Global Game Jam 2019
2019 marks the third consecutive year AIE has been co-hosting Global Game Jam with our partners the Seattle Indies, IGDA (Indie Game Developer's Association) and the Pacific Science Center. Building 4 and the Ackerley area of the Pacific Science Center belonged to the game devs for the weekend, and during normal museum hours. For game devs who didn't want to know the time of day, they migrated to the brightly-colored but dark room of Building 4, while the rest of the devs remained in the Ackerley area, opting to see the sunshine.
The game jam was sponsored by many local studios and gaming affiliates. Among them was disruptive game distributor TurboPlay, and G-Fuel, the #1 gamer-approved energy drink, with their generous supply of shaker-cups and assorted flavors packets of G-Fuel. Sponsored support went toward opening more space for the 200 capacity event, as well as food to feed those 200 participants (not including mentors or volunteers in that count). Breakfast, coffee and dinner were served all throughout the event.
Our Global Game Jam Seattle location was also one of the few chosen to have their stream broadcast via Mixer. Our location was also covered by Forbes in the article: Seattle's Global Game Jam Encourages the Aspiring Game Dev in All of Us, written by Melissa Brinks.
Participating in the event were AIE students, alumni and yes, some of AIE Seattle's very own instructors: Terry Nguyen (Game Programming) and Misty Loreen (Game Art & Animation). Our AIE family shared tables with a variety of game developers, ranging from the indie scene to AAA giants, such as Valve and Microsoft.
Participating in the event were AIE students, alumni and yes, some of AIE Seattle's very own instructors: Terry Nguyen (Game Programming) and Misty Loreen (Game Art & Animation). Our AIE family shared tables with a variety of game developers, ranging from the indie scene to AAA giants, such as Valve and Microsoft.
This year's theme was “What Home Means to You', and witnessing everyone's interpretation of home was at times thought-provoking, and flat out hilarous. From a constant stream of feel-good compliments with binaural sound in a virtual reality experience, to decorating your home with a meager millennial budget, this year's theme around home was a success. At the end of the event, all teams presented their games. This year's audience favorites were PartyEngine and Nesting Season. You can play these AIE-powered games right now such as: Dino Baby, We're Off to Slay the Wizard, What a Drag, You're the Man Now Dog, Fight the Dungeon, Melancholy Moyo and Beyond Home.
Meanwhile across the globe, our friends at AIE Australia were participating in Global Game Jam 2019, as well as one Seattle alumnus, Pearson Lawrence (Game Programming) was spotted jamming away in Japan. With that said, Sayonara until next year for Global Game Jam 2020!