After 11 months of a genocidal campaign on Palestinians in the Gaza strip and over 75 years of occupation, apartheid and settler colonialism in Palestine, it's more pressing than ever to stand with Palestine, with the means each and everyone of us has. For game developers and designers in the Gothenburg area in Sweden, it's obvious:
GAME JAM FOR PALESTINE GOTHENBURG 2024
Dates: Friday 13 – Sunday 15 September
Physical venue: Automat, Marketenterivägen 3
Schedule for the physical venue:
Friday 18-21
Saturday 9-21
Sunday 9-16
Fundraising for Gaza
At the venue, there will be a fundraising for the campaign by the association Björkåfrihet in solidarity with the Al-Awda hospital, one of the few still functioning hospitals in the Gaza strip despite severe damages and with ongoing work to expand their services during the ongoing genocide. For more information on the hospital and its work, make sure to have a look at their website and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
Feel free to support any other relevant fundraiser in connection to this game jam. A good alternative is to help Palestinians in Gaza stay connected through eSims, check out these alternatives:
Also consider donating to the project Life For Gaza by the municipality of Gaza to restore vital services such as water supply, waste management and sewage treatment.
Do you have any additional fundraising suggestions? Feel free to add them in this thread: https://itch.io/jam/game-jam-for-palestine-gbg-2024/topic/4072756/fundraising-fo...
Game Jam Practicalities
Don't know what a game jam is? Have a look here or here, for example.
For this game jam, there will be some basic necessities available at the venue, such as extension cords, wifi access and spots with tables and chairs. Participants are expected to bring their own tools, such as laptops, and are encouraged to create their own teams.
Looking for a group or team to jam with? Write in the community section: https://itch.io/jam/game-jam-for-palestine-gbg-2024/topic/4072751/looking-for-gr...
Anyone with any skill related to game creation is welcome, be it programming, graphic design, music composing or any other relevant skill. Any type of game medium and format is welcome, be it digital, analog, board, table-top, role playing, mega and so on and so forth, as long as you are able to document it in a meaningful way for the game jam and upload it to the jam page.
If you are new to making games, or you want some options beyond pen and paper, consider checking some of these out:
Additionally, if you are curious about the actual work and though that goes into game design, check out some of these materials:
For a friendly local game development community in Gothenburg, check out: https://www.gamedevgbg.com
Do you have any suggestions or recommendations related to any aspect of creating games of your own? Feel free to add them in this thread: https://itch.io/jam/game-jam-for-palestine-gbg-2024/topic/4075940/game-developme...
Remote participation in the game jam is warmly welcome, but local/physical participation is encouraged and what little administrative and technical support volunteer organizers can provide will be prioritized on local/physical participation.
The languages at the physical venue are mainly Swedish and English, but all languages are welcome as part of the event and in the created and submitted games themselves.
Submissions are accepted during the open hours of the game jam, Friday 18:00 - Sunday 16:00, late submissions are negotiable.
There will be simple refreshments available as part of the fundraising, but there are also grocery stores and restaurants in the area. Alcohol and drugs are not allowed at the event.
The venue is about 7-10 minutes from the closest tram stop and about 2-4 minutes from the nearest bus stop.
The game jam aspires to a safer space, meaning zero tolerance for harassment and discrimination, including but not limited to sexism, racism, homo- and transphobia and ableism. Participants who are engaged in any such behavior will either be warned or expelled from the event without warning. For further information on safer spaces at game jams and game related events, read here: https://nomoresweden.com/safer-space-policy or here: https://www.copenhagengamecollective.org/safer-space-policy
Game jam theme
The theme of this game jam is to freely interpret its title, "Game Jam for Palestine". Feel free to use this game jam to explore and express your own relationship to Palestine, its occupation and struggle for liberation and its international solidarity movement in Gothenburg and beyond. You could create an educational retelling about one or more historical events, an intimate reflection on personal experiences carried by you and people you know, or an interactive guide and call to collective action and organizing. It is also always an option to freely create a game with its own themes or topics, and taking this game jam as simply an opportunity to come together with others in solidarity with Gaza and all of Palestine.
Some potential sources of inspiration and information:
Games, game bundles and other game related resources:
For an other previous game jam relating to resistance, solidarity and liberation, check out the past series of Anti-Fascist Game Jams: https://itch.io/jam/antifa-game-jam
Do you have any further suggestions or recommendations for resources on Palestine for the game jam? Feel free to add them in this thread: https://itch.io/jam/game-jam-for-palestine-gbg-2024/topic/4073115/resources-on-p...
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