• Boys and Girls Club GPS Building (map)
  • 931 Michigan Avenue
  • Stevens Point, WI, 54481
  • United States

Are you ready to combine your creative and competive energy to design your own digital or physical game? Register to participate in 2024 Global Game Jam and show the world what you've got!

Space is limited Sign up today!

The Boys & Girls Club of Portage County and CREATE Portage County are co-hosting this FREE workshop series and event, led by Jeremy Nikolai, for teens in grades 7-12 throughout Portage County. Participants do not need to be a member of the Boys & Girls Club or CREATE to participate. 

During the 2024 Global Game Jam, participants will form teams to design and build a physical or digital game from initial concept to a playable demo.  A theme will be given as a creative constraint, teams will brainstorm and pitch a game idea, then bring their game to life.

Open to all aspiring artists, programmers, designers, storytellers, musicians.  No prior knowledge or experience is required, but feel free to bring whatever skills (and tools) you'd like to help build your game masterpiece. If you're completely new to game development, either a digital game with the Godot game engine or a physical board/card game are great starting points (and training will be provided). If you have experience with other engines or tools, you're free to use them.

This Global Game Jam experience is being organized and led by Jeremy Nikolai who has been developing games since 2005, with a dozen shipped titles (covering console, mobile, and VR), does regular game jams with industry and hobbyist teams, and has facilitated a game design workshop for kids hosted by EA Glasslab.  He’s currently working with Spryfox and Epic on a non-violent multiplayer game designed to encourage friendship and reduce loneliness in the world.

Co-hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of Portage County and CREATE Portage County, this program is made possible in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin.

DATES: 4-5 Wednesdays 330-6pm (from January 24 - February 14, ith optional session on Feb 21st if participants want additional work time - plus a Saturday showcase event with date TBD).

LOCATION: Boys & Girls Club of Portage County - Guided Pathways for Success (GPS) Building; 931 Michigan Ave.; Stevens Point, WI 54481

COST: FREE!

2024 Global Game Jam Session Agenda:

The program will be split across 4 sessions, plus an optional bonus session and a final showcase open to friends and family.

Week 1: team forming, learning the tools

Week 2: theme announcement, brainstorming & planning

Week 3: core mechanics, full game loop

Week 4: tuning, polish, and bug-fixing

Week 5: optional - final touches

Showcase: TBD

Space is limited Sign up today!