As the workday winds down for many Green Bay area residents this Friday afternoon, dozens of amateur game developers will begin gathering downtown at the Urban Hub for the 2025 Global Game Jam. The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is an annual event that invites participants to create games at one of hundreds of sites across the globe. Jammers are given a loose theme (ex. “waves”) and a 48-hour timeframe to work with. Beyond that, jammers can create any type of game they are interested in. It helps to have some basic skills in art, music, coding, or writing but approaching the jam as a chance to expand those skills is also key.
Of the GGJ sites in the United States, the Green Bay site is somewhat of an anomaly: since veteran software engineer and UWGB instructor Dr. Ben Geisler began organizing the local GGJ site in 2017, it has grown to become one of the largest in the country. Unlike larger sites hosted in game industry meccas – Seattle and New York, for example – Green Bay doesn’t have massive polytechnic universities nor significant regional resources. Nevertheless, as I write this, the GB site has more registered than those hosted by venerable game design programs.
How?
After several years co-organizing the Green Bay site, my admittedly biased view is that this success is but one more indicator that the regional game development community continues to coalesce and thrive. Videogame publisher Midwest Games, started by UWGB alumni Ben Kvalo, certainly gets a nod for this growth. But I would attribute the success of the site more to Geisler’s connections to the Green Bay community, including the region’s renowned DIY and punk subcultures, as the contributing factor. This ethos resonates throughout the 48-hours of the jam: all are welcome so long as there is a desire to make games. Those games may not be complete. They might not be pretty. But neither completion nor looking good is the goal.
Instead, it’s the process of collaborating through the challenges involved in a 48-hour game jam. Much like the original jammers – musicians riffing off of one another to create a combined sound – participants revel in the process and the small victories. The Green Bay site (like most GGJ sites) is not competitive but that doesn’t mean it’s not stressful: before hitting the 48-hour deadline, jammers will experience fatigue, tech issues, and other obstacles to making their game. It’s then when the community gathered truly flourishes with support and feedback. Need some code help? Someone from another team will be over in short order. Some dialog feedback? No problem. How about some actors for a cutscene? A few favors will get called in.
Because of these moments, the jam becomes far more than an excuse to make games but a chance to build community. The collaborative, supportive spirit of the Global Game Jam is inspirational in a divisive climate: this spirit of community has expanded to an ongoing Discord forum as well as a summer developers unconference; jammers reconnect at M+DEV, the annual game developers conference held in Madison. As we close in on a week before the GGJ, I’m stoked to see names familiar and new on the list of registrants. What new directions will this year take Green Bay and its growing game developer community?
by Kris Purzycki
Kris Purzycki is an Assistant Professor of English at UW-Green Bay.
