Game Development Network
About GDN
SCAD's Game Development Network (GDN) is a club that works very closely with the Game Development major to provide additional resources to students in and around the game development major.
As GDN president, it has been my goal to more strongly connect the resources our club can provide to that of other clubs. Game design is not a solo endeavor, so I strive to create a network of resources and connections for anyone interested in game design.
NoobJam 2025
I helped create NoobJam in my sophomore year as a way to give underclassmen students the opportunity to compete in a game jam without the pressures of not having any technical skills and having to compete against more experienced students.
This year, we had freshman and sophomore students from fields like animation, film, motion media, illustration, sequential arts, and user experience all come and learn how to design games in 1 weekend
120 Jammers
37 Mentors
9 Games Made
4 Game Engines Used
Godot, Unity, GameMaker, Unreal
The Weekend at a Glance:
NoobJam kicked off with a bang at our welcome event where we explained what a game jam is, what resources we would have available, how to find mentors, and our submission guidelines.
Then we organized the jammers into teams, we divided students up not into defined roles, but into groups based on what they were interested in learning.
For example, we didn't ask participant to raise their hand if they want to be a designer, we said "raise your hand if you are interested in developing gameplay and organizing your team to meet deliverables"
We felt this would put less pressure on the students to already know and understand what they need to do for the project.
Then, I led a workshop on pitching for games. It gave students the ability to start learning common game design terms as well as have a good jumping off point for what to focus their games on.
Next, we connected students with mentors as well as a resource book we developed for the weekend. It contained descriptions of various game engines at varying difficulties. The resource book also contained a variety of tutorials to help get students started with the engines.
The development kicked into high gear! Mentors were available from 12-8 every day of the game jam.
Finally, we had our Showcase. We set up computers with each team's game and played all of their video trailer submissions. We also handed out 5 awards: Best Mechanics, Best Art, Best Use of Theme, Best Team Spirit, and Best of Show.
