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The GGJ Podcast brings the spirit of Global Game Jam to your headphones, with people from around the world sharing how they found their way into game development. Each week, Susan Gold talks with developers, studio founders, and festival organizers about the twists, risks, and side doors that shaped their paths and communities. You will hear honest stories about creativity, collaboration, failure, and the messy, beautiful reality of making games.
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[00:00:00] Susan Gold: This is the GGJ Podcast, a show about the games industry, the people who make them, and the communities that grow up around them. I'm Susan Gold, a game education Trailblazer and one of the founders of the Global Game Jam.
[00:00:19] Each week we sit down with a new guest, highlighting their own path and journey.
[00:00:24] This is a space for honest conversation from makers about creativity, [00:00:30] collaboration, failure and the messy, the beautiful reality of making games. So whether you're a young dev or seasoned an educator, a student, or someone who just loves games and the people behind them, welcome to the GGJ Podcast.
[00:00:43] Take a breath, settle in, and let's hear directly from the makers themselves.
[00:00:48] Shirley McPhaul: This episode is made possible in partnership with the Global Game Jam, the world's largest game creation event, bringing together creators from around the globe. A big thank you as well to the Global Game Jam's. Headline sponsors, Epic Games, [00:01:00] Games for Change, and XSola for helping make this creative community a reality.
[00:01:05] To learn more and to get involved in the upcoming jams, visit Global Game Jam.org.
[00:01:11]
[00:01:18] Shirley McPhaul: Hi everyone, and welcome to the Global Game Jam Podcast. My name is Shirley, and I am your producer, slash editor, slash behind the scenes [00:01:30] lurker, if you will. And today is our very first episode. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us on this new adventure. It is an absolute pleasure for me to be here today with Susan Gold, the regular host for this podcast, as well as a co-founder of the Global Game Jam.
[00:01:48] We decided to have this first episode be a little bit different than what you can expect of the rest of the season because we thought it important for you to get to know Susan a little bit [00:02:00] better, and to hear directly from her how the Global Game Jam began, and why this podcast is important. And without further ado, it's my absolute pleasure to introduce Susan Gold.
[00:02:13] How are you doing, Susan?
[00:02:15] Susan Gold: Well, I am super excited. This is Game Jam weekend, so I'm super excited to see what happens this weekend around the world. One of my favorite things I've always, as a part of the Global Game Jam is [00:02:30] just that, watching as games start coming in, as you know, people start uploading things and you start hearing stories around the world.
[00:02:41] And then you know that slow evolution. Did you hear what they did in Australia? Oh really? Oh my God, what happened in Serbia? Okay, what? You know? And so that whole global part of that unraveling of what's been happening over the course of the weekend is probably one of the [00:03:00] most exciting times for GGJ.
[00:03:02] Shirley McPhaul: And, , what number of Global Game Jam is this? How many years has this been going?
[00:03:08] Susan Gold: So we started in 2009 and actually this year over a half a million people will have participated, which is kind of crazy.
[00:03:17] Shirley McPhaul: No, that's insane. That, that's straight up insane.
[00:03:21] Susan Gold: when I think about the fact that there are all these people coming together because I had this crazy idea. That's the part [00:03:30] that always just kind of blows me away. It's like, well, I had this idea and I talked to a few people, and then you know, who told somebody Who told somebody, you know? And it just became this huge thing that everyone wanted to participate in.
[00:03:45] And over these years as it's evolved, I've seen. Growth I've seen, you know, more and more countries participate. That's all good. But I think the thing is when I know people [00:04:00] that are like, oh, we're jam hopping. Like this year we're in Amsterdam and next year we're in Romania, and next year we'll be in Bogota and you're like, what? You and people like to jam that much, or people that have met each other and married at the jam. One of my best friends met his wife at the Global Game Jam.
