Call For Papers

First International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons and Game Creation Events (ICGJ) -- March 13, 2016

Berkeley, California, USA


Call for Papers

Following up from our very successful series of workshops in the past few years, we are pleased to announce the first-ever International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events (ICGJ 2016). The conference proceedings will be published in the ACM Digital Library.

This will be a one-day conference held on March 13, 2016.

Game jams and Hackathons have become popular activities with their own unique culture and communities. Often held in a confined space for a limited duration of time, these activities offer enormous technological and social benefits for their participants. Studies can be conducted around the technical creation aspect of the activity, as well as its social and educational dynamics. The research area now has a diverse and dedicated following of scholars.

Full and Short Papers

We invite contributions on all aspects of game creation events using scholarly methods. Descriptions of new algorithms, processes and scientific findings as well as empirical studies of implementations and applications are welcome. Submissions can be full papers about results from novel research (up to 8 pages long) or short papers describing works in progress (up to 4 pages long).

Position Papers

As the scholarship of game creation events is in its very early stages, we welcome submission of position papers on major themes or directions of this field. Though essentially opinion based, position paper submissions should nevertheless contain research with arguments fully supported by specific references. Position papers should be considered short papers for the purposes of length and submission system.

Showcase presentations

We invite contributions from the creators of games and apps that were created in a recent game jam or hackathon. The creator(s) are required to submit a demonstration of their game, a hi-res photo or screenshot, and a written synopsis. The creator(s) of the game will be provided the opportunity to demonstrate the game at the conference. The synopsis should be limited to one page and explain the challenges and accomplishments in creating the work as well as future plans and potential. The synopsis will be published as part of the proceedings. These submissions will be editorially (non-peer) reviewed by a dedicated panel.

Here is the link to the Showcase Presentations CFP

Topics

The topics can include (but are not limited to):
  • Communication skills 
  • Community building 
  • Creativity 
  • Educational dimension of game jams and hackathons (formal or informal) 
  • Game design issues in game jams 
  • Game jam attendance: who and why? 
  • Game jam impacts 
  • Game jam methodologies 
  • Game resources and assets (art, animation, music, sound, etc.) 
  • Group dynamics 
  • Hackathons 
  • Ideation 
  • Incentives and rewards in game jams and hackathons 
  • Learning in game jams 
  • Makerspaces 
  • Rapid application development 
  • Team formation 
  • Theme development 
  • Tools and technologies 

Organizing Committee



Conference Chairs
Allan Fowler - Kennesaw State University, USA 
Foaad Khosmood - California Polytechnic State University, USA
 

Program Chair
Allan Fowler - Kennesaw State University, USA


Proceedings Chair
Foaad Khosmood - California Polytechnic State University, USA


Program Committee
  • Ali Arya, Carleton University, Canada 
  • Brian McDonald, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland 
  • Johanna Pirker, Graz University of Technology, Austria 
  • Jon Preston, Kennesaw State University, USA 
  • Kate Compton, University of Southern California, Santa Cruz
  • Mirjam Eladhari, University of Malta, Malta 
  • Nia Wearn, Staffordshire University, UK 
  • Ryan J Locke, Abertay University, Scotland 
  • William Goddard, RMIT University, Australia 

Awards

At the end of the conference, there will be a short awards ceremony. The awards are:
  • Best full paper award 
  • Best short paper or position paper award 
  • Best showcase presentation award 

Important Dates

  • Showcase submission due 8 February 2016 (hard deadline)
  • Paper submission due 8 February 2016 (hard deadline)
  • Notification of decisions 29 February 2016
  • Registration due 4 March 2016
  • Camera ready due 6 March 2016
  • Conference date 13 March 2016


Paper Submission

Authors are invited to submit original research contributions, following the instructions below:

IMPORTANT! Remove author names, and any additional information in the paper that could be used to identify the paper authors. Any submissions that are not formatted to the ACM specification or include any author identification will be returned to the authors. Submissions must be in PDF format and follow ACM SIG proceedings format.

Papers should be submitted to the conference Easychair site.

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icgj2016


All papers are peer reviewed and will be published in the ICGJ 2016 Conference Proceedings and included in the ACM Digital Library. If you have any questions regarding the submission process, please use the following email address: foaad -at- calpoly.edu

Paper Review Process

All full-length and short papers will be double-blind peer reviewed. Position papers and showcase pieces will be single-blind reviewed.

Registration

Register via the website

Location

David Brower Center, Berkeley, California

Contact

Please feel free to contact us through http://www.gameconf.org