional benefits:
1 - It’s a Lot More Accessible
If you’re in school, working long hours, and/or raising a family, you might not be able to devote a full day towards making a game. But if you have two weeks to work with, it’s not as difficult to spread those hours out over multiple days. Instead of spending all of your Saturday and Sunday on a game jam, you can instead work on it a few hours each night. Of course you still have the option to go all-out and use the full two weeks if you want, but the flexibility to choose how and when you want to work on your game allows everyone to participate on their own terms.
2 - You Can Experiment More
Game jams are known for inspiring some really weird and wild ideas. But when you have a looming deadline, you can’t really explore those ideas very much. Often you have to settle for the first idea that works, rather than choosing the idea that works best. But in a slow jam, you have more time to brainstorm and experiment. This gives you the space to try out ideas that don’t work without having to worry you’ll run out of time.
3 - You Can Actually Playtest Your Game
Screenshot from Super Necromancer, which I made for PIGS SSJ 2019.
By far the most important part of game design is playtesting. You can spend hours and hours working alone on your game, but you’ll never know for sure if it’s good or not until you let other people play it. In a typical game jam, playtesting is often rushed or completely neglected. It ends up being the last thing you do, and you rarely have time to make meaningful changes based on player feedback. But for slow jams, you could spend multiple days on playtesting! For me, I got some people to test my game after the 1st week so that I could add in the feedback during the 2nd week. This helped me create a way better game than if I’d only tested it at the last minute.
4 - You Have Time for Polish
In a normal game jam, the last few hours tend to be a sprint to get in as many finishing touches as possible. Often you’ll break the game trying to shove everything in, but you won’t have time to fix it. I can’t tell you how many game jams I’ve seen crash and burn at the end that could have been saved if they had a few extra hours to clean things up. With slow jams, you have those few extra hours. When I was making my game, spent the entire last day just on polish so that I knew my game would be ready for the showcase. While that polish won’t fix your game is it’s completely broken, it can turn a good game into a great one.
Do I think that all game jams should be slow jams? Absolutely not. I think normal game jams have their place and are an excellent gateway into game design. But if you want all the benefits of a game jam without the stress, considering taking it slow next time.