[00:04:24] I'm so proud, that people could come together, which is what it was all about, creating community, [00:04:30] finding other people like us and people that we're interested in creating. There's something so exciting about being in that creative engine and everybody's in it together and watching it all unfurl in front of you and you're like, wow. Look at all the genius around the world and creativity and silliness and effort.
[00:04:57] Shirley McPhaul: So let's, let's do the math. You said that the first [00:05:00] game Jam was, what year was it?
[00:05:02] Susan Gold: 2009.
[00:05:03] Shirley McPhaul: 2009. So that means that this year is 10, it's 15, 16 years. Yeah. This is the number 16.
[00:05:16] Susan Gold: 17 years.
[00:05:17] Shirley McPhaul: 17 years. Yeah. Wow. That is incredible. 17 Global Game Jams. 17 opportunities. The world has had to come together to create video games.
[00:05:28] Susan Gold: That's the other part [00:05:30] of it. It's not just like the usual suspects, it's. I had no idea that someone was going to be making games in Uganda. You know? Like, who would've thought?
[00:05:42] Shirley McPhaul: Okay. So let's, let's, let's, let's, let's rewind a little bit.
[00:05:47] Susan Gold: Okay.
[00:05:47] Shirley McPhaul: because I don't know about our listeners, but at least I am dying to know how did the Global Game Jam, start? So this question has multiple parts. The first thing that I wanna [00:06:00] know is, what is your background like. What are, why, how are you the co-founder of the Global Game Jam? That is the first part of the question.
[00:06:07] And then the second part of the question is, what was that spark that was like, oh, you know what we should do? We should have a game jam that all of these people around the world participate once a year. Um, so, so please.
[00:06:20] Susan Gold: Okay.
[00:06:21] Shirley McPhaul: Tell us
[00:06:21] Susan Gold: first of all, educator first and foremost, and I had been teaching students [00:06:30] game design and.
[00:06:32] They could never finish a game in the time period of a, a semester. Now you have to remember, we had to make our own game engines at the time, or if we were using an engine, then there was a huge, a learning curve with coding and you had to be able to really be very skilled. Well, someone just out of high school coming to university [00:07:00] at that time, they weren't making their own games at home. No one was making their own game. People were like, Ugh. I made an engine, and then over the course of several years, made a game. When I had the occasion to go to Sweden to attend a conference for education, I met the guys from Nordic Game Jam. When I met them, I saw what you could do in 48 hours.
[00:07:26] Then I tied that to this experience I had had, [00:07:30] which was this crazy experience. It was a music experience um, someone was in Brussels and they were mixing, and then someone was in Montreal and they were mixing and we were dancing wherever we were in the world, to the same music that people in Montreal were.
[00:07:49] And I'm like, we're connected. We are all in this same energy vibe, you know? And I thought, how could I make that happen [00:08:00] globally? And so you see this event, Nordic Game Jam, and I'm like, you can make games in 48 hours. And so I approached them and I said, what if. We did this together around the world simultaneously, and they laughed at me and I said, okay, you know. I never think small, Shirley I really never think small. I only think enormous. And I just said, well, I think I can do this. One of 'em came [00:08:30] back Gorm and said, this is an interesting idea I'd like to explore. I got home. I talked to my friend Ian. Ian was like, oh, absolutely we could do this. pulled Gorm in. Hey Gorm, let's start a company, our own nonprofit, our own whatever.
[00:08:48] Okay, what are we gonna call it? And we went through a few and we came up with Global Game Jam. And then that was August, 2008, July, August, 2008, [00:09:00] and I went to SIGGRAPGH and I. Just chase people down because SIGGRAPH at the time was one of the biggest places where you would meet artists and other people working in the digital arts and they would come from every continent.
[00:09:16] And I was like, I'm gonna have Global Game Jam on every continent. That was my goal. I chased Africa and at the, in the beginning, you know, how do you know someone at the University of Johannesburg? How do [00:09:30] you like. You have to remember the internet was not brand.
