Burn the halls — Jeffrey Prime

Game Jam Theme: Bright

The thermostat just broke at the north pole and all the elves are about to freeze! Playing as Santa, it is your job to keep the fire in the middle of town hot and bright. You’ll need to grab anything with Christmas cheer or more importantly anything that burns and toss it into the fire. Be quick about it, if you take too long the fire will get low and the cold darkness will envelop the pole. Can you keep the fire alive long enough for the heat to be restored?

Burn the Halls was developed during a 48-hour game jam, or two and a half school days. The team consisted of one programmer, three artists and three designers who had been in school for about sixteen months. All development was done in-person using Microsoft teams, Unity, Perforce, and a huge white board.

Game Page

What I learned

Happy team members

Not everyone on this team had positive and engaging projects at AIE. This was mainly due to being part of a dysfunctional team or having a toxic team member. Knowing this, I wanted to ensure that those individuals had a good experience making this game. I did this by making a welcoming environment from the start. I encouraged them to add their input to conversations and we focused on work they wanted to do. If your team members are not happy, you will not have a great game.

Ready for growth

This was my 3rd Game Jam in over a year. My first Game Jam game was an amazing experience, and I learned a lot about how all the pieces came together. Unfortunately, I was not really learning anything new from later Jams. I feel like I learned a lot more from the production of Hockey at PacSci than I had during any of my Game Jams. I believe Game Jams are amazing fun and a great place to toss out ideas and be silly, but I was not growing as a developer. I am ready for something more challenging.