The Organising @ Work Game “Jam”

We’re happy to announce that we’ve joined forces with Notes from Below to organise a game “jam” on itch.io! Why quote jam unquote? Considering the work we’ve been doing, we don’t want to encourage exploitative working practices so we’re organising a 4-week long game jam, starting 18th May 2019.

The theme: “organising at work.” We want entries that take a creative angle on what “organising at work” means today. This could be about trade unions, building networks, or talking to colleagues at work. Whether you’ve been following the story of game workers unionising or this is all brand new to you, we would love to see your contributions!

Submissions can be prototypes, working versions, ideas for a game, drafts and sketches, or other forms. What we are interested in is thinking about how short games can help inform or motivate organising at work. Although we’re hosting the jam on itch.io, we are accepting submissions through other methods. Please contact us to find out more.

The jam will finish on 17th June 2019, though this timetable is a suggestion. We don’t want a deadline to stop you from submitting your work so do contact us if you have something to contribute once this date has passed.

You can pre-register interest on this sign-up form and join the GWU discord channel. We encourage participants to support each other and share ideas and skills. We’ll also be using our community page to help support the jam outside of our discord channel.

We will host a launch event for the jam in London on Saturday 18th May, with the Marx at the Arcade Book launch. Come along and learn more about the unionisation effort from passionate game workers. There will also be a celebration event at the end of the “jam” (details TBC – follow us on Twitter as well as on this website of ours for updates as well as following the hashtag #WorkersGameJam ).

We aim to compile entries into a special issue of Notes from Below, along with accompanying pieces and interviews. Do get in touch if you want to contribute as well!