[00:09:37] Shirley McPhaul: No, no. 2009. Those were like, like the, the beginnings of YouTube, the beginnings of, I think Facebook was just a few years old. Um, Instagram hadn't even launched yet.
[00:09:49] Susan Gold: No.
[00:09:49] Shirley McPhaul: In 2009.
[00:09:51] Susan Gold: Exactly. So Skype, I Skyped everybody at the time. That was like the biggest thing. we did IRC chat. we were old school because [00:10:00] we wanted everybody to be able to participate. It didn't matter what, if you had a computer that was as sophisticated as mine in the States, I was just happy that people were signing on from. I don't know where a stand, you know, like it would be like, where are you from? Oh, okay, we'd love to have you. And then I would be like, look at how many, you know, and I would have this, um, Excel sheet of how many countries
[00:10:27] And then we started doing this global map, and [00:10:30] then all of a sudden everybody's 115 countries over several years. And I think the moment, I think the pinnacle of it was. Like we had girls in Afghanistan coding, that to me was the high point. And uh, subsequently, you know, we've had COVID, we've had a whole bunch of things.
[00:10:52] But the one thing about the Global Game Jam is that it's a way to create community where there was none. I [00:11:00] lived and, and grew up in Chicago and we didn't have a really big IGDA presence here. There was no organizational stuff. Everything was coast. You had to be on the coast. And that was how I was thinking, how do I create communities? I know there are other people that want to make games. How do I make it accessible for them at the time? The democratization of software was non-existent. There was [00:11:30] no software. Unity came around and they were still in a garage, and David Helgason, he shared Unity licenses for people for the first Global Game Jam that allowed people to use the first version of Unity. You know, uh, it was like that was how novel and new things were. Making. 3D objects took time was exhausting, you know? Oh. So we didn't have a lot of 3D [00:12:00] games in the beginning. Now we do. Now those tools are available to us and everything is accessible. Before, it used to cost a lot of money. Before you had to have, all these hardware requirements. Now you don't have any of those things. Now you could just jump on your phone and make a game. It's that easy.
[00:12:22] Shirley McPhaul: Pretty much. Yeah. And, and I think that the, the Global Game Jam as a community building [00:12:30] tool, is, is truly effective. I come from Puerto Rico and at some point the Global Game Jam was the only game creation related event that we had on the island for a few years. And the fact that anyone around the world can approach the Global Game Jam and
[00:12:51] be like, Hey, we would love to have a site for the global game gen and participate, that really allows. Pretty much [00:13:00] anyone, anywhere in the world to just jump in and connect with this global community of people who are incredibly passionate about video games, people who are usually in their early career and who might not just. Stay in the industry, but also just create a hit game. And actually there have been plenty of games that start at the Global Game Jam that later become, [00:13:30] uh, publishable.
[00:13:31] Susan Gold: So things like Surgeon Simulator, uh. Even a small mechanic that they start to play with during the Global Game Jam and, and then they're like, oh, this is gonna be the basis of my game. So they're able to build on things that they, created a Global Game Jam.
[00:13:49] Other things that are created a Global Game Jam are relationships. Uh. So many people have found a spouse or a business partner or created a [00:14:00] studio because they didn't even know anyone in town was making games. And then, oh wow, there are other people like me, and then they find someone that just connects with them.
[00:14:12] That's been an amazing experience. Additionally, besides relationships growing in studios, I think it's given people the ability to say that they, they could do it like, oh, I did it. Like it took me a [00:14:30] while for me not to have imposter syndrome. Right. You know, and I think all of us do, but once you do it a few times, you're like: well, maybe I am a game designer. Maybe I can do this for a living. Those are the things that excite me and that come out of Global Game Jam. Not just relationships, but your own confidence. That's something that's really hard to find. Um. You test yourself. It's a challenge. It's not [00:15:00] necessarily going to always be this much fun. 'Cause Global Game Jams are fun, you know? But, um, if this is something that you love and you wanna make it a living, this is a way to taste to see if you, you have, you know, a taste for it, a real taste for it. Like, could you imagine yourself doing this every day for the rest of your life? Some people. Like myself, when I was doing an internship, I found out [00:15:30] how much I hated what I was doing, and I'm like, get me outta here.
