PGJ 2024 Timeline and Schedule

Time Period: Now - September 30

Duration: up to 2 weeks

Recommended Goals

Start thinking up a great game idea
Finalize your game idea and create a 1 page design document with your minimal viable product (MVP)
Submit your game idea online before the jam starts to get a head-start

Time Period: Sat. Sep. 30th 1:00PM

Duration: 3 hours

Recommended Goals

Time Period: Oct. 1st - Oct. 13th

Duration: 2 weeks

Recommended Goals

Start your first sprint (or follow your selected methodology)
Host regular meetings with your team. We recommend brief daily morning or evening meetings and weekly review meetings for your team
Iterate through design goals as rapidly as possible keeping an MVP in mind
White box a proof of concept of your game idea with your single most important mechanic or element of your idea
Prepare for the second monthly meetup by reviewing progress with your team and creating a backlog or list of TODOs

Time Period: Sat. Oct. 14th 1:00PM

Duration: 3 hours

Recommended Goals

Start the meeting by reviewing your backlog or TODOs with your team and refine as necessary
Plan your weekly sprints for the month ahead
Keep your focus on that MVP and expand only as you've completed earlier assignments
Function first, form second, then features. Always push your superficial or cosmetic tasks to the end of the backlog
Stay focused on MVP. What NEEDS to be in the game to make it work. Everything else is cake

Time Period: Oct. 15th - March 8th

Duration: 5 months

Recommended Goals

Continue iterating through your sprints or work cycles
Regardless what methodology your team has chosen, always host a full review with the entire team at the end of each sprint or iteration
Test, test, test, and test. You want a viable product in the end and going back to fix things takes more time than you have
Start making regular builds. When you are happy with your progress and have a playable game. Make a build. You never know when you might have to go back to one if you come across a problem.
Cut anything that is delaying the project (we recommend doing this often.) If it's critical to your MVP, downscope it or find an alternate solution (e.g., downloading a free asset)
Prepare for the final monthly meetup by reviewing progress with your team and creating a backlog or list of TODOs

Time Period: March 9th

Duration: 3 hours

Recommended Goals

Share your progress with other teams and have them playtest. The feedback will be invaluable
Demo your game for the Executive Producers
Review the feedback with your team and decide what, if any, last minute refinements you'd like to make
Build and save a known working version of your game and don't touch it. Use it as a backup in case late versions of your game have critical failures
Discuss preparation tasks with your team and make plans to prepare your game for the showcase
If you haven't done so already, create a presence on the web for your project like a website and/or social media accounts, so people can find you and follow your progress

Time Period: March 10th - CCS in April

Duration: 1 month

Recommended Goals

Make a trailer for your game. (Can be as simple as 30 seconds of gameplay)
Put the final touches on your game and submit your game trailer to SDC for the PGJ showcase at CCS 2024
Decide who on your team will be present at the showcase to present your game and put it on your schedule
Prepare any marketing materials for your game such as handouts, business cards, website/social media links, etc.
Take a deep breath...you're almost there! Get ready for Capital Creative Showcase and have a ton of fun showing off your work!