Global Game Jam

From February 03 to 05, the Immersive Experience Lab (IXLab for short), for the first time and as the only one in Dresden, provided a venue for this year's Global Game Jam. The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is an international event where hobbyists (and those who want to become hobbyists) and professionals from the game industry create games on a single weekend. No matter if board games or virtual reality, as long as the games are based on the annually changing theme (this year "Roots"), any form is allowed. The only important thing is to get as close to a working prototype as possible in the 48 hours of time. The main focus of the event is cooperation, exchange of experiences and fun, even if there are also prize money and other prizes from the GGJ sponsors internationally. 

This time in Dresden there were 15 participants who created and uploaded 6 games in their 48 hours. In addition to the time pressure, there are several extra frameworks (called "Diversifiers") which should make the creation of the games more interesting, for this there were also a few local Diversifiers, which were only available for the venue of the IXLab.  From using a mathematical concept in the game, to not using virtual reality and AI generated images, there was a lot to choose from for teams that wanted to prove themselves. 

All games from this and previous years are available on the GGJ website. Here is also the link to the GGJ page for the IXLab location, where all the games that were created are available: https://globalgamejam.org/2023/jam-sites/immersive-experience-lab. 

What is special about the IXLab games is that half of them put a lot of emphasis on sounds or music. Forest Tune', for example, is a cooperative game where players use a keyboard to create harmonies that make a tree grow. In 'BeetRoot', you have to help a centipede make its way through roots in rhythm, while venue organizer Krishnan Chandran's ('In the Heart of the Woods') game is about breathing calmly and rhythmically to make a forest thrive. 

Venue organizer Krishnan Chandran reports on the event, "It was a great success with no problems. The participants all had very positive feedback during the joint closing, which made the organizing all the more worthwhile. We are happy that everyone had so much fun and hope that we can repeat the whole thing with even more participants next year.