GDWC: Hello Bohdan and welcome! Can you tell us something about you and what got you into game development?
Bohdan Taraba: Hi! I'm from the Czech Republic and I always wanted to make games. I love playing them, of course. Since I'm a creative person, it was an easy decision to jump into game development. I simply love it!
GDWC: Alright! Sounds like you found your true calling! Now that you like developing games, is this your first game made in a Game Jam?
Bohdan Taraba: No it's not. I regularly participate in Game Jams. From most famous (Ludum Dare) to smaller ones. I even released one of my Game Jam games (which was made during Ludum Dare) as a full release for Nintendo Switch (a game called "Jim is Moving Out!"). There are always some Game Jams, on sites like itch.io and it's very simple to just choose any jam and start creating! :)
GDWC: Then what would you consider to be one of the biggest challenges in participating in a Game Jam?
Bohdan Taraba: Maybe it will sound silly but marketing. Nowadays there are hundreds (and even thousands) entries in Game Jams. With that amount of entries, creators have to learn how to promote their games, even if it's small and short free games. Some creators even struggle to get the minimum amount of votes for their entries to be rated. So it's slowly becoming an essential part of game jam making experience. It's harder and harder to get some attention even for free games.
GDWC: That is actually a very good point! Having developed a very good game during a Game Jam might not assure it to stand out, depending on the amount of entries… Do you have any tips for people that would like to participate in one?
Bohdan Taraba: Yes, only one: finish your game and release it. Even if half of your planned features are missing, graphics are bad or your game has no sounds. It doesn't matter. The key is to wrap it and release it. Its most important tip of all, a lot of people are struggling with that.
GDWC: Yeah, perfectionism very easily cramps somebody's style! If you have to choose one, what would be your favorite thing in Game Jams?
Bohdan Taraba: Freedom. You are free to experiment, design super weird and clunky stuff, totally go off charts of game design conventions, do basically whatever you like (of course with jam rules in mind but most of them are not very strict). You can go wild and that's good. Jams are a great way to express your creativity and that's what I love about it.
Thank you Bohdan for having the interview with us! We appreciate the time you took for the interview. Many developers might not give marketing in Game Jams any thoughts, but it can really pay off and increase chances to be seen. When standing out in a Game Jam, it increases the possibilities of winning, collaborations, more votes and better feedback!
Check out the other parts of the interview series at https://thegdwc.com/blog/
