Once upon a time, in a correct sized town, a young kid decided he was going to make video games. Several years after that, that same kid spends way too much money and crossed an ocean to create video games.
I don’t really remember when I first heard of train jam? Maybe it was a podcast, a blog article or a documentary? I do remember, however, that I instantly wanted to do it, sometime in my life… I just didn’t know when.
Train jam is a game jam. A game jam is an event where people get together to create games in a small amount of time (usually 48h). Train jam particularity is that, as the name implies, it happens in a Train: The Amtrack’s California Zephyr, connecting Chicago (Illinois) to San Francisco (California). It’s run by Adriel Walick (with help by John Lindvay) and take place every year, right before the Game Developers Conference.
Another unusual thing about train jam is the diversity of its participants: People from all around the world attended this year's event. Some were students, others were industry veteran! Even through I didn’t have the chances to speak everyone, I did meet some really amazing and interesting people on the train! I look forward to seeing all of them again!
Another great thing about this jam is the scenery. The California Zephyr goes through the most mind-blowing scenery I’ve ever seen. On the second day, I had the surprise to wake up in the Rocky Mountain! Then, a few hours after, we were in the middle of a canyon, and then in a desert (just like you would imagine an American desert to look like).
On the final day, right before entering California, they had to put a snowplow in front of our train so we could cross the sierra Nevada! And once again, a few hours after that, the scenery had completely changed to a beautiful forest, very reminiscent of “Firewatch” … This was a beautiful trip!
Oh! And the train also made a few beautiful but short stop!
This year about 80 games were made during Train Jam (You can play ours here)!
San Francisco is a city I always wanted to see and well… I wasn’t disappointed! Walking by the bay is beautiful, getting lost on the Hills is beautiful, The Golden Gate Bridge is beautiful, the AT&T park is beautiful, even the convention center and the Yerba Buena garden, on top of it is beautiful. Every day I had the pleasure to see the Golden Gate and Alcatraz from the hostel where I was staying!
GDC is the symbol for Game Developers Conference. It’s the biggest gathering of game developers in the world, mixing together students, indie developer and AAA representative. It’s mostly lectures and talks but it also features several game showcase and an expo floor for gamedev’s platform, tools and services! Tickets are really expensive.
I had the pleasure to meet up there with some friends who were nominated for the IGF awards. I also had the chances to meet other talented French creator.
The highlight of the week was probably the IGF and GDCA night, on Wednesday. The Independent Game Festival Award and the Game Developers Choice Award are certainly the most prestigious mark of recognition in the game industry. They’re kind of like Sundance and the Academy Award for the film industry. I used to look forward to the nominee and winner in the previous years and it was amazing to finally be in that room! It was even better to watch my friends Geraud, Alisée and Gregory win the Best student Game trophy! The Other nominee and winner, like Mu Cartographer, Oikospiel, Gonner or Quadrilateral Cowboy are all fantastic and I’m really glad they all get to show how amazing video games can be.
On Thursday at noon, I went up to the garden to an unofficial tradition of GDC called “Lost levels,” it’s a series of improvised micro talk. Some people talked about tileset, others chose to play flute, some people wanted to talk about accessibility while others preferred to ask us about our favorite game story. Someone gave us a really good definition of “Video games.” I even got to do one (Because why not) where I tried to speak about creating games for yourself, as a self-care tool.
During these two weeks, I had the chance to meet and to speak to people I admire and who inspire me every day! I was able to meet so many talented and impressive creators. I feel so happy and lucky to be part of this amazing community and to have been able to share this moment with my friends, old and new! People warned me about Post GDC depression, but I’m still waiting for it…
One last thing: I want to thank all the amazing people who pushed me and allowed me to do this trip! Adriel, Nicolas, Baptiste, Florian, Kevin, Christophe, and all the other who supported me <3 ! This last year was a really weird year, and I would never have been able to be there without you. You’re all amazing!
