game jam

[ geym jam ]

noun

, Digital Technology.

1. an event in which video game developers work in groups to conceptualize, design, and build a functioning version of one or more game projects over a restricted period of a few hours or days:

   The game jam brought students and industry veterans together to create hundreds of new games in one weekend.

Word History and Origins

Origin of game jam¹

First recorded in 2000–05; game ¹( def ) + jam (session) ( def )

Example Sentences

I’ve even seen an experimental project developed at a game jam that connects to an EEG device, and a game could certainly tap into a commercial biometric reader like a Fitbit.

From Slate

As I write this, one Itch.io user has announced a game jam called the “Unspeakable Jam” that will run until June 12th; all entries must follow Apple executive Trystan Kosmynka’s instruction that “games have a beginning and end; there’s challenges in place.”

From The Verge

Celeste was one of the most acclaimed games of 2018, but what you may not have known is that the tightly designed platformer was an expanded version of a smaller project developed in four days at a game jam.

From The Verge

There are also asset add-ons like Space Cadet and Danger Zone, which you can unlock by doing things like sharing your game, updating your game, or attending a game jam.

From The Verge

Participants were challenged to build a game from scratch, known in game development circles as a game jam, that somehow reflected our pandemic and the data and science that seek to understand it.

From Los Angeles Times