[00:15:33] Well, this is a perfect time, you know? Is this what you wanna do for the rest of your life? Is this how you imagine being creative? Is this how you imagine telling stories?
[00:15:44] Shirley McPhaul: Yeah. No, and, and the global game Gem definitely is, is is just a place to. Go out and find your place in the industry. If you're like just early career, if you're [00:16:00] starting like exactly what you want to do, if you want to do narrative design, if you want to do art, if you want to, program is the perfect opportunity to try it out now.
[00:16:10] But the Global Game Jam has transformed right from those early days in 2009, all the way. 17 iterations later, into a global organization. and I'm just wondering, like, how, how has that changed the [00:16:30] Global Game Jam going from, this little, I mean, not little, doing the Global Game Jam was a enormous effort, but going from, you know, we're gonna do this thing to suddenly becoming this.
[00:16:43] Susan Gold: Nonprofit,
[00:16:44] Shirley McPhaul: globally, nonprofit, worldly recognized organization with board members with a CEO, with uh, yeah, like hundreds of volunteers from across the world. Like,
[00:16:57] Susan Gold: so first of all, it was all [00:17:00] volunteer organization for the longest time. And then when we really. We're growing. I said, we need an executive director and we need to be able to pay for them, we need to really start thinking about raising funds and providing opportunities. We had some really amazing board members who brought up really good ideas and initiatives so that the community could participate. We [00:17:30] always had, things like Global Game Jams. Uh, scholarships, opportunities to go to conferences, uh, provide opportunities that people wouldn't have never had before, that kind of thing.
[00:17:42] And when I retired in 2020, the Global Game Jam. continue to evolve, continue to grow. You know, I had to deal with COVID, had to deal with the realities of the world, post COVID, had to raise money during COVID, all of those [00:18:00] crazy things, but. As an organization, it now has amazing executive director.
[00:18:06] It has a really substantial board of people that are giving of their time and all those people, except for like the executive director and then a couple of community people, everybody else is a volunteer. So all of my work for all those years, I was a volunteer. Everybody that comes to the Global Game Jam is doing it [00:18:30] out of the passion for games.
[00:18:32] I have passion for seeing people learn, watching them experiment. You know, you were talking before about how, you know, community development. I've been to countries where. Because of the Global Game Jam, it started studios, which then became an actual part of the government's economy. Similarly, in other countries, they [00:19:00] realize what a cultural resource this is, as well as opportunity for people education wise, but. Just in a way for people to be expressive in their own cultures.
[00:19:15] That's another amazing thing.
[00:19:17] Shirley McPhaul: Is there like an impact report or like an impact, something that has been created of the the Global Game Jam impact across the years?
[00:19:26] Susan Gold: I am not sure what. Is [00:19:30] current. I used to do like a one pager, like how many people participated, how many people were male, female, you know, chose not to answer.
[00:19:41] we would have, we, we would gather demographic stuff. We would ask people, do you wanna participate? And I think. Again, you know, after they did it once, andif time permitted, because that's also another thing, 48 hours is a lot to ask of someone to take out of their life. But if [00:20:00] time permits, I think they say 99% of people would do another Global Game Jam, which I always think says a lot about the event.
[00:20:09] It, it, it's not that, you know, and I think the 1% of people are. Probably that don't like the Global Game Jam. I mean, that's a really small amount. So I think we, we've done a good job and we keep trying to answer and I know that the current board and current executive [00:20:30] director continually try to answer the challenges that are presented.
