What would Molydeux?

Giantbomb's Patrick Klepek reflects on the Molyjam - while I explain exactly what that means.

An illustration by a designer at the Molyjam

Scroll down to the bottom for the Patrick Klepek interview.

If I could go back and change one thing about my first 25 years, it would be to do an IT GCSE, then computer design at A-level and then do a games design course at university - okay that's more than one thing, but you get my point - I would love to design computer games. Designing games is an incredible process; the more I read and write about the companies that do it, the more respect and adoration I have for them.

Triple A titles such as Gears of War, Mass Effect 3 and Assassin's Creed - these games take years of number crunching, redesign and painful iteration to bring you the finished package. The developer teams pour all of their love, sweat and tears (hopefully no blood) into their projects because they are obsessed with their jobs - they genuinely care about making the best game they can. That these finished products are then scrutinized by the media, whiny internet trolls, and mums for being the devil's work is a subject for another post, but keep in mind that the video games popping up on your screen - these don't just happen by accident.

At game jams independent programmers and designers come together to craft a prototype for a completely new game under a time limit (usually around 24 - 48 hours). Although all game jams are different, teams are usually picked at random to give everyone a fresh perspective on the work. The teams then get to work on whatever the chosen theme is, and together they create beautiful, unique game-babies. At the end of the time limit the production stops and the teams demo whatever working prototype they have. The games as art debate splits opinion down the middle - read games journalist Mike Gapper's work on that here - but I feel that these events should be held in high stead just as art exhibitions or sporting events... once again, a subject for another time.

The Molyjam is an interesting example of how strange and unique these gaming events can be. Patrick Klepek, the news writer from popular gaming site Giantbomb, joked on twitter that someone should hold a game jam where the theme is 'Peter Molydeux tweets'. Molydeux is a parody of Peter Molyneux,

the man behind titles such as Fable, Black & white, and Populous. The real Molyneux is famed for making enthusiastic promises about his games - promises that are difficult to keep but are fascinating none the less. The Molydeux spoof account plays on this, tweeting bizarre game ideas that could often pass as the real man's words:

'You are a bear but for some reason your oxygen comes from hugging people. Problem is that hugging people breaks their bones.'

'Game where your arms are controlled by a psychopath who keeps firing guns at innocent people. You must turn away from them and run.'

One more:

'Imagine carrying a radioactive baby in a pitch black environment, your baby would act as a torch. Rocking the baby intensifies the glow etc.'

A few examples of the games seen at the Molyjam

The event turned from a joke into reality. The internet did its thing and word caught on; before he knew it Patrick was arranging the 'What Would Molydeux Game Jam' in San Fransisco, a game jam where people made games based on the tweets of Peter Molydeux. The Molyjam blew up internationally, heading to the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Europe. The event grew so quickly in popularity that the real Peter Molyneux offered his support and turned up to the event in London. He gave a talk on game design and the importance of such events for the future of the industry.

I could carry on forever about the different highlights, and list the games individually, or you could play all the games that came from Molyjam and read more about it just by clicking here (click on games at the top to see the list).

The man behind the jam, Patrick Klepek, was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the event - read 'em below:

So, it's been a while now, have you had time to sit back and reflect on the event? and on that reflection how do you feel about it?

I'll always cherish the access to the creative process, and watching so many developers work through the 48-hour process. The media doesn't pay much attention to game jams because they're difficult to contextualize, and many of them don't amount to more than funny experiments, but the Molyjam was different, special. I'm always looking for new ways to help expose the creative process to players, and this proved a perfect avenue to do so.

Had you always had it in the back of your mind to do a gamejam or was this a spontaneous thing? Had you previously had anything to do with gamejams before? If so what experience/if not how much did you know about them?

If you'd asked me the night before that I'd be co-organizing a game jam, I'd have called you crazy. It was an accident, but a wonderful one. Game jams have been going on for years, but I only recently started paying close attention to them. If you're interested in watching more of them unfold, Ludum Dare is pretty regular and always interesting.

You've had a while to play some of the games now, any particular favorites? 

Secret Dad has my favorite story behind it, a husband and wife couple who lost their programmers but downloaded some software and somehow made a game anyway. Truly amazing.

Do you have any plans for a Molyjam next year?

Yeah, but it's way too early to know what will change--we're still reflecting on this year.

I saw that you got a positive response from the real man -

There's an interview with Molyneux up on Giant Bomb, and he took the whole thing in stride. Good on him. It would have been easy to imagine a scenario where he took offense and backed off.

It all blew up pretty fast, did you expect it to get to an international level? 

Nah, this was meant to be something for San Francisco. Thanks to Twitter, we weren't able to contain it.

Did you feel like you were part of something big? How did you feel when watching these guys create their games? How did they feel(or appear to at least)?

This was something special, and if there are any takeaways towards a larger trend, it's that game development is not exclusively for those with the ability to program anymore. Yes, that helps, and anyone without the ability to program will always be limited in some respects, but game development software has come a long, long way, and if you have an idea, there are tools to help you make it happen.

Patrick is a sensible young man

Patrick can be heard, and read over at www.giantbomb.com - download the podcast on iTunes - it's amazing.

You can play all the games that came from Molyjam and read more about it just by clicking here.