Pikku Kakkonen Game Jam - Making Games for and with Children

Abstract

In this paper, we are reflecting on the experiences and the design of a game jam event that focused on creating games for kids, as well as involving children as co-creators. Pikku Kakkonen Game Jam was run at Tampere (Finland) in 2018 as a collaboration between Finnish Game Jam organization and Finnish national broadcasting company YLE. The game jam had 27 adult jammers as participants and resulted in 6 games in a weekend long event. Children’s involvement was brought in via an engagement on a TV show Pikku Kakkonen (Tiny Two) asking children’s drawings on game character ideas. In the jam, the adult jammers picked a selection of drawings as a starting point for their games and a small group of children came in to perform voice acting, test the games and to give feedback. In this report, we will share the design of the event and our reflection on the elements critical for a success of any similar events.