Jam Forever

What do you need for a game jam? “Two tables. Done,” says Danielle Costello, student success librarian at University of Georgia Libraries in Athens.

While game jams—accelerated game creation events—started as a way to develop videogames, they’re also useful for creating tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). The best-known TTRPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu, include rule books that can run to hundreds of pages and have steep price tags, but there are a host of smaller, independently developed games with simple and shareable systems. At the Games and Gaming Round Table (GameRT) President’s Session, “­Creating Role-Playing Games in the Library,” at ALA’s 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, panelists shared ways for libraries to host game jams to help students and patrons of all ages create games.

TTRPGs have grown in popularity in recent years as they’ve become more visible through streaming and social media. That’s not the only reason for strong interest, though: Collaborative storytelling gives players agency and control in the world, “which is something a lot of our patrons really need right now,” Costello said.

Why create games instead of just playing them? Game jams open up the process of game development and make it more accessible, Costello said, adding that “the act of creation itself is a wonderful process for your patrons to get into.” Game jams are cheap (or even free) to host, and can promote literacy, community building, and partnerships.

You don’t have to be a game designer to run a game jam at your library, said Rebecca Strang, outreach and engagement librarian at North Central College’s Oesterle Library in Naperville, Illinois. You can partner with local game developers, game shops, and even your library’s makerspace. And game jams are not just for adults, Strang added: “I’ve run game jams for 3rd-graders.”

Many existing TTRPGs have system reference documents that help developers create modules or extensions for those games. You can also host a free-form creative process or use open-ended structure suggestions. “Business card game jams”—at which people develop a game with rules short enough to fit on a standard business card—“are some of my favorites,” Strang said.

“As an academic tool, games are this beautiful conflagration of many different ideas from books, from movies, from other games,” said Russell Brandon, customer service specialist at the Pasco branch of Mid-Columbia Libraries in Washington. It’s important for creators to credit their sources and influences, not just for legal and copyright reasons. “[Sharing these influences can] allow for people who play your games to experience the same sort of mindset that you were in when you’re thinking about designing, and that can really create a much more genuine experience,” he said.

Remixing and reimagining the TTRPG experience is not just limited to fantasy; exploring history, pop culture, and modern ideas is very exciting, Costello said. “You’re playing against the gatekeeping of the concept of what is a game and what isn’t,” she said. Many people have the impression that TTRPGs as a medium are only for fantasy and war games, and “that can be really hard to get past.”

Creativity and learning can continue after the end of the jam. The games patrons and students create can be tied into many library functions, such as publishing, archiving, and cataloging, Brandon said. You can create a game that can go into circulation at your library. And, he noted, you can hold more game jams: “Always be jamming. Jam forever.”

A version of this article first appeared on americanlibraries.org on June 25, 2023.