Indie Game Jam

The Indie Game Jam (IGJ) was an effort to rapidly prototype video game designs and inject new ideas into the game industry. Started in 2002 by a group of game designer-programmers, the event featured a shared game engine technology and worked on by other designer-programmers for a single long weekend. The games resulting from that weekend were then published, open-source, on the IGJ web page.

IGJ was an event for indie game developers that allowed them to develop and present ideas without publisher restrictions. Hosted in Oakland, California just before the Game Developers Conference, the IGJ ran on sponsorship and donations.

IGJ was known for innovation and rapid prototyping of new gameplay ideas. After the third IGJ, Doug Church commented, "[..] it's kinda true that nothing works, but you just throw everyone into the middle of the fire and things come out." He commented that small experiments can lead to big developments in the field. He also noted that while IGJ may not itself revolutionize the mainstream video game industry, but may inspire individuals to innovate. Justin Hall explained that the "roots of electronic entertainment life [lie in such] collaborations".

Numerous well known indie developers and other game industry figures have participated, including Jonathan Blow, Doug Church, Chaim Gingold, Justin Hall, Chris Hecker, Austin Grossman, Marc LeBlanc, Randy Smith, and Robin Hunicke.

The IGJ was considered an inspiration for later game jams including the Nordic Game Jam and the Global Game Jam.

Each year, Indie Game Jam posed different questions about innovation of new settings, genres, and controls.

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