Godot Beginner Launchpads "Learn Jam" (Educational Game Jam) starts this weekend
Overview
This Learn Jam hosted by the Godot Beginner Launchpad isn't designed like any regular game jam: The instructions are intentionally "narrow" to force a very specific kind of game. The goal is to get a bunch of similar games after 2 weeks and have the participants compare their approaches and learn from each other.
The target audience are beginners, who are still in the process of learning the engine fundamentals.
Example instructions ( from the last jam ):
Make a single-room ( 3/4 ) top-down game with "timed floor collapse"
- One room/screen per level
- Floor tiles disappear exactly x seconds after being stepped on
- Player must pick up the key to open the exit door
- Grid-based movement ( BONUS: visually smooth )
- Falling through floor ( or touching an enemy ) => instant death, level restarts
- BONUS: while carrying the heavy key the player moves slower
- BONUS: avoid enemies that move around on fixed paths
- BONUS: multiple levels with increasing difficulty
- BONUS: more floor tile types with different behaviors
In addition, I provided links to a free asset pack, relevant pages of the official documentation and a couple of Youtube tutorials regarding TileMaps.
Rationale
The game has to be unique enough so you can't just copy some existing open-source game or tutorial. Even if you did there's nothing to gain, since the submissions aren't rated or ranked. The only thing to gain from this jam is experience.
Another requirement is that it should teach some important beginner game dev skills: The last time around it was grid-based movement and working with a TileMap ( I recommended using a TileMap in the footnotes at least) among other things.
Development phase
We have 2 channels set up on our Discord server for participants to be able to discuss the jam and ask for support, but also post their progress and discuss the implementation techniques they're using in a separate "spoiler"-channel.
During our last jam some were very active in the latter, others chose not to look at it at all and work completely on their own. Although everyone was still a beginner in Godot terms, we also had people with a lot of programming knowledge or experience working with other engines who caught on quickly. They were able, and more than willing, to support their peers which help tremendously.
Another great thing with this setup is that it doesn't really matter whether you actually "finish" the game. The important thing is to at least try on your own so you can fully appreciate the code other people wrote - not just to read but actually understand why it's necessary and thus learn from it.
Review phase
The final step is for everyone to upload their game to Github and open a forum thread on our server where they can discuss their approach and implementation with other participants.
Comparing your code against a pool of other projects that are variations of what you have written yourself is the main strength of the Learn Jam. While you kind of get that when you re-create popular games like Pong you still won't be able to have real-time discussions and code reviews immediately after you're finished.
Join the jam
The jam will start on the 16th and last for 2 weeks. Join our Discord server to take part https://discord.gg/8gcCgZDbcs