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Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media
Sacred Heart University student Justin Alexander Strather Singleton of Weston works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessSacred Heart University student Justin Alexander Strather Singleton of Weston works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018.
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UConn-Stamford student Larry Rosenfeld of Stamford works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessUConn-Stamford student Larry Rosenfeld of Stamford works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area
... more
Sacred Heart University student Nathaniel Fleming of Media, PA and UConn-Stamford student Larry Rosenfeld of Stamford collaborate while participating in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessSacred Heart University student Nathaniel Fleming of Media, PA and UConn-Stamford student Larry Rosenfeld of Stamford collaborate while participating in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford,
... more
UConn-Stamford student Larry Rosenfeld of Stamford describes the game his team was designing as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessUConn-Stamford student Larry Rosenfeld of Stamford describes the game his team was designing as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018.
... more
UConn-Stamford student Nina Drozdenko uses a Wacom pen tablet to design graphics as she participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessUConn-Stamford student Nina Drozdenko uses a Wacom pen tablet to design graphics as she participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from
... more
Student teams from area universities participate in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018.
Student teams from area universities participate in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018.
Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media
Sacred Heart University student Justin Alexander Strather Singleton of Weston, at right, works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessSacred Heart University student Justin Alexander Strather Singleton of Weston, at right, works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan.
... more
Sacred Heart University student Justin Alexander Strather Singleton of Weston, at left, works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessSacred Heart University student Justin Alexander Strather Singleton of Weston, at left, works on graphics as he participates in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27,
... more
Sacred Heart University game design professor Bob McCloud checks in on other sites participating in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area universities, along with teams in over 95 countries, spent the weekend designing a video game with a common theme "Transmission".
lessSacred Heart University game design professor Bob McCloud checks in on other sites participating in "Global Game Jam" at the Ferguson Library in Stamford, Conn. on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018. Students from area
... more
Teams participate in worldwide game-creating event in Stamford
STAMFORD — Boxes of pizza and plenty of soda was at the ready in the Ferguson Library’s dimly lit auditorium this weekend for the dozens of participants in the Global Game Jam.
More than 100 countries participated in the 10th annual event. The idea is simple: teams have two days to create a playable video game. The finer details, though, are more complex.
It’s a pressure-packed few days with participants working with some people they don’t know to create a game based on a theme, which is not disclosed until right before they start brainstorming. This year’s theme was “transmission.”
The five teams in Stamford began on Friday after an opening speech from keynote speaker Tom Salta, a game music composer, and worked diligently until the library closed. They worked through the day on Saturday and had until 2 p.m. Sunday to complete their games.
Nina Drozdenko, 20, and her team created a side-scrolling game that follows a carrier pigeon during World War I that must dodge obstacles on its way to delivering a letter.
“I think it’s going to come together pretty well because we’re keeping it simple but using the story to drive the complexity,” said Drozdenko, a University of Connecticut-Stamford digital media and design major who participated in the Game Jam for a second year.
Cynthia Lyon, director of higher education and human capital at the Business Council of Fairfield County, said the non-competitive event is meant to embody and heighten creativity.
“It’s a creative ecosystem around technology,” she said.
For the past three years, Lyon said the Business Council has organized the Stamford Game Jam to discover technological talent in the area.
Alice Knapp, president of Ferguson Library, said the library partners with the council to offer a place where people want to be creative.
“Libraries have always been about creative expression,” Knapp said. ”What’s more creative than building a game around a certain storyline?”
Robert McCloud, an associate professor of computer science at Sacred Heart University, had three lessons for the participants that he said are integral to creating their games: Have a lot of ideas; generate an outline before coding; and learn your teammates’ strengths.
He also said feedback is important.
”You’re not building a game for yourself, you’re building a game for the world,” he said. “I want them to have realistic expectations on what they can produce.”
The completed games will be uploaded to the Global Game Jam’s website, globalgamejam.org.
tclark@stamfordadvocate.com
