Dundee Jam - The Inside Interview

Following yesterday's introduction, we've been speaking to Ian Kiigan, one of the creators of the Dundee Jam and asking him a few more questions about the event, his thoughts on the whole casual and indie gaming scene and whether he believes in Jam tomorrow...

SG: Morning Ian, thanks for agreeing to answer some questions.  Let's kick off with the obvious one: What the hell is Dundee Jam?
IK: “Dundee Jam” is a series of single-day events, in which a bunch of videogame creators get together and make some simple, fun little games. It’s a friendly thing, not a competition.

SG: So, who’s involved?
IK: A few coders and artists at Denki got the ball rolling, but we’ve had plenty of external help - it is a real mix of game developers and enthusiastic homebrew developers. As the events grow, we really hope to encourage more folk to get involved from other Scottish games companies, digital media companies, as well hobbyists etc.

SG: Why Jam?
IK: It was called “The Game Dev Jam” for ages until someone spotted the IMMENSE comedic potential in making more of the whole Dundee “jute, jam, and journalism” connection.  Perhaps jam, and the happy childhood associations we all have with it will provoke some sort of Pavlovian response in our audience? Perhaps saying “let’s jam!” makes us feel more like rock-stars and less like geeks? All these theories have merit.

SG: What inspired you to begin the Jam?
IK: Inspiration initially came from looking at similar “indie game jam” events around the world, and wondering “why on earth doesn’t Dundee doesn’t something like that?”. With so many digital media companies, videogame developers, and students in Dundee it really seemed like a no-brainer. So, the events are primarily for our own amusement, the pleasure of making something in single day, and the promotion of game design as a fun hobby. I should add, there’s the feeling that… Scotland is a real hotbed of creative talent, but perhaps we’re a little too bashful to shout about it! My hope is that the Scottish indie scene can foster a more open environment in which no one is too proud or precious to share such rough little half-baked ideas or “sketches” of play. Laugh at our rubbish efforts, and make something better!

SG: How did the first Jam go?
IK: It was tough, but fun! As you can imagine, a day really isn’t much time at all… so for the first Jam my worry was that no one would make anything at all. Ultimately such fears were unfounded – we ended up with seven games, all playable now at dundeejam.com. It’s been a learning experience of course, and everyone is already thinking about how they’ll do things differently for Jam #2.

SG: What are your plans for the games produced?
IK: No plans at this stage. We’re being quite “zen” about this – you get an idea, you make a playable “sketch” (which is intended to be merely suggestive of the concept, rather than a complete game in its own right), and then you move on. Some ideas work, some don’t, but that’s the point of the exercise: to find out! Our favourite game from Jam #1 is probably Vegetable Soup Tactics, but it is up to the guys responsible whether they ever return to develop the game further.

SG: What do you think of the media's newfound interest in Indie gaming which is coming out of shows like GDC and the Independent Game Awards?
IK: Such attention is extremely welcome of course, and totally understandable: for gamers, game creators, and games journalists alike, anything that comes along which is a little bit different is a welcome change from the play-it-safe approach of the bigger videogames.

SG: What do you think the future holds for indie games?
IK: With stuff like XNA, XBLA, WiiWare, Steam, Flash games, and J2ME, it’s a really exciting time to be an indie game developer. At the same time though, the casual games market seems to be flooded with unoriginal, identical games – it’s all so cannibalistic and boring. My hope is that by working together more - sharing ideas and technology, and promoting a culture of creativity - indie game developers can lead the way in bringing fun new game ideas to new audiences, hungry for something different, something entertaining.