Can’t wait!

1. Orientation 
2. Meet the Teams!
3. Friday Night Mischeif
4. Updates From Each Group
5. Afternoon Update
6. 4am Festivities
7. Finishing Touches

Game Recaps

1. Bay Defense 
2. Escape
3. Turned Out
4. Gizmaul: A Game of Contraptions
5. Three Blind Slimes
6. Geocache Games:

• Route 66 Chain of Rocks Bridge Wherigo
• Kirkwood is Wherigo
• Pica’s Treasure Hunt
• Jelly Roll Hogan Case
• Zoo Adventure
• Meet Me In 1904

Other

STL Game Jam 2013: A Summary (and photo gallery!)

The Do’s and Don’ts of STL Game Jam

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @GameJamSTL for all the updates!

Pica’s Treasure Hunt, v2 – Play here!

At the Game Jam, a team ported the old version of this Wherigo, created by a group of ITT students a few years ago from Wherigo Builder to Earwigo, cleaned up the bugs, and released an updated version. This is a one-mile walking tour of the World Bird Sanctuary.

Elonka Dunin
Jen Patton
Gary Man

Writing credit to Elonka Dunin

Kirkwood Is Wherigo – Play here!

Enjoy a one-mile walking tour of the historic community of Kirkwood, exploring the outdoor sculptures and memorials.

Team:
Sarah Chisholm

Writing credit to Elonka Dunin

Explore modern-day Forest Park while helping a time-traveling professor who is stuck in time at the 1904 World’s Fair.

Team:
Jen Patton
Ranger Fox
Caitlin Moriarity
Renee Hawthorne

Writing credit to Elonka Dunin

Route 66 Chain of Rocks Bridge Wherigo –  Play here!

A starter Wherigo for the event, as practice for the developers to learn the tools, this takes you on a two-mile walking tour of the historic Chain of Rocks bridge, starting on the Illinois side and heading towards Missouri.

Team:
Elonka Dunin
Strider
Crowesfeat30
Repmul
How-D
Brantole
CuriousGeorge3
Gary Man

Writing credit to Elonka Dunin

Jellyroll Hogan Case
Explore Tower Grove Park while solving a mystery involving 1920s St. Louis gangsters.

Team:
How-D
Promethium

Writing credit to Elonka Dunin

A Zoo Adventure

Enjoy a two-mile walking tour of the St. Louis Zoo, while playing this Wherigo which has you searching for a missing snake. Based on a real-world event!

This cartridge designed by Brantole, and implemented at the April 2013 St. Louis Game Jam by: brantole, Elonka, strider, and artwork by Kelli Michelle Andrews.

Writing credit to Elonka Dunin

Jammers arrived at Simutronics Friday night for a brief orientation and the announcement of the Jam’s theme: perspective. Jammers then split into groups and spent a few hours brainstorming their ideas onto the whiteboard walls of Simutronics. After coming up with a plan, programmers, artists, and developers sat down to work. And work they did! From the moment Game Jam began to the moment it ended there was never a moment without fingers flurrying over keyboards and drawing tablets.

However, all work and no play makes Jack a grumpy programmer, so plenty of breaks were taken to fly shark balloons, eat snacks, play cards, and nap.

By Sunday afternoon every game was wrapping up on schedule. Teams gathered to share their demonstrations. And just like that, Game Jam concluded. The next STL Game Jam is scheduled for September 13-15 2013. See you then!

Click each game’s name for a full rundown of their development:

Bay Defense
Turned Out
Escape
Geocache Games
Gizmaul
Throne for a Loop
Eyeshot
Three Blind Slimes

At the end of the demonstrations, David Whatley, host and CEO of Simutronics, had the following to say:

And whether you want to relive the fun of Game Jam or are jealous of the fun you missed out on, everyone can appreciate a few photos of game developers sleeping in strange positions. If you’ve got any photos to share, send them to chelsea@simutronics and they’ll be added to the gallery. Photography by Chelsea, additional photo credits to Renee, Bill, Elonka, and Jon.

Snacks are key to game development

Cards Against Humanity makes for a great 3am break from work

Trust me, you don’t wanna know.

These are JUST the leftover burritos… there was no shortage of food.

Taking a quick nap on Sunday morning

Part of the Geocacher’s cache

Simutronics’ 3D printer was very cool

Gathering for the demonstrations

Three Blind Slimes has a unique game model. It’s a three-person multiplayer where each slime is colorblind in a different way. The three slimes are named Jack, Jill, and Cornelius.

The team is headed up by Simutronics CEO David Whatley, who is incredibly humble. “This is the best Game Jam game ever to be created,” he’d say during development.

Three Blind Slimes is apparently extremely difficult, as not even the developers have been able to complete the first level yet.

Thinking ahead to the Game Jam demonstrations, the team built an observer mode so they game can be viewed. Because of the nature of the game, the best perspective is omniscient, but being able to switch to the viewpoint of each slime was very entertaining.

The game was a laugh to watch as the players learned how to play and yelled communications to each other.

This two-part game demo video is one you MUST watch. Enjoy!

As much as I hate to admit it, I think that David Whatley’s lofty claim of this being the best Game Jam game ever might be have some merit… but don’t let him hear that.

Team members:
David Whatley, team leader
Mike Anderson
Michael Carter
Steve Harrold
Chris Moore