Game jams are events where participants make a video game, often based on a theme or concept, during a specified timeframe. Submissions for this year’s Game Jam have closed.
Join us on Saturday, May 3rd, at 11 am, at the downtown Lawrenceville Arts Center’s Free Comic Book Day event, where we will be hosting an expert-led panel, playtesting games submitted for this year’s Game Jam, and giving out awards.
All events are free and open to the public.
Any game engine, coding tool, or website is welcome for entry. For video game submission, the work must be a game that is playable via web browser and made public for wide viewing. The form for submitting your game only allows a URL to be entered. Most games will need to be uploaded to itch.io after creating a free account. If your game is not free, we will not be able to play it, and it will not be selected for our Showcase. Please note that games cannot contain nudity, drug use, profanity, slurs, or extreme violence. Any games uploaded with this content will be removed from our itch.io page.
Theme: A Delicate Balance
Rules:
- This Game Jam is free to enter and open to anyone creating a game based on the theme.
- Submissions open on March 1st and close on April 18th at 11:59 pm.
- Upload your game to our game jam page on itch.io, so other people can find and play it: https://itch.io/jam/gcpl-game-jam-2025.
- To create an account on itch.io, you must be at least 18 years old or have a parent/guardian create and manage the account. Here are the itch.io Terms of Service for reference as needed.
- Your video game must be playable via web browser. Download-only games will not be played by our staff and will not be eligible for the Showcase or highlight reel.
- Submissions are collected through Google Forms.
- Selected creators will be notified by Thursday, April 24th, 2025.
- To win awards, creators must be present at our GameDev Showcase at the downtown Lawrenceville Arts Center’s Free Comic Book Day event at our Awards Ceremony.
Important Dates:
- April 18, 2025: Game Jam ends at 12:00 pm
- May 3, 2025: GameDev Showcase from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Library Resources at GCPL for Game Developers and Designers
The Gwinnett County Public Library’s Learning Labs have many free resources to help game developers and designers, including access to Adobe Creative Cloud, Blender, drawing tablers, and audio and video recording studios. We also offer coding classes to help you get started in Scratch, Python, C#, or the Unity game engine. Access to our Learning Labs is free with a library card. Out-of-county patrons can purchase a full-access library card for $40 a year.
For more information on getting started with game design and development, visit our LibGuide: https://lib.gwinnettpl.org/learninglab/gamedev
Learning Labs Specialists are also on staff to help! Book-a-Librarian or make a reservation to use the labs at www.gwinnettpl.org/learninglabs/
Have a question? Send us an email at learninglabs@gwinnettpl.org