Every developer I’ve talked to has nice things to say about the student game jam. While commercial games have their rigid timelines and months-to-years-long production cycles, the game jam is much more intimate: Make something simple in a few days.

In a sense, it’s kind of game design at its purest: you don’t have time to access a big mocap studio or write novel-length scripts. Play is distilled to its purest form, and you have to figure out what process is fun enough to be looped into a short experience.
I got to witness this first hand at Indie Jam over the past weekend, checking out some of the entries from the Student Game Jam. With groups of anywhere between 1-5 people, everything from factory sims to tower defense to even platformers.
The catch is simple: each team starts off the same prompt, light, and then gets a week to work on a game. Aside from that, it was practically no-holds-barred in what they could produce, and they even got to get the public to try it at the Indie Jam Event.
Platforming With The Schnozz At The Student Game Jam

The winner of the Student Game Jam, Noselight, was a great example of this. With a simple “get to the top” premise, its kicker lies in its single mechanic: turn off the lights to phase through platforms, while also collecting power ups to extend the timer.
It’s such a simple concept that strikes at the heart of what play is. A simple puzzle, along with a timer to make it so even platforming gods are under a little duress.

As you climb up, suddenly your skills get tested- how quickly can you execute switch>jump>switch, in such a way you can clear another platform level before falling through the one below you but after clearing the next one? It’s the kind of thing you could lose an afternoon trying to nail just right because of how much progress you lose slipping up.
Games like this remind you what making games are all about- a simple idea like this could easily be spun into something bigger: some of the indie games on display at Tokyo Game Show also found their roots in game jams.

If you’re interested in seeing what this software freestyle is like, the whole catalogue of Student Game Jam games are on itch.io to check out- I’d recommend checking out the factory sim Luminatory, another crowd favorite at the event.