On August 13, Mouse had the exciting opportunity to host a game-making table at the school year's first Hive Game Jam! The event was hosted at Global Kids headquarters and featured activities and youth from Mouse and other Hive NYC organizations! This was the first of six Game Jams that Mouse will be a part of over the course of the year.

At Mouse's station, attendees created two different levels for a platform-jumping style game (like Mario or Sonic) using Gamestar Mechanic. The first step was to prototype your game levels by drawing them on a paper template:

Once you planned out your designs, you got to put them into Gamestar Mechanic to test them out. Everyone worked together to improve their games and make sure they had the right balance of fun and challenge. Participants made some amazing games at the Mouse table and the best part is YOU can try them out! You'll need a Gamestar Mechanic account, but its free to sign up. Check out the games here:

Ryan’s Game
Mikael’s Game
Hard Challenge
Alyssa’s Game
Jordy’s Game
Vanessa’s Game
KT Game
Fast Bad Guys Grace
Untitled Game

Throughout the afternoon, the 35 Game Jam participants got to do lots of cool, hands-on stuff. As a group, everyone hacked Tic-Tac-Toe to make their own versions. Then they got to spend time at different activity stations where they learned about other aspects of gaming, including:

• using Scratch to hack the classic video game Pong with the Museum of the Moving Image,
• making wearable game controllers with Eyebeam,
• and using Gamestar Mechanic to create games based on a story with Global Kids.

Missed this Game Jam? Don't worry! Mouse will be participating in five more this year.

Stay tuned to the Wire for more information about upcoming Game Jams throughout the year. See you at the next one!