Open the window and look around: game jams out there!

Okay. You have gotten an amazing idea for a game. Then you have definded the three big stones in a game: gameplay, story and technology. You have coded for long sessions, making your code efficient, fixing bugs, trying to add new features. Maybe you have designed great artwork including characters, backgrounds, animations, graphical special effects and tons of other graphics. Then you can have made a cool tune for your theme and have gotten perfect sound effects. 

Lucky you! You've got an orchestra for your OST.

Then you run your game. It works. You call for people to test it and you improve the game with the players' feedback. Now it is time to publish.

There are many ways to get your game known for many people around the world: your family, your friends, your colleagues, social network contacts, and of course game jams.

In a game jam, many pepople create a game around a feature. It can be a story, a special topic or even a technology. These events are fun and full of people that are likely to share experiences and knowledge with other participants, and of course, win the first place, (the money,) and the trophy if the jam is competitive.

Global Game Jam 2013 (January). Lots of people. Lots of teams. Lots of games.

I think, as a novice developer, jams are a good start point to make real the idea that is around your head. After the Fishing Game Jam, I have seen lots of good games and ideas within gameplay, story and technology.

So, no more words. Here I share some links for upcoming jams. Please, share it and give it a try!

Exile (Denmark) Oct. 30th - Nov. 3rd
Global Game Jam Mexico Date not confirmed.

By doing a small research, it seems there are more jams in January and May... But I will search for more and share to you.

[Updated 5/30/13] You should fish fish, not eels

Well, after almost a week I have a great advance of my next game: Fishing Brothers.

Avoid the eels and fish as much as you can!

There are two fishermen in a boat trying to get as much fish as in two minutes. The water is full of fish, but some eels also live there. Be careful! Eels can paralyze you!

Please install the latest version of Java to play this game. You can find it on http://www.java.com

I have made this game in Java with the game engine GTGE. All the graphics and code are mine and the music is from Erick Leedberg (@erikocho) (nice tune isn't it?). Special effects are from Soungle.com and the font is from OpenGameArt.org.

You can see my post on the Fishing Game Jam forum here.

You need Java installed on your computer or device to run the game. (Next is going to be on HTML5, I promise.)

Enjoy fishing!

Don't forget to tweet me your best score!

UPDATE (5/30/13) I have added more graphics: a new background, buttons, instructions and credits. I also tried to implement a Player-vs-PC mode but it is not as I expected. I will try to do it!

You've got fishslapped

So I've decided to join the Fishing Game Jam to challenge myself and see other's games. The first week is over and there are like 25 games released of more than 100 planned.

Yesterday I finished my third prototype and I decided to celebrate trying other's games. And I really like this one I'll show you right now.

It is Hokuto no Kuchen, a small action game where you are a little girl that has to help her dad with the fish... jumping over it. However the fish are quite rude, and if you don't watch out, you could get fishslapped!

I really enjoyed this game: the idea is neat and based on a real life experience, the graphics are simple but fun, so does the gameplay and the music is cool!

In my opinion, the best part is when you get fishslapped.

So here it is. You can play it online in this link.
You can also review the post in the Fishing Game Jam of this game.

My personal score is 3... The best score last night was 30.