Game Jam Success Stories: Hear from Our Participants and Their Testimonials

GM48 is always fun because the themes are amazing. This is a jam I'll always look forward to!

I had a much bigger vision when I started, but I didn't do much the first day which forced me to finish the majority of the game within the last 7 hours or so (I woke up at 10 am and the deadline was 5 pm.) I ended up being pretty disappointed with how much stuff didn't make it into the game, but I still think the game is pretty neat. The jam is really good at forcing me to finish a damn game, which is nice.

The Jam was a lot of fun! One tip I can give to future participants: Nail down what you want to do as quickly as possible! If you don't, it might come around later and bring unwanted trouble!

First GM48 was very over ambitious and it turned out to be a hot mess. Met some very nice people and will hopefully work with them in the future

This was my first time entering a Gamejam, luckily I had already got in with a team and everybody was friendly, understanding and had a mutual respect for one another.

I've learned quite a bit about developing under a time restraint as well as working with other people with different creative/technical skillsets.

I'd definitely consider doing GM48 again someday and actively encourage more developers (be them new or old) to do so too!

I learnt a lot about time management and design. It was a lot of fun and I will be back next round!

Epic jam, bro. Simply epic, bro.

Joining gm48 before as my first major game jam taught me a lot of things. I got to experience (almost) nonstop devving that taught me to scope well and manage my time efficiently.

Together with a really talented partner, we learned to manage and coordinate our efforts in the small timeframe.

gm48 was such a great experience, I'll do it again!

GM48 rocks! I have learned so much during the 3 times my team has participated. The themes put us out of our comfort zone, and we learned so much in such a short time. Can't wait to go again!

Although making two games instead of one wasn't ideal, it was a lot of fun to see how quickly I could create two small prototypes and made for a great challenge.

It's nice to hang out with other game makers while you're all frantically coding and making content as fast as you can!

I had a great time playing everyone's games and making my own in the 25th gm(48). I was taken out of my comfort zone and forced to adapt. I learned the limits of what I was capable of and got to practice skills I normally don't get to practice much. I got to have a small tiptoe into the pool of how to go about a real game release. And on top of all of that, I received invaluable feedback from other people about my game who know what it means to make a game. I certainly plan on participating again, if not in the next gm(48), the one after for sure.

It was a great experience indeed, and I'd recommend any aspiring game developer to try a game jam at least once to test both your knowledge and your limits! If you are like me, you'll probably want to do it again.

I certainly learnt quite a bit about making games and am excited for the next game jam.

The gm(48) was a crazy experience. I started out extremely optimistic, and by the time I submitted it I was pulling my hair out. But now I’m happy with how it turned out. The community is friendly, the website is clean, the competition is fierce. I would love to do this again as a team, but I don’t want to code solo for a jam ever again. I mean that in the most positive way possible. Thanks to the community and moderators for this well maintained operation!

Participating in the GM48 has been a big milestone for me. GameMaker has been my gateway into programming, and GM48 has been a huge boost in my confidence as a game developer. The feedback has been great, and the people are awesome. The games I've had the chance to play have all been really cool and creative, and it's an honor to have mine among them. Big thanks to everybody who put this on!

I participate in GM48 as often as I can! Every time I learn something new and improve! It's always nice to complete a project and receive feedback from the community. 10/10 would recommend.

Loved the jam. Teaming up and making something great in 48 hours (with some sleep) was a great experience. If you make stuff in Game Maker, this is the jam for you.

Participating in the jam was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed seeing enthusiastic updates from great creators who were jamming at the same time I was.

With this being our first game jam, and with myself and DillonSemaj only having been working with game dev and GM:S for about 4 months, nerves were pretty tense going into the first day...

Until we got about 3 hours in and realized how quickly and efficiently we were working compared to the our previous project. Even though we still had plenty to design and incorporate, the things that originally took us weeks to accomplish we were now getting done in a matter of hours.

That's not to stroke our own egos. It's a comment on how something like gm48 can really show someone how far they've progressed. I was not even planning on entering into this jam, for fear of a significant lack in ability, but my partner said "we might as well" and we accomplished something we find to be considerable with the time allotted to us.

So thanks to him, and thanks to the individuals who host gm48. You've all showed me that, while I have much more to learn, I don't completely suck at this.

-Kilven Deneras

The best GameMaker jam. No question.

I participated for the first time when I was just starting out with GameMaker 5 years ago, and I don't plan to ever stop participating.

A substantial amount of the skills I have as a developer have been picked up during a gm(48). For me, it's the perfect excuse to try something new or weird. Whether it be how to do X, or how not to do X, I always learn something.

This was my first game jam ever. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to pull it off in the time allotted especially since I had other obligations. I really enjoyed taking the concept into full effect. I tried to come up with many ways to use the one tool in my game. The nature of the game jam also pushed me outside of my comfort zone because I didn't know a lot of what I was trying to do so it was a great learning process for me. I hope to be able to continue and do future game jams and most of all to keep learning.

I am a hobbyist GMS:2 user, with aspirations to make a game good enough to publish some day. Every game jam I participate in improves my understanding of the tool and helps me understand the system better. This game was no different.

Something I've seen before but never think about until I'm packaging is that HTML5 does not always behave exactly as the windows version. My opening screen had to be replaced with the screenshot of the Windows version which rendered correctly.

Experimenting with movement methods, vs using a tried and true method, wasn't the best idea. As I progressed in the coding I realized I hadn't always taken into account the interaction between collision masks correctly, which led to quite a bit of rework.

Almost every previous game jam I've worked on has been a single room game and I realized pretty late I don't have a strong grasp on room changes. All in all this was a great experience. --I just wish I'd had had time for sound and music. --Have a great day and good luck!

Did my first game jam ever for the 24:th gm48. It was an amazing way of learning how to manage your time and come up with new solutions and rapid prototyping. The community is also super helpful with feedback on how to better your gamedev skills.

I highly suggest anyone dabbling with GameMaker to be apart of this community and take part in this awesome game jam!

This is the best gamedev-related event I have ever had the honor to participate in. I had a blast working on my games and it's an experience no one should miss!

Fantastic jam to enter! The community have a great buzz and are really friendly, plus the site is really slick too! I've entered a fair share of jams and this is easily one of the best.

Really fun Jam with a great community.

GM48 is an opportunity to push yourself to make a game ready in 48 without having to deal decision agony or unmanageable feature creep. You are granted a dozen developers playing your game and giving you phenomenal feedback (If you don't trust me, look at the feedback section of any game you choose).

This is my fifteenth time participating in the GM48. And I can promise you that it's a special experience.

GM48 is an inspiring and inclusive event fit for beginners and veterans alike. There's no better place for GameMaker devs to really come together as a community and show off what they've got.

No other game jam offers an opportunity to test your skills and learn with a variety of unique themes as much as the GM(48) does. I'd highly recommend it to everyone, from beginners to professionals.

So many cool people. So many cool games. It's seriously, the coolest time ever!

To raise everyones artistic knowledge!

Yes, if you didn't notice, GM48 is a game jam, but it's a very special one. This is simply because our large Game Maker community has a gigantic amount of the nicest people here!

The jam would never be as enjoyable as it is without everyone!

You will always get something from it, even if you think you know everything!

Challenge yourself!

It was fun to make a game about a kid shooting down an internet company under 48 hours

Some of the most fun and engaging game developing experiences I've ever had have been during my participation in GM(48).

I encourage all GameMaker enthusiasts to give it a go.

GM(48) never fails to inspire and motivate me to make a game.

The community is awesome and I would've never made so many games without it.

It's the perfect balance between playing and making!