The first remote Fanatee Game Jam

Games are our full time job and above all our passion! As the year is coming to an end we thought it was the perfect time to organize an internal Game Jam which happened online, where people working in different areas within Fanatee can come together and work on a fun game project of their choice. 

The task was simple. An open call for anyone in the company to participate, with the challenge of developing a game concept and a playable prototype in 48 hours! The event started with an open brainstorming session with ideas around the Game Jam topic, rethinking one of our games. 

During this first get-together lots of ideas were shared and out of those five stood out which organically led to the division of the teams that would work together for the next two days. 

The ideas that gained traction were fun, ambitious and quite unorthodox, combining different game genres in dynamic game plays. 

The teams consisted of game designers, developers, and even people from monetization or marketing whose day-to-day on the job is not directly to producing a game from scratch. This integration helped each team to work on their projects in a surprising way. Lucas Pereira, Game designer said: 

“I’ve been participating in Game Jams since 2009, so I have been to over 20 so far. What is different and is working really well here at Fanatee is that the teams were put together by their project, and not friendship, so things work much faster and the team is in tune".

Lucas Castellari, product manager agrees: 

“Having the diversity of visions in the creative process was very enriching”.

Gabriel Tavolaro, Tech Artist and first time game jam participant, liked how the speedy, condensed production experience: 

“I have never participated before and I think it is a great experience. Things that usually take two weeks to solve, we are now pushing ourselves against time to deliver it in four hours”.

The 48 hours went by fast for all the teams and did not lack surprise and emotion! Some teams realized that they had to narrow down their ambition to be able to deliver a playable game on time but also present a compelling game concept. Others had to overcome limitations in technology and human resources but in the end it all worked out for everyone thanks to tech and art “angels” lending their skills to other teams allowing other projects advance as well. 

The game jam which took place online, concluded with a presentation and pitch of each of the projects and the announcement of the winner! Winning the game jam was not necessarily the motivation and objective as most of the participants agreed that the experience alone compensated and motivated them to break their work week and daily routine to join the game jam.

For Lucas Pereira who joined the company recently: 

“One of the main reasons I wanted to participate was to meet everyone. Since I have started in the middle of the pandemic, most people I don’t really know, so it is a great opportunity to work with the people I usually don’t”. 

Our developer, Edson Ferrão, is all about that game jam life and worked on the project even after midnight, doing his best to deliver the scope the team agreed on: 

“We all work at Fanatee because we like the process of making games, and this experience of being able to create something of your own and new, with the people you work with, makes the process even better. Putting yourself out there doing things you usually don’t do, going out of your comfort zone and keeping an eye on the time (because it’s short), you want to deliver the best you can. I have slept a few hours only because I wanted to work harder”. 

For Ramy Silva, who works in Quality Assurance, the struggle is all worth it: 

"Participating in something that is bigger than you, seeing what is being built and it becoming reality, is the biggest satisfaction, it is worth all the hard work”. 

And even Gisele Ruiz who works at Facilities joined the Jam to get ideas on how such an event could be organized when we’re back in the office but also realized that one can contribute to the team even without necessarily knowing how to code: 

“It was good to get out of the routine and give space to creativity”. 

All in all it was a fun, creative experience for everyone that participated. Looking forward to the next one!