Jam (challenge)
| Synonyms: | game jam, zine jam, etc. |
| See also: | flash exchange |
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A jam is a type of challenge in which creators sign up to produce a creative work from scratch within a defined period of time. The term was derived from the term game jam, an event in which video game developers are challenged to quickly create a game from scratch, and game jams remain the most common type of jam.
Jams are not inherently fannish in nature, but many jams overlap with fannish interests (e.g., zinemaking), and some jams, like Itooh's Micro Fangame Jam, are explicitly fannish. Often, fanworks can also be submitted to jams that are not explicitly fannish, but this depends on the nature and rules of the individual jam.
Many jams, whether game jams or otherwise, are hosted on Itch.io.
History
This article or section needs expansion. |
The term jam is derived from game jam, which itself references the concept of a musical jam session. As Wikipedia puts it:
A jam session describes the musical act of producing music with little to no prior preparation in an effort to develop new material or simply to practice. In the same way, game jams are events in which game developers prototype experimental ideas into playable games.[1]
Other progenitors of jams included IF challenges like the Interactive Fiction Competition and writing challenges like NaNoWriMo.[1]
Examples of Fannish Jams
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Similarities to Other Challenges
Like jams, many flash exchanges incorporate a brief creation period as part of the challenge, as does the Extreme Timed Exchange.
External Resources
- Game jam article on Wikipedia
- Game jams on itch.io
References
- ^ a b Game jam article on Wikipedia. Accessed on Feb 25, 2025. Archived from the original on Mar 1, 2025.