We had an opportunity to speak with Peter Smith about the Indie Galactic Space Jam. Peter is an Assistant Professor of Game Design at the University of Central Florida and he also co-founded the Indie Galactic Space Jam which is occurring at the Melrose Center in downtown Orlando, Florida from August 13-16, 2015.

A game jam is typically a weekend-long event where artists, developers, sound designers, writers, and other talented folks gather to create games. This is the second space-themed Indie Galactic Space Jam and it follows a formula of pitch->team formation->build. This means that attendees will be asked to pitch concepts so that others can get an idea of teams they can join, once teams have been formed everyone will build games throughout the weekend. The Indie Galactic Space Jam is a great opportunity to practice your craft, meet others, and build community in Orlando around games and space. The age range has previously been between 13 to 65. Peter explained that everyone is welcomed to join teams regardless of their skill level or background.

If somebody shows up and says, “I want to make music all weekend,” everyone is going to want music.

In this interview Peter describes how you can put together your own game jam and how to get the most out of one as an attendee. Listen up, we cover everything from mating space geckos, taking care of your pet planet, to pricing out a space elevator. Seriously, games are changing the world.

Our goal is to bring together people from various creative and technical fields to develop fun games that generate excitement among the public about space travel & exploration. Our dream is that these same individuals find new ways to work together and form lasting relationships. We hope to put the national spotlight on Central Florida and show off our unique combinations of talent and, even more, that the games we make help promote interest in STEM education to the generations that will carry these concepts into the future. – Indie Galactic Space Jam

This year’s sponsors and partners include Space Florida, Microsoft, the Melrose Center, Indienomicon, the Space Coast Economic Development Commission, and Nerd Nite Orlando. Last year’s Indie Galactic Space Jam produced 22 projects and 20 completed games, you can check them out on itch.io.