From 29th to 31st of January Mobile Pie will be holding a location for the 2010 Global Game Jam right here in the heart of Bristol!

The GGJ is an experiment in creativity and process where teams get together from across the world to create a game within 48 hours.

But it isn’t for the faint hearted – it’s two solid days of hard work, little sleep, collaboration, great ideas, laughs, new friends and networking. It’s a great place for students to build their portfolio and confidence and meet some great talent and business experts from the local area.

Mobile Pie will be on hand with lots of veterans from the South West games, new media and journalism industries to give advice and spot upcoming talent, making the event a great platform to launch your career! Plus, we have sponsorship for food and prizes and there will be the inevitable post jam drinks.

If you’re an individual, a collective or a company and are keen to be involved fill out your details.

Details of Mobile Pie’s Global Game Jam:

Date: January 29th-31st January 2010.

Location: Pervasive Media Studio, Bristol (near @ Bristol).

GGJ homepage

Location info

Contact: Will Luton (will@mobilepie.com / 0117 315 5228)

Global Games Jam FAQ

Do I need to be there the full 48 hours?

No, but the location will be open for the full time in which you’re welcome to come and go as you please. Traditionally teams work late in to the night and even sleep (briefly) at the event.

What standard artist / designer / programmer do I need to be?

There’s no limit on how much or how little experience you’ve had to enter, but you do need to be confident you can create or contribute to a game on your chosen platform using your chosen tools within 48 hours. The games can be J2ME for mobile, web-based Flash, PC executable, iPhone, XNA or whatever you like, as long as you have the knowledge and tools at your disposal.

What equipment do I need?

You will need to bring your own laptop or PC and any additional equipment you may need (Xbox, iPhone / iPod touch, Wacom tablet, scanner etc) as there is no provided resources other than power.

Do I have to be in an already formed team?

Absolutely not! You can choose which team you want to work with at the start of the jam, so you may wish to work with friends or total strangers.

Can the games be about anything we want?

Yes and no… You will be given a theme and rules, but within those you can create whatever you like, be it an interactive screensaver, a level of an FPS or an abstract Flash platformer. The emphasis is on creative solutions to the brief, so you’re strongly encouraged to think outside of the box and take different and varied approaches to solve problems.