Game Jams are a pretty awesome recent phenomenon in the video games industry for a multitude of reasons. Not only do they present developers with a unique environment to create and experiment with some truly innovative ideas, but they also give gamers the chance to witness some of the brightest sparks in the business go through the creative process, and see the inception of future fully fledged titles at their earliest stages. Butterscotch Shenanigans are one such developer that has taken advantage of the concept in the past, and last month released all of their game jam games on itch.io – while obviously rough in concept, the eccentric style and many gameplay elements in these experimental releases were all vital in the evolution of the 2016 TouchArcade Game of the Year Crashlands ($6.99). However, not content in merely partaking in game jams, the developers are hosting their own event titled ‘The Butterscotch ShenaniJam’, and you can now sign up to join in the game creating capers next weekend.
Whether you’re an experienced developer who has partaken in numerous previous game jams in the past, or just a member of the iOS gaming community, there is a lot to look forward to during the Butterscotch ShenaniJam. For the creatively-minded, from 5pm CST on Friday 26th May to 1am on the following Monday, you’re tasked with developing a title around a theme from one of the Coffee with Butterscotch podcast titles alongside a criteria featuring qualities such as fun, visuals, and most importantly weirdness. While this may be relatively standard fare for seasoned game jam participants (outside of the developer’s trademark levity and humor), Butterscotch Shenanigans have created an incredibly informative page with a bunch of advice to anyone from industry veterans all the way to those who have never created a video game before. A Discord channel to witness the havoc unfold real-time, as well as the dedicated Twitter hashtag #shenanijam also mean fans can take part in proceedings. Whether we end up witnessing history, or simply the birth of elements in future classic mobile titles, the Butterscotch ShenaniJam is sure to be an awesome event, and I’d implore any interested developers to sign up on the event’s website and to take part this weekend.
