end-jam report

From prototyping to playtesting and beyond!

by Karla Zavala Barreda & Adriaan Odendaal
2 July 2025

Session 3 | REFINE

After two high-energy hybrid sessions, we took a break from in-person gatherings and met online for a playtesting session. Session 3 offered a much-needed mid-point breather to shift gears, regroup, and share work-in-progress games with peers from both sides of the globe. The session may have been shorter, but that didn’t mean the teams had it easy! Each group came prepared to test parts of their game and gather feedback, all in service of refining gameplay and evaluating whether their creations meaningfully respond to the game jam’s climate justice theme.

Hosting a hybrid game jam isn’t for the faint of heart. Juggling two venues across different continents is already a challenging new adventure for the organizing team. But part of the magic is found in exactly that: understanding both the affordances and glitches to find ways to turn logistical puzzles into meaningful experiences. The playtest session was all about realizing this element of the game jam by creating an online space where teams from South Africa and the Netherlands could connect, collaborate, and offer each other constructive feedback.

We split participants into breakout rooms to playtest each other’s games, whether digital, analogue, or even LARP. Testing analogue games online? Yes, that can happen as well! Thanks to Dr. Stefan Werning’s tutorial the week prior, teams working on board games were able to explore different ways to simulate their designs digitally and share them with others, a workaround that sparked some real creativity.

Dr. Stefan Werning gives an online tutorial on virtual tabletop simulators

Everything was on the table for testing: core mechanics, narrative structure, climate justice themes, early prototypes. Our guest speaker, Vanessa Catalano gave an insightful presentation on usability testing, reminding teams to focus on specific elements during each playtest. After all, you can’t test everything in a single short session.

Of course, no playtest is complete without its fair share of playtesters! Collaborators, mentors, and friends hopped on the call, join the fun, and tested at least two games each. We are incredibly grateful for their time, feedback, and willingness to approach the games with open minds.

Getting feedback on a game you are still building is not an easy task. There are glitches, gaps, and a creative sandbox full of stumbles and sparks. But that’s at the core of early playtesting: it is an essential and humbling part of game-making. It forces you to see what works, what doesn’t, and what might need a little (or a lot of) rethinking. Sometimes, it even means letting go of a mechanic or narrative element you have grown attached to. Yes, it hurts, but it also takes courage to kill some darlings. There just isn’t time for everything in a one-month jam!

Session 4 | AMPLIFY

When the final session of the game jam came around, we were excited to see the teams’ progress, but also sad that it would be the last time we’d be together on-location and in person.

Before the day’s program kicked off, we welcomed a special guest in Johannesburg: Jessica Glendinning, Policy Officer Culture and Media from the Netherlands embassy in South Africa. She gave a brief talk on the importance of collaboration between South Africa and the Netherlands, and the power of the creative sector in driving international cooperation as well as social transformation. In Joburg, Jessica spent time with each team, learning about their development process and playing the games.

Session 4 (Johannesburg). Jessica Glendinning interacting with participants on-location and online

Session 4 focused on identifying what still needed to be finished for the games, as well as what can be done with the games post-jam. Bella Rogerson from Sea Monster Entertainment gave an inspiring presentation on the place of impact games in the gaming industry as well as other sectors —showing how even major organizations like Greenpeace and the United Nations use games for public engagement and awareness campaigns. With this, we encouraged participants to see their games as a first step—a proof of concept—that could be further developed or explored after the game jam ends. With support from Bella and the mentors, we provided resources on opportunities, festivals, awards, and organizations for those interested in continuing their activist game design journeys. A key goal of the jam is, after all, to inspire participants to view games as more than just entertainment media, and to equip them with the tools—both practical and conceptual—to use their creative, design, and coding skills to make a change in the world. This message was echoed by our final Community Talks speaker during the week, Paolo Pedercini from activist gaming studio Molleindustria. 

Session 4 (Utrecht). Playtesting board games to make sure the mechanics work well

During the last session, teams began working on materials to publish and promote their games, such as cover art and taglines. Towards the end of the day, Kieran Reid from the mentor team gave the teams a briefing on how to approach the final development sprint, proposing to  think of the co-created games as artifacts going out into the world. 

Teams in both locations clearly took the previous week’s feedback to heart, focusing on user experience and playability. Board game teams refined multiplayer mechanics, while those making digital games worked on improving graphics, fixing bugs, designing the UI, and integrating music. In the Netherlands, teams were hard at work continuing to play-test their games and figuring out some final details and adjustments. In Johannesburg, the atmosphere was charged—and a little anxious—as teams pushed to complete their games. Kieran reminded the participants that games are never truly finished and can always be updated or iterated on. 

Session 4 (Utrecht). The Dutch cohort says goodbye to each other with a group photo

The session ended with a nice final day surprise! We gave each participant a secret mission at the start of the day: create a character card for a teammate. This activity included drawing their avatar, assigning them a character type or role, and making up some special powers. During our closing circle, we exchanged the cards in appreciation of one another and as a small keepsake from their time as part of the  Mzansi Climate Justice Game Jam. This gesture highlighted everyone’s strengths and helped them focus on the bigger picture of co-creation and teamwork. In Joburg, it sparked a broader reflection on the work achieved during the jam and what participants learned and how they grew and expanded their perceptions of game-making and climate change. 

Session 4 (Johannesburg). The participants enjoys a last lunch together

With that, we said our goodbyes—just one week left until the final showcase! On 5 July, each team will have 15 minutes to present their game and creative journey. The showcase is open to the public, so if you’d like to join, you can RSVP here.