150 jammers took part in GGJ at Cologne Game Haus
Cologne Game Haus hosted one of the greatest global events for games developers. Global Game Jam® (GGJ) took place on our premises from 25 to 27 January 2019 and we were overwhelmed by the creativity and talent of our participants. For one weekend with little sleep but lots of fun, 150 game creators came up with great ideas for some cool pieces of entertainment. This year’s theme was: “What home means to you”.
Of course also tenants of the Cologne Game Haus participated in this special event. Members of Massive Miniteam, Flying Sheep, Ludopium, Ducks on the Water and more were present. Ducks on the Water for instance developed the hypercasual game for iOS and Android “Shifty Funky Space“. Students from Cologne Game Lab created “Zugvögel“. All in all 21 teams produced 21 game prototypes that were uploaded to the GGJ website in time by Sunday, 5 p.m.
You can search all the games of the Cologne Game Haus jam under https://globalgamejam.org/2019/jam-sites/cologne-game-haus/games.
The Global Game Jam® (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event taking place in physical locations across the globe. Think of it as a hackathon focused on game development. The first Global Game Jam® was held in January, 2009 with 1600 people jamming in 23 countries.
In the 11th year GGJ19 united 47,000 jammers who made 9,000 games at 860 sites in 113 countries. 10 countries took part for the first time: Azerbaijan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Myanmar, Namibia, and Rwanda.
The jam, which is fully run by volunteers, is known for fostering intercultural friendships and the exchange of international game developers in order to help companies to get in contact across borders and support cooperation and business relationships.
The annual event normally begins on a Friday afternoon in January and kicks off with video keynotes and advice from leaders in the game development industry. The jam formally begins after an announcement of the year’s theme, kept secret until the last second. All sites worldwide are challenged to make games based upon said theme within 48 hours. The GGJ encourages collaboration and is not a competition. Anyone can apply to host a jam site as long as they have a dedicated jam organizer and a venue with internet access.
The next Global Game Jam® #GGJ20 will run from from Friday 31 January to Sunday 2 February 2020.
