We are happy to announce that Unreal Bahrain will be organizing the local youth-oriented game jam, GGJ NEXT®. The Jam will take place virtually between the 28th July and 11th of August 2021 accompanied with guidance counselors for an engaging two week camp that young creators can enjoy for Free courtesy of Unreal Bahrain and The Global Game Jam Organization.
Signup for the Jam here [https://forms.gle/LGKBApNRxrySs2Dc9].
Who is this for?
- This is for young creators and their parents/legal guardians to participate in.
- No game development or game design experience is required, you will be learning everything from scratch.
- It is a great way to fill up the summer learning new, exciting, and creative things.
- Participants will engage in group activities and learn how to work in teams.
Rules and Guidelines to signups
- Participants must be between 12-17 years of age (Exceptions may apply).
- The participants will have their identities verified after filling up the form.
- Parents and legal guardian need to sign a permission form.
- Participants need to read the code of conduct.
- Participants will receive guided tutoring via a discord channel once identities of participants, parents, and legal guardians are confirmed.
- For the duration of the jam participants will be assigned to counselors and have an open session at 6 PM with the general counselor every day for two hours.
- Both digital and physical games are accepted as final submissions.
Participants will need to
- Keep a record of their learning by taking pictures or videos, plus notes.
- Optionally work in teams.
- Present their end work.
Jam Program
|
Date |
Description |
Week Activity |
|
Intro to Game Jam |
Learning Phase |
|
The Parts of a Game |
|
|
Weekend Break |
||
|
Prototype and Playtest |
|
|
Games As Systems |
|
|
Thinking creatively about game ideas |
|
|
Team Formation, Ideation, Preliminary Design |
Youth Jam Week |
|
Finalize Game Ideas, Assign Roles, Begin Work |
|
|
Weekend Break |
||
|
Continue work on respective tasks |
|
|
Continue work on tasks & encourage playtesting |
|
|
Finish your game to a presentable prototype |
|
Benefits
- Participants that have completed the jam will receive a completion certificate.
- It’s a fun activity for everyone.
- Learn new skills and understand how games are made.
- Access to Game Maker for two months for free.
For more info contact +97339296739 or mail Organizers@UnrealBahrai.com
More about the GGJ NEXT
In an aim to expand Bahraini’s skillset in game development, Unreal Bahrain has partnered with Global Game Jam Organization to host the fourth edition of the Global Game Jam NEXT (GGJ NEXT); an international game jam dedicated to develop the skills of young gaming enthusiasts through a free 2-week program taking place from 28th July – 11th August 2021.
GGJ NEXT® is an annual event operated by the Global Game Jam® to serve younger people (12-17 years old) who are interested in learning the creation of video games.
The 2021 GGJ NEXT event, set to take place virtually, incorporates one week of learning through a carefully designed game development curriculum consisting of game creation resources and lessons from a diverse, international group of game designers and educators. Participants will then develop a game using the skills they have learnt in the following week. Participants will receive a certificate upon completion of the event. Interested participants can sign up to the GGJ NEXT by registering on Unreal Bahrain’s website: www.unrealbahrain.com
The curriculum is a series of micro-lessons for educators covering topics of jamming, game design, coding, and much more. The Global Game Jam team have created this curriculum so that teachers, camp counselors, youth leaders, or anyone can learn to teach game development, and run game jams. The curriculum is also offered in Arabic.
Unreal Bahrain welcomes any initiatives which supports game developers locally and regionally, and Mohamed Bastaki, Marketing Manager of Unreal Bahrain, emphasized: “By collaborating with the Global Game Jam Organization, this enables us to provide learning material to game development enthusiasts to enhance their skills in the field of game development and meets our vision of establishing a game development industry in Bahrain.
“Young creators participating in GGJ NEXT will be able to showcase their new skills, creative ideas, and personal self-expression through games on the GGJ NEXT website where videos created by the young jammers will be hosted.”
“Participants of the GGJ NEXT will enjoy a fruitful 2-week virtual program which introduces them to computer programming, art, animation, and teamwork. We encourage all participants to visit the GGJ NEXT website and get the opportunity to create your very own game in this exciting event.” concluded Mohamed Bastaki.
On this occasion, Huda AlHamed, Youth Program Manager of Unreal Bahrain, stated: “The GGJ NEXT is a global game jam event dedicated to young creators who aspire to be game developers. They will gain technical skills such as graphic design, game development, and sound editing, as well as learn soft skills such as teamwork, time management, presentation and leadership skills.”
“The main goal of the GGJ NEXT is to create a health gaming community where players change their roles from users to game producers, and we are using this opportunity to develop our younger generation to not only be talented in this field, but help them develop an array of employability skills over the summer.”
When talking about her experience in the 2020 edition of GGJ NEXT, Huda said: “I had the honor of mentoring great young candidates in the previous edition of GGJ NEXT, and was amazed by their creativity, commitment, and teamwork. We both learnt from each other over the course of 2 weeks, as they used their talents to take on roles such as game directors, writers, graphic designers, music composers, and animators. They mastered the game development concepts in the first week and used the second week to learn about using game engines to develop their very own game, and I was proud of their commitment that they showed throughout the time.”
The GGJ NEXT is also open for volunteers to help make this event a success, as Volunteer Manager of Unreal Bahrain, Talha Iftikhar, stated: “Playing video games is one of my favorite childhood memories, and I’m sure there are lots of us which share the same memory. Having said that, we want to involve more motivated volunteers who have a passion for gaming to work with us on this event as well as future events at Unreal Bahrain. Volunteers will be developing their skills graphic design, event management, and management skills during this time. Interested volunteers can sign up on our website: www.unrealbahrain.com“
Unreal Bahrain is under the umbrella of the Bahrain Internet Society as part of its gaming initiative, which has been supporting the local game development community since 2017 through initiatives like the Bahrain Game Jam, meetups, partner programs and much more.
Useful links:
GGJ NEXT official website: https://ggjnext.org/
Event details: https://unrealbahrain.com/global-game-jam-next-2021/
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/tYvfctTU9a29f33J9
Volunteer signup: https://form.jotform.com/201112812593042
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