Creative

Complete a Game Jam

2 weeks · 3 milestones

Design, build, and submit a complete game during a timed game jam (48–72 hours).

Milestone map

3 milestones

Register for a specific upcoming game jam and lock in a game concept that is achievable within the jam's time limit. The two most common failure modes in game jams are (1) not registering until the jam has already started, and (2) choosing a concept that is too ambitious to finish in 48–72 hours. Both are avoidable with preparation. Before the jam begins: confirm your registration on the jam platform, choose your game engine and have it installed and working with a test project running, decide on a genre and mechanic that you have some familiarity with, and write a 3-sentence concept note describing what the player does, what the win condition is, and what the primary visual style will be. The concept note serves as your scope guard during the jam — any feature not mentioned in the concept note is cut until the core is done.

Proof required

Submit: (1) a screenshot of your jam registration confirmation (showing the jam name and your username), and (2) your 3-sentence concept note covering: what the player does, the win/fail condition, and the visual style. Include the jam name, platform, and start date.

What gets checked

Registration is confirmed with a screenshot showing both the jam name and your username — a screenshot of the jam homepage without your registration shown does not pass; most jam platforms (itch.io, Ludum Dare, Global Game Jam) show a 'You're registered' confirmation or similar; that is the proof
Concept note is specific and scope-limited — 'a platformer with lots of levels and enemies and a boss fight and an inventory system' is not achievable in 48 hours by most solo developers; a passing concept note describes something completable: 'a one-screen puzzle where the player moves blocks to create a path from start to exit; win when the path is clear; minimal pixel art style'
Game engine is identified in the concept note or accompanying note — the engine choice is part of the preparation, not something decided during the jam; name the engine (Godot, Unity, Pygame, Pico-8, GameMaker, or similar) and confirm it is installed and a test project opens

Resources

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Mastery

Game Maker's Toolkit — Game Jam Strategy Videos

Free — watch GMTK's jam retrospective videos before committing to a concept; they explain specifically what makes jam games succeed and fail at the design level, informing the concept note scope discipline

Unlocks after completing Foundation + Depth