Game Jam tests creativity, speed

By the next year, chatter about the innovative event had spread, and there was movement to host Game Jams all over the world. The Global Game Jam was born in January 2009, and UC Santa Cruz has hosted one stage of the event since that inaugural year.

“A lot of innovative games come out of there,” said Foaad Khosmood, a UCSC graduate student and one of the global organizing committee members. “Teams always find a new way to present a problem, user interface or game mechanic that always surprises people.”