Game jams - 24 hours of fun/stress

I must have talked before about the Game Hack in London organised by TIGA.
Before I joined the course I was informed about what happened in the gaming world, yet not so much into the game-making industry. I was quite surprise that part of a common practice was to participate in these game jam that can go from 24 hours to a week. Either online or going to specific locations, the idea is to make a game in as little time as possible, this helps the process of decision making incredibly short, the potential for innovative ideas to pop out and from quick and effective problem solving. My main surprise about this common practice is mainly because I had something similar back when I was studying architecture and I always found it a bit strange the way they tested the practical and creative side of it; one Saturday every two months we go early in the morning, get briefed there (you have no idea what kind of project they'll ask for) and then you have 12 hours to develop plans, elevations and scale models of your proposal.

Global game jam is one of the most famous ones, as the name says, it can host anyone from anywhere in the world. Apart from this one there's almost always something going on and CompoHub is a website that tracks all the game jams happening and about to happen .

The idea of going there was terrifying at first, I imagine it being all professional and hardcore game making. Luckily it turned out to be a quite fun experience; I was lucky to have a team but for people who when on their own they where separated according to their skills and put into groups. This way is a fantastic way to meet other people and engage with the community. It's was so much fun to talk to other groups, see what people do. Some team where really serious some others just went for the fun of it. A wide range of people and talents merged into one roof. Not sure if all the game jams are similar, but certainly TIGA's gamehack was absolutely fantastic and well organised. If anything it shows you to an extent what people are capable of doing and putting together in a short amount of time. Might not be industry standards for AAA games, yet when put into perspective, you can get to get an idea of what it would be like and where you are with your work.