For the first time ever, the National Film & Television School (NFTS) is hosting a public Game Jam!

Join us in celebrating Videogame Poems as an emergent short-form personal expression that challenges traditional boundaries between art forms!

Storytelling is what we do at the NFTS and games have unique narrative qualities that put players at the heart of the experience, driving the story.

Poems are stories that break conventions, celebrate form, the epic and heroic, but also the most personal and intimate experiences. We are keen to see what game developers can do with this emergent and exciting game genre in just 24 hours!

Considering the theme, make a Game Poem in 24 hours! 

Ahead of the official launch of the NFTS Game Poems Jam, please join us for an online seminar and introduction to Game Poems by Jordan Magnuson on Monday 7^th September at 11:00 (BST, GMT+1).  The theme for the Jam will be revealed at the end of the seminar.

Jordan Magnuson is an American independent game designer known for his minimalistic games, such as Loneliness and Freedom Bridge, as well as The Gametrekking Omnibus. Jordan is also a senior lecturer at Winchester School of Art, writer of the open access book Game Poems about video games and poetry, and founding editor of the Game Poems magazine.

Use the following link to attend the seminar on Zoom: https://nfts-co-uk.zoom.us/j/84922473747

Submitted games must run and be playable in a web browser, on a personal computer.

• We do not accept submissions that require players to download the game and run locally on a PC. 
• The game cannot open additional browser tabs or require any navigation via browser back/forward buttons.
• Note that most modern game engines have the ability to build to HTML5—but please test your game in a browser from the start!

You are free to use your preferred development tools and game engine as long as you are legally allowed to and able to compile a game that meets the technical requirements.

- An itch.io account is required to join the jam and submit your entry.

- Team submissions are acceptable for teams of 3 members or less. (Prizes are awarded for each submission, not the individual contributors)

- For assets used in your game, you must own the copyright to, or be granted a license from the original copyright holder to redistribute any assets that you ship with your game (including but not limited to: Images, Sounds or Music, Fonts, Code, or any other artistic works). If you are in doubt of the copyright status of an asset, it is recommended to find and ask the original copyright holder.

- The game must not contain illegal, hateful, derogatory, NSFW or bigoted content. Any kind of racism, sexism, or any other form of discrimination will not be tolerated and the game will be disqualified.

- The game must be created and submitted within the gamejam time frame. Late entries will not be accepted.

Entries will be judged by a panel of industry experts, including:

• Shuhei Yoshida - Games industry veteran and former President and Head of Indies at Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Jordan Magnuson - Game designer, Academic, Writer and Founding editor of Game Poems magazine
• Claudio Pollina - Game designer and Professor in Video games at Rome University of Fine Arts
• Jenna Jovi - Freelance Screenwriter, Narrative designer and Story architect
• John Lau - Game designer and Lead producer on South of the Cricle and ustwo games’ Monument Valley III
• Cash DeCuir - Narrative designer, Writer and Voice director on ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium

The panel will be looking for:

• An interesting take on the Theme for the Jam
• Games that engage with the short-form, structure and ideas from poetry, and this doesn't mean they have to include words.
• Artistic merit. Games that are innovative, pushing boundaries of what games and/or poetry can be, emotionally resonant, personal expressions or conceptually interesting.  

Winners will be announced on Friday 25th September!

Game Jams are all about enjoying the creative challenge, but we think some rewards are in order as well!

To learn more about Game Poems, please visit Jordan Magnuson's excellent website: https://www.gamepoems.com/resources