Last September was the sixth OrcaJam! It kicked off with an excellent keynote by Raphael Van Lierop, the Creative Director behind the crowdfunded, commercially successful, and beautifully rendered survival game “The Long Dark”.
Jamming away
On Saturday afternoon we had a panel discussion titled The Juice Must Flow: Avoiding Creative Blocks as a Game Creator. Our panel of local game creators shared practical tips for keeping the creative juices flowing for your on-going game projects or just for getting through the game jam weekend!
The panelists were Jose Brand (Kano Apps), Michelle Frey (Tetrahedral Interactive), Cory Harrison (Codename Entertainment), and Joanne Robertson (One Bit Labs). Thanks again to all of them for donating time they could have spent making games.
Then on Saturday evening we had a videogame inspired late night talk show: “Crunch Night with Chris & Steve”. Our hosts were Chris Tihor (Ironic Iconic Studios & IGDA Victoria), and Steven G. Saunders (Black Goat Games). There was fun, frivolity, some special guests, and more than a few surprises. We dread Crunch Night no longer!
Last man standing
The most exciting part of the jam is always the final showcase on Sunday evening. This year we had fifteen different solo jammers and teams present their work. Some jammers polished projects they had already started, others started something completely new, and one team chose hard mode and made their first game ever with a language and a framework that were both new to them.
Please share your game in the comments, there were some great games shown off at the jam and I’m sure people who couldn’t make it to the showcase would love to play them.
Our volunteer photographer/videographer Justyn Martyn (Steel Swords Productions) even improvised a Steadicam (totally not just a chair on wheels) to bring you a nerd’s eye view of the jam 😉
And finally, thanks again to all of the volunteers. We couldn’t run the jam without you!
