I’d find it to be absolutely impossible to believe that anyone who reads TouchArcade isn’t aware of TrainJam, considering it feels like I’ve spent the entire last year about it… But if you somehow missed all that, it’s basically the coolest thing ever. Every year before GDC, instead of just flying in to San Francisco like everyone else, a group of game developers, students, and other people interested in game development all pile on the California Zephyr train and ride the rails from Chicago to San Francisco for one three day long game jam. I did it last year, and it’s easily somewhere near the top of the list of absolute coolest things I’ve done in my tenure at TouchArcade.
Tickets for the event go on sale at 4:00pm Tuesday December 12, 2017 Central European Time (convert this to your time zone here) but they also have a bunch of different diversity initiatives that folks can sign up for to get assistance to attend the event. The first focuses on geographic diversity, the second is centered around gender diversity, and the third is run by the Able Gamers charity to provide assistance to folks with disabilities, which you can sign up for here. All these different programs are powered by the various generous sponsors of Train Jam, and go a long way in making Train Jam a extremely diverse event. If you qualify for any of these diversity initiatives and you haven’t already signed up for consideration, you have until midnight Pacific tonight to do it. Don’t waste this opportunity!
If you’re going to GDC, and can afford to take the extra time to ride the train to the event, I really, really, really, really, really recommend making the effort to do so. You’ll get an unbelievable view of America, spend three days making new friends, and basically just spend time in one of the most uniquely creative environments I’ve ever had the pleasure to be in.
