Jammers! An Inclusive Game Jam Workshop

Jammers Logo
Saturday, May 16, 2015 - 2:30pm to 9:30pm

Twine is a radical game authorship tool harnessed by the independent games community for making expressive, experimental, and socially conscious text-based games. This inclusive Game Jam deploys Twine as an innovative method for interactive storytelling in a 7-hour, hands-on workshop. Jammers design interactive stories, choose-your-own adventure games, and e-poetry in order to explore digital game authorship as a creative medium of expression.

A Game Jam Story: Designing expressive games with Twine

Each jammer develops a game using the Twine 2.0 freeware. Participants will gain basic proficiency in the conceptual, aesthetic, and technical dimensions of text-based game authorship and its markup and scripting languages: HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Upon completion of games, jammers are invited to playtest each other’s games and upload and share their creations online. This workshop will accommodate the accessibility needs of jammers.

Game jam theme: Jammers are invited to interpret and creatively translate the game jam’s theme into their games: What strange world and untold coincidences.

Total workshop participants: 10

Experience level and requirements: No prior game development, programming or graphic design skills are required. We will supply laptops, unless you prefer to bring your own.

Facilitator: Sandra Danilovic, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto.

Learning outcomes:

  • Detailed understanding of text-based Twine game development including basic proficiency in HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
  • Basic proficiency in conceptual, aesthetic and technical dimensions of text-based game design and development (ex: game idea, interactive story, audio-visual design, game rules, player choices and outcomes, etc.) 
  • Fundamental Introduction to creative and procedural (rule-based) experimentation with text-based games. 
  • Introduction to the iterative and collaborative process of DIY game design and development.

IN Series is a series of public presentations, which promotes discussion and engagement on a wide variety of topics about inclusion – disability, accessibility, health, education, culture and the arts. IN Series is hosted by the Inclusive Design Institute (IDI) at OCAD University. The IDI is a hub of applied research that addresses the challenge of design that is inclusive of the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age, including users with disabilities, language needs and various cultural preferences. Through research, industry collaboration, education and civic engagement, the IDI fosters the goals of an innovative, creative and inclusive society.

Organizers: Gordon Waller and David Pereyra

Venue & Address: 
OCAD University 49 McCaul Street Participatory Inclusive Design Lab, Inclusive Design Institute, Room 4904,
Website: 
Email: 
Cost: 
$20.00 (lunch and refreshments are included). Subsidized by the Inclusive Design Research Center.