[00:20:35] Shirley McPhaul: because the Global Game Jam has been going on for so many years. It'd be fascinating to know, how many of the people who are currently in the industry, Or if there is like a percentage or a number that we can be like, Hey, this percentage of the current industry has participated at some point in the Global Game Jam or maybe they were inspired to stay [00:21:00] in the industry because of the Global Game Jam. Because, so here's the thing. I think, and I, and I have to say that I think because of course I don't have like. Data to back it up, but I think that the Global Game Jam is the most important, event in the video games industry when it comes to bringing people into the industry.
[00:21:24] it is also. Probably the, I mean, it's just the most important event [00:21:30] period because it's doing so many things at the same time and it's so impactful. And the thing is that. In a world where everything is numbers and, even my first instinct was like, so is there like a report that we can like point to? but, but no, these are intangible things, right? I don't think that we will a ever be able to truly understand the impact that the Global Game Jam has had in, not just in [00:22:00] the industry. Itself, but also in the creative industries around the world,
[00:22:05] But that brings me to my next, you know, to the next point, which is like you mentioned that you retired. In 2020, but if you retire in 2020, what are we doing here? what is this podcast? What is, why are you and I here? And, and even though I have to underline the fact that for most, most part I'm going to be lurking behind the scenes, a, this is a, a new project for you.
[00:22:29] So [00:22:30] tell us, tell us more about that.
[00:22:32] Susan Gold: Okay. So the GGJ podcast really came about as I was reflecting like. What else can I do? All right. I'm not teaching anymore. I know all of these people in the world that have made such a positive effect on my life, have been, my mentors have really helped me and guided me, [00:23:00] and I thought, well, I should. Try to be that for people. I would like to find a way to mentor in some way, and then I had to take into the fact one of my job descriptions. Well, every job description that I've ever had, Susan does whatever, blah, blah, blah, blah. She knows everybody. And then I'm like, Hmm. I know a lot of people. True. I do know a lot of people. And then if you look at my [00:23:30] LinkedIn, you're like, whoa. She knows a lot of people in the game industry, and I know people in education, and I know people in entertainment, and I know people in. Food, you know? And so like I know people across many different spectrums, right? And then I'm like, well, what if I could bring these people in with their really interesting stories, with their origin stories, with their histories?
[00:23:56] And I could share that with everyone [00:24:00] because one of the things that I encountered, people are like, how did you do that? How did you do that? And I'm like, well, I just did it. I don't know. I just did it. And that was always my answer. I just did it right. And then all of a sudden I'm thought, what if I asked other people, how'd you do that? And they're, it's interesting, but most of them are also, I just did it, you know? But. What I thought I could do is I could [00:24:30] share those stories. I can share the, interesting paths that people take, the pivots we have all in this industry, games in general have had to learn how to pivot, be it learning, a new technology, a new platform, a new style, whatever it is, we have had to learn it always on the run, you know, I have a saying, well, let's build a plane while flying it. Sure. [00:25:00] That's okay. I'm, I'm, I'm a decent pilot, you know, I know I've got the basics right and I'm always full of hot air so I can float. but what if I could bring these stories to people and I could share them and I can say, here's somebody that came from where?, you know, the middle of nowhere and you were in a refugee camp and you taught yourself how to code. [00:25:30] Oh, I think someone needs to hear your story. You know, like I want to share those with you, and I want you to see that even when people have all the confidence in the world and all the experience, they end up unemployed and we always have to learn how to adjust. And that's just the way of this industry, but it's also a way of the world. And what I wanted to share and what I wanted people to see was that. We have [00:26:00] all had to figure out how to jump through hoops of fire. We've had to learn how to build it. while flying it. We've had to reinvent ourselves a million times and look at us. Look at all that we've accomplished, and I wanted people to see that and share that with me. So I invited people from all over the industry to share their oral histories, to tell me a little bit about their lives, their origins, and [00:26:30] additionally, tell me where they screwed up. Tell me where you, you thought, oh my God, I am forever going to be. This, or I'm forever going to be that. But instead you're like, no, I'm gonna take the reins. I'm gonna be in charge. I'm going to be the person that makes those decisions. Well, I wanna know why you decided you could do it, you know? And. So one of my favorite lines [00:27:00] from my interviews is, well, if a mediocre white guy could do it, so could I. And I honestly, I, I, I want that kind of spirit,
[00:27:11] That wisdom and energy to be like. That's what I wanna share with everyone. That's what I want people to hear. I call it chutzpah of it. I call it, you know, the audacity, the resilience. That's what I wanna share, and when I [00:27:30] introduce you to some of these people. You'll know who they are. They're famous, they've been in magazines and covers and people talk about them. They're at GDC, and then people you've never met, people you might never encounter.
