Game jams are typically a short window of time, either 24 hours to a whole week, where folks will work under a theme to produce a tiny game from scratch to finish. Teams usually consist of 1-4 people here at GAMERella. Each member takes up a different role to see the project to completion. Most of the time, you will be working on your own, with a few check-ins from the staff and mentor teams to see how things are going. As we approach the end of the jam, you’ll be encouraged to send us your game to post on our GAMERella itch.io page for you to showcase whatever you’ve made!
NO! We will encourage regular breaks, keeping hydrated, and sleeping. You won’t be your best self if you operate on little sleep.
IN PERSON: Montreal, Canada: District 3 Innovation Centre 6th floor, Room 600 1250 Rue Guy Suite #600, Montréal, QC H3H 2L3, Canada
VIRTUAL: Discord (invites will be sent to participants registered on Eventbrite)
November 15-16, 2025 For in-person jammers in Montreal, we will start Saturday at 10am and wrap up Sunday at 8pm. However, we think sleeping is more important than making games, so we will send you home for a good night's sleep on Saturday evening! All participants will be invited to submit their game to our itch.io page!
Work stuff
Other recommended
(space description with photos, and general list of activities)
In person, you can participate in our amazing team-making session Saturday Morning! Sign up to the jam, and join us Saturday morning!
Online jammers will have access to our Discord community forum, where you can post ads to find teams and teammates.
You can sign up with a team that has already formed, you can also come solo and join a team while you’re here, or you can jam solo. We’ll have a team-building session for anyone who hasn’t yet found a team. We also ask people who have formed their teams beforehand to consider adding a first-time jammer to the mix. If you have a team but are missing someone with a particular skill set, you can also join the team making session!
There is no required number, but we suggest you stick to 2 to 4 members. Anything above 4 per team is not recommended as it can get a little chaotic. You can also make a game by yourself, if you’re up to the challenge!
There are some typical game making roles, that include designer, artist, writer, programmer, sound designer, etc. You do not have to stick to these job roles, but make sure all of your team members have clear things they are responsible for.
Since our theme is no secret (2025 theme: i made this for you), you may begin thinking of how you would like to approach making your game and find yourself a team. We recommend that you try to make your game and (most) of its parts during the jam itself.
We encourage you all to try to make your assets. Of course, we understand that time is short and there are some great asset libraries online, especially for sound. If you need recommendations for some free & good asset libraries, make sure to ask around during the jam! We will leave it up to you how much you rely on those. Just make sure to check copyright laws and give credit when using assets created by someone else.
Short answer? Please NO! We really advise you to avoid using GenAI both during the jam and in your real life. We understand AI is everywhere, but it raises a lot of ethical issues, including bias, environmental harm, data and privacy concerns, infringement of intellectual property, and limiting your own creative potential.
Yes, there are. Make sure to visit our website to find online tutorials for many of the apps listed below!
GB Studio is a tool for making games for your favourite handheld video game system. You can create games with no programming knowledge, write music, export ROMs and web versions, and join a community of thousands of makers. Bitsy is a little editor for little games or worlds. Bitsy games make it easy to walk around and talk to people in your game world. We recommend Twine an open source, free tool for telling interactive, nonlinear stories online. It is very easy to use and requires no coding knowledge. Stencyl is another great tool to create games without code. Just like Stencyl, GameMaker is also mostly drag-and-drop, but includes features allowing for more complex games with some basic programming. There are also great free apps for making audio (Audacity, Tux Guitar, Otomata) and art (PyxelEdit) for your game. Most probably, these applications will be taught during our workshops!
In this case, we recommend you join us for the showcase that happens Sunday from 5:30 to 7pm. During the playtest participants will show what they worked on during the weekend. The event is public, so invite all your friends!
All GAMERella participants who make a video game will be asked to upload their game to our itch.io page. It is free to register and easy to upload your game. Once uploaded, people can play your game anywhere in the world for free. If your game is a physical game and cannot be described by zeros and ones, take some photos or even some videos and share that online. Organizers can help you with this process, just let us know. During in-person game jams, our photographer can help you take stunning photos for your game’s glory.
Mentors are lovely industry and maker folks who have volunteered their time to help you through the jam experience. They come from various skill backgrounds and will be “on the ground” assistance for any issues or problems you bump into during the jam, as well as dropping by to ask you questions about what you’re making. We’ll have a live schedule for who is around and when, so you know who you can turn to if you need help and who might drop by to say hello during the jam.
Sometimes during a jam, you can’t finish your game! However, you will probably walk away with something you learnt, new friends made, or a fun time had. Very often, participants end up with a really neat mechanic they managed to pull off or a character animation that they’re really proud of – even if it didn’t end up being part of a completed game. This experience is really about you getting more comfortable in making something, and honing your skills further with others. This is the place to make mistakes and learn about bugs you never dreamed existed!
Absolutely. We have a support worker available throughout the jam who is not just available to address any of your concerns but will go out of their way to check in with every single participant regularly. We also have some basic code of conduct outlined on our values page.
1. Sign up! We can’t wait to meet you! 2. Look through our workshops page. Lots of simple tools you can learn quickly! 3. Don’t have a team or missing a team-member? Don’t worry! Participants can take place in our amazing team-making session. 4. Bring cozy clothes, blankets and pillows that will keep you comfortable. Cosy hot beverages & food are on us! 5. Still unsure about something? Send us a message! We want to know if there is anything else you might need to make this weekend less stressful for you!
Great question! We are also concerned about this! At GAMERella, we want to continue to exercise caution, approaching public health measures from a place of mutual-care and in ways that ensure the wellbeing of all our participants. All participants will be encouraged to take a rapid test before the jam and wear a surgical or higher-quality mask. Tests and KN94 masks will be provided free of charge to all participants. Our location is very well ventilated. But we are also amplifying ventilation with a large HEPA air filter. Furthermore, please ensure that you wipe down your work-space after use using the cleaning supplies we have provided. IMPORTANT: If you have COVID symptoms leading up to/during the jam, or test positive, please remain/return home and immediately notify the organizers. Thank you!
We do our best to make the jam as accessible as possible. We providing a low-sensory room for quiet time. Our location (6th floor of the FB building at Concordia University) is wheelchair accessible via all of its entrances, and the 6th floor is reachable by elevators located near the building entrances. However, the bathroom is a bit difficult to access with a wheelchair. This is a problem building owners are said to be working on.
We work hard to make sure all announcements, spoken parts (including new and old workshops) of the game jam will be either transcribed live and/or posted with closed captioning. We also recommend trying to make your game more accessible. Here are some very handy tips and guidelines to help you with that.