The Game Jam Survival Guide by Christer Kaitila


Summary: Good start to development process

I was rather skeptical about this book before I started to read, however, it turned out to be interesting introduction to Game Jams and to game development in general.

I don’t plan to take part in Game Jam (at least not yet) but still, the book itself is really entertaining. I read it more in the context of game development itself rather than Game Jam survival guide, and still I could benefit from it.

What I really enjoyed were real life examples of how to approach the topic, how to prepare yourself for the event, how to make sure that everything works fine before you touch the keyboard and start coding like a mad man. I have found “Noob Mistake” vs. “Pro Style” guides really useful. I know that most of the people will say “I knew that already”. However, the fact is, it is good to refresh this kind of knowledge from time to time. Another particularly interesting topic for me was time management. It turns out that most of the people always plan way too much before they start development.

I wouldn’t suggest this book if you are new to game development and you want to learn how and where to start. This book will not tell you how to develop games. On the other hand, if you plan to take part in Game Jam, and you want to make it right, think about this particular title as it may save you loots of time when the Jam starts.

Product page:

Packt: http://www.packtpub.com/game-jam-survival-guide/book
Amazon (in Books): The Game Jam Survival Guide
Amazon (Kindle): The Game Jam Survival Guide