[00:27:45] But what I want everyone to see is that I'm gonna start something that moment when someone says, yep. This is me. I'm doing it. I'm moving forward. I have a plan, I have a [00:28:00] vision, and I figure if I show you enough people that created plans and visions where you wouldn't even imagine that they could, you know, I really, I look at their story and I am like, how you got yourself from there to here? I need to share, I need other people to be as motivated, as driven as in love with video games as [00:28:30] the people that we are gonna introduce you are, and that's the exciting part I get to introduce. The Global Game Jam community to people they may not have met, but they may have played their game. Or if they haven't played their game, maybe they wanna play their game now because you met them.
[00:28:48] Shirley McPhaul: is there anyone that you're like, oof, I really want to interview this person, or, oof. I really think that the, the GGJ pod, audience could benefit from listening to this [00:29:00] story.
[00:29:00] Susan Gold: So there was somebody that I really, really wanted and, And I approached them and they said yes. So they're gonna be our last interview,
[00:29:12] Shirley McPhaul: the last of the season.
[00:29:13] Susan Gold: The last of our season. So there are,
[00:29:15] Shirley McPhaul: oh, I'm excited.
[00:29:16] I, I, I just for the record, I have no idea who this person is.
[00:29:22] Susan Gold: So they, I've known them for a very long time.
[00:29:26] so I'm super excited to be able to share that story. [00:29:30] It's an origin story and it's also a resilient story. And at the same time, it's a triumphant story.
[00:29:40] Shirley McPhaul: How do you hope that this, podcast is going to evolve over time? or what is your, your, your vision for, for the podcast?
[00:29:49] Susan Gold: so the podcast is two things. One, it's for the community, but another is for me and my own desire to constantly be learning and. Yeah, [00:30:00] there are people that I have met that I would love to share, but then at the same time, there are people that, you know, their lives are very quiet and having a little peek at that might be really interesting to know that there's a way to make a living in this industry and have a normal life, you know?
[00:30:22] There was a moment before I started talking to you about doing the podcast where I was like, I hate our industry. Look at [00:30:30] how many people are getting. Let go. There's no future. There's no, and I was just so depressed and so angry, you know, like, why is this happening? This is, we're a creative industry and it should just be evolving and growing, not trimming and, and, and cutting sides of creative people. And I just, I was like, I'm mad. I don't wanna have anything to do with games, you know? That was when I was [00:31:00] entertaining. Well, let's do a, a travel podcast. But the truth is the goal Game Jam has been my life.
[00:31:09] it hasn't been everything I've done, but, uh. I do feel like it's everything I've worked towards and the fact that it continues without me is such a blessing and so exciting.
[00:31:28] Shirley McPhaul: And I think that's, that's the [00:31:30] dream, right? That's what you want when you create something. You want it to. Take a life of its own. You, you want it to be able to continue without you so that you can move on to other projects and do other things. But the fact that the Global Game Jam is able to continue is great. Um, I did want to mention though, that the podcast is not just a podcast, it's also a sub, Substack.
[00:31:55] Susan Gold: Oh yeah.
