As a lead-up to the Main Jam in Rosebank, the Independent Institute of Education (IIE)-Vega in Bordeaux recently hosted a successful Mini Jam.

The event brought game design students from across South Africa together for a day of creativity, collaboration and hands-on game development.

Read more: IIE-Vega students go bald for CANSA Shavathon

Both annual events form part of The Campus Game Jam, a national initiative by Two Name Games which aims to build a strong, student-driven game development community that encourages connection and collaboration long before graduation.

While most of the students attended the Mini Jam in person, others joined remotely via Discord, a free voice and text application popular among gaming communities. Participating institutions included the IIE-Vega Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria campuses, Eduvos, SAE Institute South Africa and the University of Witwatersrand.

Cheyenne Peter, head of the Campus Game Jam management team, explained that this year, they chose to make the Mini Jam an analogue game and no digital creations were allowed.

“The focus was on real-world, playful interactions which ranged from board games to unique controller concepts and everything in between.”
It was the first time the school hosted a purely analogue game jam. “We weren’t sure what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised by the range of inventive and playful games. We even ran overtime just to finish playtesting all the games. That’s how much fun we were having.”

Kyle Smith, of IIE-Vega, described the six-hour event as ‘electric’.
“The room buzzed with creativity, laughter and the kind of focused chaos that only a game jam can produce. Participants fully immersed themselves in the creative process, driven by a shared passion for game design and development.”

He added that the shift away from screens allowed participants to reconnect with the fundamentals of game design, without the constraints of code or software.
“The Campus Game Jam and its Mini Jams are a reminder of the incredible talent and passion that exists within South Africa’s young game design and development community.”

Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We’d love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts!