If you know me, you know that two things I love are old video games and developing video games. These two interests have collided in the Decon Recon Jam, a week-long development contest in which participants are going to Deconstruct an old classic game, then Reconstruct its salient characteristics into an entirely new game.
A Game Jam, for those of you who aren’t aware, is an event where developers make a game from scratch. For the DeconRecon Jam, any assets you use – code, graphics, music, sound – must be created during the week-long Jam period. This is enforced, in part, by the fact that the focus game to be deconstructed isn’t revealed until midnight on the 12th.
Even I don’t know what it’s going to be. I have a list of potential games that work with the concept, but I’ll be deciding on which one to implement randomly.
Once the games are made, the participants will play each others’ games, evaluate them, and vote for which one is best along five criteria:
- Concept: How well does the game incorporate the jam elements into a cohesive whole?
- Technical: How well was the concept executed? Is it bug free?
- Gameplay: Is the game fun to play? Does it work as ‘a game?’
- Presentation: The art and music. Does it look good? Does it sound good? Were the art and music assets created for the jam?
Anyway, that’s the gist. I’ve participated in a few jams, but I’ve never run one, so that’s exciting for me. Worst case scenario is that I’m the only one who shows up, but it’s not like I’ve never had a birthday party before!
Check out the DeconRecon Jam if you’re interested in participating.
