8 Game Jam
The goals of a Game Jam are simple:
Game Jam is different and more exciting than a typical kata-earning day.
Students code a game from beginning to end.
Students feel proud and accomplished regarding what they did in Game Jam.
Rules of Game Jam can be adjusted to accommodate the needs of a particular batch of students, as long as the goals above are still being served. Remember that adding support, hints and assistance can make a potentially frustrating Game Jam into a success! However, adding too much help can undermine a feeling of actual accomplishment. It’s all about balance!
Coach energy is a big element in making this day different from others – if you are excited, pumped, focused and wowed by student work, the students will follow!
8.1 Objective
Build a working game, from scratch, using as many of the skills learned from katas and other exercises plus additional resources available during Jam.
8.2 Partnering Up
Working in pairs is recommended whenever possible – two brains working on the same code often leads to higher achievement! However, in smaller classes this doesn’t always work. If you cannot make it mandatory, at least make it an option! Here are some tips when pairing students up, whether you make it optional or not:
Give the students advance notice that they will be/might be working in pairs. This helps students who don’t adjust to change very well.
Practice pairing up at least once before the actual jam.
You can pair up the students yourself if you think students may end up in distracting/unsuccessful partnerships or have difficulties settling into happy pairs. You can also let students pick their own partners and just help negotiate any disagreements as they arise.
When leading into Game Jam, let student pick their partners/pair up the students yourself sooner rather than later – they will be worrying about who they will end up with until its settled and won’t be listening to a word you say until then!
Have students switch "drivers" (who is typing) every 3 minutes. Set a timer and just keep running it, instructing students to swap every time it goes off.
When students are paired up, they EACH receive the total dollars they earned with their game; they don’t have to split the total between them.
8.3 Prompt
The challenge cards are the perfect prompt for Game Jam. Cards should stay stimulus-side-up (code is hidden) unless the student "purchases" a card flip. Coaches should make it clear that flipping a card over without paying up is cheating and keep an eye out as best they can during the jam. Students will probably speak up very loudly if they think they see someone else breaking this rule. Offer reminders when needed, but only repercussions when you see cheating with your own eyes.
Every student/pair of students is given three challenge cards as a starting prompt for their game. These are optional! If students have their own ideas of what they want to create, go for it! The 3 card prompt is merely an inspiration to turn to if they get stuck.
8.4 Hints and Help!
Most students will need some sort of support to achieve the goals of Game Jam. During the Jam, all coaches/staff are now judges and will not be able to help students out (at least not for free!). Instead, there are some standard resources available to the students as well as some additional supports you can add if needed:
Challenge Cards – the challenge cards are already on the table and the easiest assist available! If a student gets stuck, they may pay to flip their challenge card over to see the code for 5 ThoughtSTEM Dollars. Once they have purchased this flip, the card can stay code-up for the rest of the Jam. If you have multiple coaches working with the same students, keeping eachother up to date on any paid flips is advised, so no coaches accidentally reprimand a student for cheating when they aren’t!
Asset Access – free to all, where you can see all the assets/sprites available in the language you are Jammin’ in! This can be a chromebook with the Asset Library page up on a separate table (must stay at this table), or a white board with the list of the identifiers, or a list projected up on a screen...
Here are some additional supports that can be added during Game Jam. These can help if students are struggling, without sacrificing the integrity of Game Jam:
Call in a Coach! – for 10 ThoughtSTEM dollars, any student can get a coach’s help for 2 minutes! This can be very useful in the last 5 or 10 minutes to get all student games running.
Starting Code – don’t forget that you always have access to scrap paper, white board or any other tools where you can write hints for some or all students. A common reminder is the defining syntax, or basic code to start with.
8.5 Staff Role During the Jam
Okay, the jam is on. You are now a "judge." What does that mean? What do you do??
Support the students by offering words of encouragement, advice on how to approach problems, and congratulations on cool code! Avoid the temptation to give answers to students when they are stuck, rather point them to the resources accessible to them.
Encourage the kids by awarding bonus point stickers (see Scoring Section) when they do things we like to see – when they work with their team, when they test their game, when they create a cool story behind their game, etc! Also use the stickers as a motivator when things get tough: ’bonus point for working on debugging! That’s tricky stuff!’ Not all students/teams need to get the same number of bonus, but keep an eye on distribution to keep it fair.
Give out any resources (for the right price!).
Monitor how students are progressing, and adjust jam rules to make it easier or harder as needed! For example, adjusting prices of resources, or adding in the ability to Call in a Coach!
Mediate any disagreements between partners or other students. This feels high-stakes for students, and tempers can flare on occasion. Be even-keeled and fair.
In general, be a positive and supportive presence! BE EXCITED!
8.6 Scoring
Reward students bonus points throughout the Jam for CREATIVITY, COOPERATION and other behaviors that you want to encourage! You can easily keep track of bonus points by giving each student/pair of students an index card. Put a sticker on this index card every time you award a point! This card can also come in handy when adding up points later.
At the end of Jam, students calculate their point total! Points are only given for working games! Coaches do whatever it takes to get every student to have at least one working game. The suggested point algorithms are below, but can be adjusted to make sure students earn enough money to feel accomplished without bankrupting the coaches! $10-25 per student is a good sweet-spot (also think about how much money students SPENT in the Jam).
After the Jam time is up, students should score their own games, under the guidance and review of coaches.
Make sure all games are running before awarding points!
Count up total number of open and closed parens in code (each single paren counts as one). Write this number down.
Count up total keywords in code. Write this number down.
Add the previous two numbers together.
Divide this number by five. (HINT: divide by less if average game is on the shorter side. Divide by more if games are longer.)
Add on any additional bonus points.
Give the ending number of dollars and Game Jam Badge to that student/each student in that pair!!!
(((num of open parens)+(num of close parens)+(num of keywords,ex. #:avatar)) / 5) + (num of bonus point stickers) = TOTAL $$
8.7 Leading into the Jam
That was a lot of info! Now what do you tell the students?? Right before the Jam, the coach should review/explain what to expect with the students. Be sure to hit the following points:
How much time they have for the Jam.
Scoring and Points! How they will earn points for their game, including bonus points. No need to outline exact formulas. (don’t forget to hand out cards!)
Only get points for RUNNING games!
Coaches are now Judges.
The different resources and supports available (and how much they will cost ya!).
Partner rules: swapping drivers, working as a team, etc.
Reinforce other rules, like no touching other people’s computers, no running or anything else you deem necessary
The way to succeed in game jam is to start small and test often. Once more for the kids in the back! Start small and test often!!!