Learning, Creativity and Community: A Longitudinal Study of the A&B Game Jam
TL;DR
Analysis of the evolution of the A&B Game Jam shows how the initiative evolved from a fully in-person event to online and hybrid formats during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and later, consolidated as a hybrid event to improved accessibility and participant retention.
Abstract
Game jams have increasingly attracted academic and professional interest due to their ability to combine creativity, technical development, and collaborative problem-solving within highly constrained environments. This paper adopts a longitudinal comparative perspective to analyze the evolution of the A&B Game Jam, an community engagement initiative organized by the Computer Science Tutorial Education Program (PETComp) at the West Paraná State University (UNIOESTE) between 2019 and 2025. The study examines organizational transformations, dissemination strategies, participant engagement, and educational and social impacts across nine editions of the event. The analysis demonstrates how the initiative evolved from a fully in-person event to online and hybrid formats during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and later, consolidated as a hybrid event to improved accessibility and participant retention. The results indicate a predominance of young participants, a strong presence of members from the external community, and the effectiveness of institutional dissemination and organic spread promotion strategies. Furthermore, the initiative contributed to the development of technical and interpersonal skills, including programming, design, communication, teamwork, and agile project management. These findings reinforce the relevance of game jams as sustainable educational and engagement activities capable of strengthening university-community relationships, fostering collaborative learning, and promoting regional technological innovation.