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Get ready for Board Game Jam 2023!

The theme reveal, brainstorming about silly game ideas, playing around with prototype cards and tokens and eventually seeing everything come together in an actual playable game. It's one of the best feelings in the world, and it's not much longer before we can experience it all again... So join us for the Board Game Jam 2023! We are going to create a positive and relaxed environment all geared towards developing your skills whether you are an absolute beginner trying to get off the ground or an accomplished designer about to move to the next level. The Board Game Jam is also a great place to meet other designers, play testers and other great people involved with the craft.

What is the Board Game Jam?

The theme reveal, brainstorming about silly game ideas, playing around with prototype cards and tokens and eventually seeing everything come together in an actual playable game. It's one of the best feelings in the world, and it's not much longer before we can experience it all again... So join us for the Board Game Jam 2023! We are going to create a positive and relaxed environment all geared towards developing your skills whether you are an absolute beginner trying to get off the ground or an accomplished designer about to move to the next level. The Board Game Jam is also a great place to meet other designers, play testers and other great people involved with the craft.

Our schedule can be summarized as: "Three Days of Creating Games".

How does it work

  1. Find a team! You can create a team beforehand, gather your team or join an existing team at the start of the jam. It is advised to have a team of around 4 members.
  2. Theme reveal. The jam will start with the revealing of the theme, the theme determines what your board game should be about. The theme serves as a guidance for your ideas and prevents participants to work out their ideas before the event.
  3. Start brainstorming. Come up with ideas, write them down, elaborate, collaborate.
  4. Work out your idea. Put it down on paper or in a digital document, work out the rules and details, start making the basic components of your game.
  5. Playtest your game. Start playing as soon as possible, only then will you know if your game works and if it is fun.
  6. Keep on improving. No game is perfect in the first run, improve, iterate, change the rules, add and drop rules. Make sure your gameplay is as smooth as possible.
information

Practical information

Location: Blokhuispoort, Leeuwarden(NL)

The jam will be held in the Blokhuispoort in Leeuwarden, an old prison building in the centre of Leeuwarden. We will be jamming in 1 big room and have a canteen for coffee, eating and chilling. The address is Blokhuisplein 40, 8911LJ Leeuwarden. When you enter the building, the jam location is immediately to the right.

Date and time

We open the doors on Friday the 4th of August at 17:00. At 18:00 we will have the theme reveal and start jamming. On Friday and Saturday around 23:00 we close the room for the day and the next day we start again at 9:00. The deadline for the jam is on Sunday at 14:00. After that we will demonstrate and play some games and around 16:00 we close shop.

Registration

If you want to join the jam, you can buy a ticket through our google form for €25.-. Included in the ticket is brunch on Saturday and Sunday and coffee, tea and drinks throughout the weekend. We also sell tickets with dinner included on Friday and Saturday, these tickets cost €40

Teams

You can join as a team or you can find a team on the spot. We do ask premade teams to be open for participants who don't have a team. We don't want to leave anyone behind.

Tools, materials and printing

We will offer some basic board game prototyping materials and a printer on site. Everything you make during the jam, you can bring home. We do have a fair use policy so that everybody can get what they need. If you want a bigger selection of tools and materials, you can order game parts online on spelspul.nl for example.

Contact

E-mail: info@boardgamejam.nl

Event Location

Blokhuisplein 40, 8911 LJ, Leeuwarden The Netherlands

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