Every year in January, video game enthusiasts the world over gather for the annual Global Game Jam, the world’s largest game “jam” event. Wacom is proud to once again host the Portland Indie Game Squad for our local event in Portland, OR! The kick-off event will be taking place January 22, 2024, at the Wacom Experience Center PDX.
What’s the Global Game Jam?
A game “jam” is a game creation event where participants gather together, whether virtually or in-person, to collaborate on creating a video game in a short period of time. The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game creation event in the world — in 2023, 40,000 people at 800 locations in 108 countries created 7,600 games as part of the Global Game Jam!
Every year, a theme is kept secret until the kickoff day. When it’s announced, teams have just 48 hours to brainstorm, design, and then create a game based on that theme!
What’s happening at the Wacom Experience Center?
Wacom is proud to once again host the Portland Indie Game Squad — PIGSquad — who run our local Global Game Jam meetup. PIGSquad has been hosting a GGJ site in Portland since 2012.
At the Opening Event, happening at the Wacom Experience Center in Portland on January 22, 2024 — more details below — interested “jammers” will gather, meet with new and old friends, form teams, and await the reveal of this year’s theme together. Then, it’s time to get working on games!
PIGSquad is one of the most active local groups participating in Global Game Jam. In 2022 and 2023, Portland made the most games of any local area in the United States, and in 2021 and 2022, Portland was one of the highest-participating local areas in the entire world!
To learn more about PIGSquad, check out this interview we did with two of the leaders of the group, Will Lewis and Marlow Dobbe, on the Wacom Experience Center’s Why We Create podcast.
Want to see the games created during last year’s jam by Portland teams? Click here.
Can I participate?
You don’t need to attend the Portland Opening Event to participate — as a global event, jammers participate from around the world. You and your team, or just yourself if you’re jamming solo, can participate from anywhere. But, if you’re in the Portland area, you should come and meet other jammers! You can also watch a livestream of the even on PIGSquad’s Twitch channel.
If you want to participate, go to PIGSquad’s website to get all the details you’ll need.
PIGSquad Global Game Jam Opening Event Details
Monday, January 22, 2024
7:00 PM 10:30 PM
Wacom Experience Center
1455 NW Irving St.
Portland, OR 97209
Description: At the event, participants will form teams, brainstorm, and prepare to get started making their games for the jam.
- Team forming starts at 7:15 — no prep needed
- Theme reveal at 8pm
- Brainstorming, team forming, socializing, eating pizza and drinks, and having fun continues until 10:30pm!
