Global Game Jam 2024 "Make me laugh"

Impressions from the Global Game Jam weekend at Kolibri games, Berlin.

The themes given out to participants of the Global Game Jam tend to be challenging. From the inaugural "As long as we have each other, we will never run out of problems" which left everyone puzzled in 2009, to a picture of an Ouroboros in 2012 or a soundfile in 2013, the organizers strive to inspire  while leaving enough room for creativity.

When  the theme for 2024 was unveiled at the GGJ at Kolibri Games in Berlin,  I found "Make me laugh" quite challenging. This might sound shouldn't games provide joy after all? Here is the thing - when did you find yourself actually laughing out loud while playing a videogame? From a personal perspective, I connect laughter  with free play, playgrounds, or playing board games or role playing games with friends. Laughter also takes place in whimsical local multiplayer games like Gang Beasts, well-written dialogue in story-driven games such as The Secret of Monkey Island and really hard games (Super Meat Boy) where I found myself laughing in disbelief about some of the challenges presented.  I also thought about laugh tracks in movies and various forms of pleasure from tickling. 

At the end I reversed the task for the game, not to make the player laugh but to make it the player's job eliciting laughter from a creature.  TURBO TICKLE THERAPY was born.  More on the inspiration for this game in the next post.