The ninth edition of TOJam – officially dubbed Party Like it’s 19-TOJam-9 – kicks off Friday morning at George Brown College (GBC) and continues until Sunday at 7 pm. Guests are then invited to peruse the finished games and whatever pizza has been left over by the developers.
(Spoiler alert: There won’t be any extra pizza.)
The toast of the inaugural Gamercamp Honours Ceremony this past November, TOJam is a three-day game jam during which teams of developers create complete video games before the closing bell on Sunday. Past jams have yielded titles ranging from Daniel Steger’s recently Greenlit Mount Your Friends to MK-Ultra’s Knight and Damsel, and with more than 450 participants, the 2014 offerings should be equally diverse.
If you can’t make the trek to GBC on Sunday, Dork Shelf will be providing a behind-the-scenes look throughout the weekend. I’ll be on site interviewing organizers and other jammers in an attempt to chronicle the smaller moments that infuse TOJam with much of its charm, with previews of some of the games (hopefully) on tap for Sunday.
Of course, trying to plan ahead for a Game Jam is a bit like trying to write a Super Bowl recap during the halftime show. You’ll miss the fireworks and you still won’t know what you’re supposed to talk about. I can only promise that we’ll be present. We’ll figure out the rest as we go along.
You can track the blog festivities here at Dork Shelf and at the official TOJam website, or follow me on Twitter @Harry_Houdini. Games editor Emily Claire Afan will also be jamming with Team Electrified Fooling Machine and tweeting.
Best of luck to all the jammers!