KIDS GAME JAM
Out Of This World
Welcome to the Cardiff Science Festival 2021 Game Jam. The event will be taking place on the 21st February 2021, if you haven’t signed up already you can find details on our events page.
This year’s theme is all about Space! There have been many space-themed games in the past, from Asteroids to Mario Galaxy to No Man’s Sky. But, there’s plenty of areas of space that haven’t been explored enough in games, so we’d love to see what kind of space game you can create.
On this page we have put lot’s of useful links and information that you can use before and during the Game Jam. We’ll also be available during the event, through Zoom, to answer any questions that you have. Feel free to have a look through everything below before the event and start coming up with some ideas.
WHERE TO MAKE YOUR GAMES
We’ll be making games using something called Scratch. It’s a really nice and simple computer coding language that absolutely anyone can use to make amazing games. We’ll be using a website to do everything, so jump on over when you’re ready to get started: https://scratch.mit.edu/
GETTING STARTED GUIDES
We’ve create 2 handy guides for you all to follow to help you get started to make your amazing games. The guides will take you step-by-step through all you need to do to make your own game. These are a good place to get started, but come ask us if you get stuck! https://tcarver1234.github.io/
PADLET
We’ll be using Padlet during the Game Jam to collect your questions and to allow you to share ideas and resources, and ask us any questions. You can access the Padlet here: https://padlet.com/allenmj1/jj1nrqjtj9d0lslt
We also want you to share your finished games with us at the end of the festival, by sharing the link to them on a different Padlet. We’ll be giving out some prizes for the best games, so if you want to be in for a chance to win, include the name that you registered with through Eventbrite. You can submit your final games here: https://padlet.com/allenmj1/fdna41q6w14t74y
FREE RESOURCES
You might not be a great artist, or great at recording sounds. That’s not a problem - game design companies employ people in all different specialities, so you can still make games but only focus on coding, graphics, sound or other things. To help you out, we’ve put some links to some free sounds and artwork that you can use in your games below, if you don’t want to make your own.
Sounds:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1soLsfuoZTLIDKZL94VwAfWBECvL1xHu_?usp=sharing
Art:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kjgot_vzDHXU1a0WQGkCPpA4yH43taxl?usp=sharing
Google - Use Google Image search to find a lot of great images for your games
ZOOM
We’ll be using Zoom to give an introduction to what you’ll be doing and to be around to answer any questions that you have in person. You should have received a link to the Zoom by email and on the Eventbrite page when you signed up. Due to security we won’t be able to share the Zoom link on our website or other public pages, so please keep the Zoom link safe and please do not share it with anyone else.
TIMETABLE
10-10:30: Game Jam Introduction 1 (Note - you must attend one of the two introduction sessions)
10:30-12:30: Game Jamming - Time for you to go off and make your games
12:30-1: Lunch break - it’s important to take regular breaks and stay healthy!
1:30-2: Game Jam Introduction 2 (Note - you must attend one of the two introduction sessions)
2-4: Game Jamming - Time for you to go off and make your games
MEET THE TEAM
Meet some of the team who will be running the game jam and helping you all out:
Gin is a composer for video games. She has been playing piano for about 15 years and she's currently working towards her final year of university studying 'Sound for Games' at 'dBs Sound & Music Institute'. She has regularly attended the yearly Global Game Jam and won a couple of awards from it. Gin's favourite things are video games, music, food and Japan! https://www.ginleotani.com/
Tess is a physicist who has worked with scientists in cities around the world to study the highest energy signals from some of the most violent events in the universe. She is passionate about tea, glitter, and science, and it is her goal to make science and technology as accessible as possible to everyone.