If you ask Adriel Susanta, the Global Game Jam is a really fun way to spend a weekend – hanging out with friends, eating pizza and making video games.

Susanta was just one student who took part in the event that happens at locations across the world each year. Humber Polytechnic hosted a jam site at the LinX at North Campus that had about 120 jammers, 20 volunteers and a dozen faculty lending their support. It was the 10th year the institution has participated.

A game jam is similar to a hackathon where people come together to create games centred around a theme over a weekend. This year’s theme was bubbles.

The team of Game Programming students – Susanta, Kaleb Kubassek, Guvenc Deniz Karaslan, Aidan Gladish and Spencer Milne – called themselves the Blues Brothers. They created the 2D arcade game Bubblepop Fishing where the player tries to collect fish in a bathtub while avoiding bubbles to get the highest score possible in five minutes.

“If I had to describe the Global Game Jam in one sentence, I’d say it’s like a sleepover for game developers — where they hang out and make video games,” said Susanta. “The entire event was incredibly fun. I got to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in a while, play video games, talk about our projects and eat pizza — it was basically a party.”

Most of the team were veterans of previous Global Game Jams and jumped at the chance to participate again this year.

“You get to make a game with your friends, but you also learn so much creating one in such a short timeframe,” said Karaslan. “You don’t get much sleep but that’s part of the fun.”

The team received the Lynda Hausman Level Up Award that’s awarded to the team that demonstrates next-level effort in their process or product, elevating the standard or vibe at the event.

Kubassek, who wants to work in the video game industry, said he learned a great deal about the Unity Engine they used to build their game. He strengthened other technical game development skills along with soft skills such as teamwork and communication while also using the event to network.

“Even if you’re not in the Game Programming program, you should try a Global Game Jam in person and you might find you learn a lot and really like it,” said Karaslan. “It’s great for people who are interested in game development but don’t know where to start or how to do it.”

Umer Noor is a Game Programming professor at Humber and Ahmed Raza Sagarwala is the associate dean of Interaction Design with the Faculty of Media, Creative Arts, and Design. Both said they were impressed with not only the camaraderie displayed by the jammers but also the quality and variety of the 27 games produced at Humber. There were point-and-click adventure games, first-person shooters and side-scrollers, among other genres.

“It was amazing seeing the friendships that were developed and how for some of the students this was the first time they made a game and they were so proud,” said Noor. “It was great watching the students come to life over these amazing games they’re building.”

Sagarwala wished he had access to an event such as the Global Game Jam when he was a student and stated, “the number of Humber programs represented is impressive along with how the students apply their skills. Events like this transform the learning experience and help our learners recognize the power of interdisciplinary teams.”

Both Sagarwala and Noor said the Global Game Jam is open to students of all programs, not just those related to game development, and that anyone is welcome to attend. Those interested in finding out more are asked to contact Sagarwala at idc@humber.ca or Noor at umer.noor@humber.ca. Sagarwala added that the team also wanted to thank Roar Organic for supporting this year’s event.