The inaugural Multiplayer Game Jam presented by Global Game Jam and Photon saw over 800 people from over 75 countries come together to make 76 multiplayer games around the theme of Reconnect.
The idea behind this jam was to show that making multiplayer games is easier than it ever has been. Using Photon technology that works with Unity and Unreal game developers of varying skill levels and experience made games from multiple genres, with wildly varying art styles and gameplay mechanics. Everything from VR zombie shooters, to RTS meets battle royale, co-op puzzle solving, arena battles, sports titles, and so much more. We had a lot of fun playing and judging the entries, which made it a tough task to narrow it down and pick the winners.
The awards were presented live on stream on 20 November, and you can rewatch the whole stream where we interviewed some of the winning developers about their games and the experience.
Aussie Ball Quantum by Fear Indigo of Australia bounced its way to the Best Networked Physics award.
PlanetScape by PlanetStudio of Brazil collected the Best RTS Game award.
They Stole My Body by elZach from Germany took us on an adventure and came home with the Best Large World award.
Motor-Dome by Nthusia from Scotland and the USA revved us up and took home the Best Fast Paced Game award.
Afterlight by JimDublace of the United States brought us into the light and won the Best Peaceful Game award.
DEPOT by Victory Toad from the United States had us battling bunches of blocky bad guys and won the Best Use of Bots award.
BuddyBall by hmmmmniek from the Netherlands had us bouncing off the walls trying to be the best at scoring goals and won the Best Competitive Gameplay award.
Reconnect by Nicolás from Chile taught us some lessons about working together and the power of friends and won the Best Collaboration Gameplay award.
The Overall winners were as follows:
3rd Place was a tie between Reconnect & DEPOT.
Our judges said that DEPOT is “simple but really well executed graphics and a cool new spin on tower defense”.
As for Reconnect the judges said, “Really cool look, fun game to play. Really great ending with a whole arc that was unexpected…”
2nd Place Overall went to Best RTS Game winner PlanetScape.
The judges said, “Really fun to play with friends, starts out slow and gets frantic at the end. Lots of fun to pick up and play and easy to understand.”
Our overall winner was the fun and fast paced Motor-Dome!
Judges said, “I liked the concept, the playability and replayability of the game.” “Fun to jump in and play against your friends. Easy to pick up and play but hard to master.” And "Felt very polished with everything including matchmaking and menus. Even though the game is very fast paced it was still easy to follow."
Congratulations to our winners and to everyone who participated and tried to make a game for this jam! We had a fabulous time hosting the jam, playing the games on stream, and judging the entries.
Photon announced that they will be on board to support Global Game Jam 2023, which starts on 30 January 2023. They will be providing support and guidance for anyone wanting to use Photon technology in their GGJ entries. Jammer registration for GGJ will open on 5 December 2022 so keep an eye on our website and social media for when they go live.
The Multiplayer Game Jam will return in 2023 so brush up on those Photon tutorials and start thinking of ideas now.