The first concepts are currently being formed worldwide for indie games being made in 48 hoursin teams all across the world.
The opening keynotesincluded some of the most inspirational big names in development having their personalised speeches screened exclusively at each Global Game Jam venue to kick things off. This year included Baiyon (music collaborators behind the marvellous Pixeljunk Eden) and creator of SimCity and The Sims Will Wright.
Jammers are all fully prepared with sleeping bags, loosely agreed upon schedules and roles and an enthusiasm which is unmatched at indie game development events.
This year’s theme was a surprise, with not words, but a single image depicting a snake eating its own tail (Oroboros, pictured) being the sole source of inspiration.
Speaking to jammers on the floor at the Rosehill Racecourse Exhibition Centre in Sydney, it’s clearly an overwhelming prospect to develop to a theme so potentially vast or simple.
“We can pretty much do anything with it.” says one jammer. “We’ve already got that we’ll be including a reptile, and drawing from the polarity of the image.”
When asked how they feel about the theme, the responses include ‘daunting’, ‘impossible’, ‘ingenious’ and ‘diabolical’.
While some teams already have a gameplay genre in mind, at this stage things are in a very preliminary state.
Stay tuned on Monday for the results and final products as we check in with the teams again on Sunday afternoon.