[00:31:56] Shirley McPhaul: That goes with the podcast. So tell [00:32:00] us a little bit about that.
[00:32:02] Susan Gold: I have always been a writer. I enjoy writing. I would write short stories, things like that. And I was talking to one of the people we were interviewing and he's like, you should do a substack.
[00:32:16] And I'm like, what? What, what? And he's like, yeah. He's like, you write, you should do a substack. And so I went on Substack and I was like, there's really good stories here. I really like. [00:32:30] I am not a person who enjoy social media, It's not my thing.
[00:32:34] but a long form essay. I can get into that. I really have some things I wanna say, but I also like takeaways from the, the actual conversations that I've had that I wanna be able to talk about. I wanna be able to bring them into my world and synthesize it and talk about those takeaways.
[00:32:58] Shirley McPhaul: so we're running out of [00:33:00] time, but before we go, I just want to ask, what does the future hold for Susan Gold? what is the future for the the GGJ podcast? What is the future for the Global Game Jam? or at least, what are your thoughts around that?
[00:33:17] Susan Gold: Well. So for GGJI really, I don't have anything to do other than encourage and recommend, but, um, the future of our podcast, I [00:33:30] hope, is one that is constantly evolving, that we grow as we meet new people. Maybe like right now it's all about these oral histories, but maybe we'll find like an idea that we wanna explore a little more and maybe we'll go down that avenue.
[00:33:50] I don't know. I have enjoyed all of the conversations that I've had so far. What I'm finding most intriguing [00:34:00] is like doing the research, creating. Story arcs finding ways for things to flow well for the, the, the conversation. My hope for the future is that I become a little more comfortable in front of the camera talking, fewer filler words, those types of things. But beyond that, my hope is that it becomes the kind of storytelling, [00:34:30] you know, that people wanna share, that people wanna be like, did you hear the story of so and so? How they overcame all the same things that we have, you know, all of the troubles, the maybe lack of government funding,
[00:34:46] maybe in another place, like we had this amazing conversation, if you remember, uh, of, uh, hyperlocal game designer making games for their. [00:35:00] Location, I wanna explore more of that. I wanna see the people that are creating new genres. I wanna explore what's gonna happen next. I started in video games before mobile was a thing, We have moved from PC and platform only mobile to ar vr. What's going to be next? That is what I want to be able to share with people. The people that are coming up with the [00:35:30] ideas of what's next, but also the people that are making games for what's next.
[00:35:35] Shirley McPhaul: Amazing. Well, Susan, I think that's. A wrap. to our audience, thank you so much everyone for joining us. This is the very first episode of the Global Game Jam podcast. stay tuned for more episodes down the line. Also, please. Go ahead and check out Susan Substack.Yeah. Is there anything else you'd like to add, Susan?
[00:35:57] Susan Gold: Well, I just want to encourage [00:36:00] everyone to make games. Don't be afraid to fail and to constantly, constantly say, I'm gonna try. That's all you have to do. That's all the Game Jam is about. Just accepting that you're willing to try.
[00:36:15] Shirley McPhaul: Thank you so much everyone. Have a great day and we'll see you next time.
[00:36:20] Want to get involved with the G GJ podcast, we'd love to hear from you. Please send your ideas, suggestions, and questions to ggj [00:36:30] pod@globalgamejam.org and tell us who you think we should be talking to next. What stories or issues matter most to you about the future of games, and help us highlight the people and practices that make a sustainable, creative life and games possible.
[00:36:45] Thank you for spending time with us on the GGJ Podcast. If this conversation sparked something for you. Please share it with someone who might find it useful, and don't forget to follow along so you never miss new stories from makers around the world. You can find [00:37:00] more episodes, resources, and information about the Global Game Jam@globalgamejam.org.
[00:37:06] Catch us on substack and on YouTube and anywhere else you find podcasts. This has been the GGJ Podcast. Thanks for listening and keep making games.