Game Jams are fun. They are a creative, exciting, social experience. The goal of a Game Jam is to design a video game, either alone or in teams, as fast as humanly possible; usually in a single weekend. Some Jams are also great for making board games or card games! Game Jams can be absolutely massive group events held in conference rooms and computer labs, or can be intimate affairs taking place in a friend's living room. Others are online-only events where people work on games at the same time in their own homes and share the results at a website.

The key ingredient in a Game Jam is time pressure. Whether spanning a 48-hour weekend, an entire week, or just a few hours, the essential attribute shared by all Jams is a limited time-frame. The deadline forces participants to speed-code. To cut corners. To think outside the box, and to whip something up as fast as they can.

Almost all Game Jams focus around a theme. This theme is often a closely guarded secret until the Jam begins, and participants are challenged to come up with a fitting game idea.