Over the last few weeks we have been hosting our first ever game jam, the LCDSS Jam 2024. The games have been made, they were all played, and the votes have been tallied. Here is an overview of everything that happened. Or you can skip all the spoilers and just see the games for yourself here: https://itch.io/jam/lcdss-jam
We started the jam on March 12th. We hosted a kickoff event to introduce the theme of the jam and give an overview of what tools and resources we could offer participants here at the LCDSS. We revealed the theme to be “Together”. With that theme participants could make anything they wanted. They were free to use any video game engine they wanted or make a board game. They were given a 3-week time limit and then sent off to plan their games. When all was said and done, we received 4 games. 1 video game and 3 board/tabletop games. Temple students, staff, and faculty were all represented here.
I entered the competition myself though, being a judge, told the other judges to ignore my game in terms of rankings. But to give a brief overview, I used GBStudio to create a Gameboy game. Not just a game in the style of older Gameboy games, but one that can actually be played on a Gameboy (if you have the right means to put it on a cartridge). The concept was to have 2 versions of the same area in 2 timelines. You play as a young kid that breaks a “Time Crystal” in a museum and rips time apart. You need to jump between the timelines to complete the level by finding 3 shards of the crystal to rebuild the crystal and open a portal, hopefully to home. It was my first time using GBStudio and it was a very interesting (and somewhat difficult) experience. I will be writing up another post about my experience with the engine soon.
Our next entry is not just a game, but a game system called Volkstron. In this RPG-lite game you play as an angsty teen who is also a pilot of a giant Voltron/Power Rangers style robot. Players have 2 stats: Robot and Teen. When you do fight aliens and monsters or other heroic acts, you roll against your Robot stat. When you ask 2 girls to prom and need to elaborate costume changes to make sure neither knows, you roll against your Teen stat. As you pass or fail different tasks your Robot and Teen stats shift between each other. Keep your Robot stats in sync and you can form a giant robot with all players. If your Teen stat maxes out, you go out of control in your robot and need your friends to help calm you down. Since it is a system and not a set game, anything can happen. The players and GM write their own story with their actions. So, it will be different every time you play.
Next up is Era Four: Crisis in the Cluster. This was a very ambitious game with a grand scale. It was also a difficult game for us to test since you needed 6-16 players as well as a referee (so 7-17 total). But we were able to get everyone into a room (well one player was playing virtually on Zoom). The concept of this game is that each player represents a different alien faction, each with its own set of goals and hidden agendas and they need to try to keep their cluster of planets stable in order to fend off an impending invasion from another unseen enemy from outside of the cluster. Random events are introduced to players in a UN style meeting where factions effected by the events can plead their case to other factions and pitch the first solutions. After than players form coalitions amongst themselves (or don’t). Once the groups are decided, players take actions with the leader or the group making decisions for the other members. But they don’t have to make the decisions that were previously discussed. So, choose leaders wisely. Players must provide arguments and counter arguments to decide the likelihood of the event happening successfully. Then a roll of the dice determines the fate of the action. Actions may alter the stability rating of the cluster. Hostile actions make the system less stable, while more diplomatic actions make the system more stable. After some light housekeeping, the referee draws a new random event, and a new turn begins. After 6 turns we check the stability rating and one more roll of the dice determines if the players were able to fend off the invaders. Players also check their factions’ specific goals to determine how many victory points they earn to determine the winner.
And the winner is…
Interlink! This miniatures-based table top game had a really interesting concept. Two teams of two players face off with two giant robot mech suits per team. The catch? Both players must control one mech at a time without explicitly planning with each other. Need to move around an obstacle to get line of sight on an enemy to shoot? You better hope that one of you picks move and one of you picks shoot. Otherwise, you will be shooting nothing or running right past your enemy. Each mech is customizable with dozens of different weapon, armor, and abilities. Different hulls have different numbers of arms. Some weapons require two arms each. Each weapon has different stats and abilities. So, there are near endless possibilities depending on how you build your mechs. The two-pilot mechanic makes for some very fun (sometimes frustrating) situations.
You and your partner need to make sure you are always on the same page. You are allowed to talk to each other in vague terms about your plans. But you can never explicitly tell them what you plan to do or what you want them to do. You might say, “We are low on ammo, and need to attack the nearest enemy”. You mean “We should reload then shoot again”, but what your partner hears is “We should move in and use melee attacks”. So even when you are working in sync, there are still times when you may double up on actions or just pick the wrong one at inopportune times. It makes things a little wonky, but that is also part of the charm.
So, those are all the games that were submitted. It was a great turnout for the first time that we have run this event. We were unsure of what to expect, so getting 4 entries was great! That said, we want more! We have already started the planning for our next game jam event. We have nothing to announce just yet but stay tuned for future updates!