This weekend, UMBC will be one of 320 sites from 65 countries around the world participating in Global Game Jam 2013. This year’s theme is announced at 5pm local time on Friday, and teams all over the world work all weekend to build games around the theme. If you want to participate you can sign up through the Global Game Jam global organization. UMBC’s site is full, but there are other sites in the MD/VA area for those interested in participating. You’ll be able to track our progress on twitter (#ggj13 for global twitter feed, #umbcggj for UMBC), and on our live streaming feed (to be announced here when the game jam begins).

For those signed up for the UMBC site, here are some basic details on what to expect Friday.

  • We’ve got a talk about the Corona mobile game SDK at 4:30 Friday.
  • The main GGJ activities start at 5:00 this Friday, and will conclude by 5:00 on Sunday.
  • The UMBC site will be closing down from 11pm-7am Friday and Saturday night. Do not plan on being able to spend the night in the lab.
  • We’ll be in the GAIM lab, room 005 in the Engineering building. For those not already on campus, there are campus maps online.
  • Permit (not visitor) parking spots are free after 3:30 Friday and through the weekend.
  • Thanks to a generous donation from Next Century Corporation, we’ll have food for all participants all weekend.