Global Game Jam 2017 — South Korea
The Global Game Jam® is the world’s largest game development event taking place around the world in multiple physical locations. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. It is all condensed into a 48 hour development cycle. The jam encourages people with all kinds of backgrounds to participate and contribute to this global spread of game development and creativity, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression.
The structure of the event is usually that everyone gathers on Friday late afternoon, watches a short video keynote with advice from leading game developers, and then a secret theme is announced. All sites worldwide are then challenged to make games based on that same theme, with games to be completed by Sunday afternoon. In previous years, over 600 locations in 93 countries created 6866 games in one weekend. The jam is known for helping foster new friendships, increase confidence and opportunities within the community.
In Seoul, the event is taking place in Hongdae, one of the most popular locations in Korea, in a popular start-up incubation office known as 5minlab. The event this year will be held on Friday, January 20th for 48 hours, wrapping up on the Sunday at 7pm. Only 24 attendees are allowed to participate in the Hongdae location. If you are not an registered participant, it is actually possible to watch a live feed of the event and watch the development of a game condensed into a weekend. However, if you would like to participate, please follow the link below to the sign-up form. Applications close on Wednesday, January 11th 2017, so be quick to register!
