The Global Game Jam for Teaching and Learning

The Global Game Jam (GGJ) is the world’s largest game development activity. Every year since 2009, thousands of computer game enthusiasts participate in this forty-eight hour challenge to make games around the same theme. While game jams, ‘hackathons’, and game festivals existed before the GGJ, and continue to proliferate, the GGJ 2009 was perhaps the first time such events were held in multiple physical spaces (23 countries) at the same time. In this paper, we track the growth of GGJ using multiple dimensions, and discuss the potential for research and teaching through this popular activity. Categories and Subject Descriptor