PegJam Logo designed by the talented Marlon Wiebe (feeblethemighty.com)
A couple weeks ago, we attended TigJam: Winnipeg (aka: PegJam!). The Jam was spearheaded by Infinite Ammo’s Alec Holowka, who describes it thusly...
Basically: Bunch of game developers get together, bring their laptops and work on whatever project they feel like.
New projects will be born, long-lasting friendships will be formed, skills will be gained – epic levelling-up! – and little or no sleep will be had…
It’s just sort of awesome.
It is all sorts of awesome. It's rather intense in nature, filled with some serious work, good vibes and decidedly devoid of any serious sleep. An exhausting cocktail that shouldn't necessarily add up to a great way to spend a weekend - but does.
It's really such a simple idea (put like-minded people in a room and let them create) that pays huge dividends in terms of learning, camaraderie and inspiration. Game jams really seem to showcase the community, skills and general attitude of indie scene at its best.
We attended with the intent of making like a game dev a little bit (embedding ourselves - Diane Fossey style!), doing some work on our own projects, meeting some cool people and, of course, doing some filming.
We wanted to create a little piece that aimed to capture the spirit of the event. Something that touched on the games, the people and the vibe. Above is what we came up with...
[NOTE: We should point out that this is NOT an actual or intended part of Indie Game: The Movie. Simply just a short film that we made along the way that we thought you'd enjoy]
So many fantastic people we’re there (many more than we were able to feature in the video). Click here to see a full list of who made it out. Also Chrissy Chubala snapped a whole bunch of great photos of the Jam - very worth checking out.
If there happens to be a Jam (be it TIG or otherwise) in your area, we highly recommend checking it out. Speaking as a self-employed filmmaker, who spends countless hours in computer-based solitude, the event is the perfect antidote to the frustrations of an often lonely profession.
Thanks so much to Alec and Chrissy for organizing, Fortune Cat Games Studio for hosting, New Media Manitoba for supporting and everybody else for letting us hang out and watch
We have a lot more material that we want to eventually post from the weekend. So expect some more PegJam Goodness down the road!
Music for the video was used with the generously permission of Ergo Phizmiz (www.ergophizmiz.net)
J + L