Before heading back to classes this winter, 150 lucky Cegep students spent a weekend absorbed in one of their favorite pastimes - games. But rather than playing games they designed them. It all took place at Vanier College during GameJam 2025, held in January.
Students from 20 Cegeps around the province attended the event free of charge. There was no need for any special prior knowledge and beginners as well as more advanced gamers were welcome to learn to make a board game, a video game or card game.
"Every GameJam has been more and more successful since we started 4 years ago. In fact, more than 400 students applied for the limited 150 spots available for the event," says Avery Rueb, Vanier Dean of Academic Development and Research, educator, and game designer. "Game Jam offers students a chance to go from consumers to creators of games while improving skills like collaboration, time management, networking, creativity and problem solving."
To help students learn different nuances about game design including art, programming, music and narration, there were mentors on hand from Quebec video game studios including Ubisoft, Behavior Interactive, and Rogue Factor. These same mentors also hosted different activities in the days leading up to the GameJam weekend, where students learned about making pixel art, making video game sound effects as well as writing for a game.
"As a female programmer, I really like to see women in STEM and I like helping them with their progression," said mentor Mathilde Gauthier, a Gameplay programmer at Ubisoft.
For students, the weekend was a great experience. "GameJam was an opportunity for me to push myself and learn new things, as we had to make a game in a small time-frame. It was also an opportunity to have fun with my friends, laugh and learn together, as we were united by our love for video games," said Myriam M'Barek, who studies Computer Science and Mathematics at Vanier.
Another Vanier student, Kevin Deng, stated, "Since there was no competition, everyone was helping each other out. Whether you were an experienced game developer or just getting started, this GameJam was a welcoming environment for everyone. I got to play other people's games and also showcase my own game. It was valuable to me because I learned from my mistakes and improvements that the very helpful mentors told me like play test more and get more feedback from users who play your game."
