A few guys and I for the past two Saturday nights have conducted a two hour game jam wherein we log on Steam at about 5:00 PM EST (well, we're usually logged on steam anyway- we don't just sit at our desks all day waiting for the clock to hit five and then hurriedly jump online), start up a chat, invite a (metric) messload of people, choose a random topic, and rush to create games based on the theme of that topic within the allotted two hour time period (although, sometimes we run over a bit but it's frowned upon… by the committee… that we don't have). The results are usually just a weird conglomeration that contains quite a few interesting and unexpected surprises.

"But wait, Mr. Aliter! I'm not quite convinced I should join in on your twilight shenanigans. Wouldn't you have any examples of games you guys have made that would help convince me to join?" Why yes, person reading this blog post, I would!

The past two Saturday nights we've done two sets of themes. The first was Sexual Panda/Pretzels:

Sekkusu Panda

(Don't let the URL of this download dissuade you. Also, there were three more games that were made this night as well but the site where I got the link was very recently taken down so I've lost them).

The second set of themes was Family Bondage/Family Bandage/Corndogs:

Protect Red House

Family Bandage Adventure

Family Bondage

Bandaid Quest

(Sorry about the file size. We had some problems with MP3s freezing up and were just so tired of setbacks we converted them to straight wavs. We'll have this problem under control next time).

"But Mr. Aliter, I have played all of the games you posted and while I would usually be thoroughly convinced by such a stunning display of artisanship that surpasses all my expectations (Why thank you, reader. You flatter me), I still need a few more reasons to join your game making romp."

Well then, let me give you those few potentially convincing reasons to join us:

1. It builds design skills. The time and subject constraints force you to think and design as you normally would not. You do not have a lot of time to plan- in fact, you're going to be forced in this to plan as you go if you intend to finish on time. It's much like painting a picture in your free time versus painting a picture in your school art class.

In your free time, you would take your sweet time making sketches, staring at and sizing up the easel, making plans in your head, putting down a rough sketch, starting with the base coat, meticulously adding smears and detail as you go, and then several months down the road you would finish something you would want the entire world to see. Wherein when you're forced to paint in art class, you really don't want to be there. You just took the class because it's your senior year and you could either have taken this or Physics AP. So, when your teacher asks you to go plan out your art at home so you can get as much work done as possible in class on this week-long project, do you? Nope. You get to class the day of, pick up an art book hurriedly, find something that doesn't look too hard but still fits your fancy, and then just slap together whatever works as fast as possible so you can get a passing grade and graduate on time. And lo and behold, a few people see your work later, give you compliments, and you shrug it off as nothing.

2. Art aside, it also forces you to work within your resources. Do you have a mental or digital pile of resources you have been wanting to use? Now is your chance! Personally, this is where I dump all of my unused Sailor Moon: Another Story smcs.

But, maybe this doesn't appeal to you that much. Maybe you are one of those people that believe Hell is filled with unbaptized babies and people who rip materials from commercial games to use in their own. Well, if you like to make your own designs and music and would do so quickly within the two hours, please see point three.

3. It's a nice way to caricature how you design and produce. When you slap something together quickly, who you are really comes out in the finished product. Your art, programming, musical, and comical style show in their rawest form, giving you a prime pedestal on which to examine yourself and see where you need tweaks and improvement.

So, if anyone is interested, hit me up. My steam name is Totaliter Aliter (surprise, surprise!). Add me and I'll send you an invite to the chat on Saturday if you're on.