Hidden Heroes Jam: Resources

No prior experience is necessary! There are plenty of easy-to-use game-creation tools to choose from and you can create any type of game you like, digital or otherwise—a board game, a card game, even a tabletop roleplaying game.

You also don’t have to jam alone. Hidden Heroes is designed to encourage intergenerational collaboration. If you have a relative or friend who’s into games, ask them to join your team! We also encourage you to join our Discord server to meet other jammers and collaborate.

There are lots of different easy-to-use tools that you can use to make a game. Here are a few to consider, special thanks to the Global Game Jam community:

• Scratch (no coding required, great for beginners and kids)
• PICO-8 (simple, great for small jams, code examples)
• GameMaker (great for beginners + marketplace)
• Stencyl (no coding required)
• Twine (text-based games)
• Inkle Writer (text-based games)
• RPG Maker VX Ace Lite (no coding required, 2D, does more than just RPGs)
• Roblox
• Minecraft

Even more tools are at the bottom of this page!

Participants are encouraged to interview their hidden hero and record the footage, or audio, of them doing so. Previous projects have shown that players respond strongly to games with authentic voice and video, so maybe you can use those elements in your game? Alternatively, participants are welcome to bring the person that inspires them along (in person or remotely) to collaborate on the project.

Here are three questions that could help guide this conversation:

• If your life were to be a short film or game, what would it be like?
• If you could pass on some of your wisdom to future generations in a time capsule, what would it be?
• What would you say is the most important lesson you ever learned, and how did you come to learn it?

Here are tips and guides for interviewing someone about their story.

Basics:

• The Smithsonian Institution Archives – Oral History at Home  (video)
• StoryCorps – Tips for a great conversation

In-depth guides:

• The Smithsonian Institution Archives – How to Do Oral History
• The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage – The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide
• Modern Heirloom Books – 4 ideas for family interviews
• UCLA Library – Center for Oral History Research – Interviewing Family Members
• Family History Fanatics – AWESOME TIPS for Interviewing Family Members  (video)
• Genealogy TV – 12 Tips for Interviewing Family  (video)