Malta Global Game Jam 2024: A Weekend of Jamming, Community, and Creativity through Games!

After a brief hiatus, Malta Global Game Jam returned this year with renewed passion, bringing together 25 talented game developers, artists, designers, and storytellers from all over the island. The excitement in the room was contagious as participants embarked on a 48-hour journey to create games from scratch on the theme of ‘Bubble’.

This year’s Malta GGJ was proudly supported by Gaming Malta, whose commitment to growing the Maltese gaming industry continues to be crucial for games and research.

Telling personal stories through games

A major highlight of our event was our keynote speaker, Rasheed Abueideh from West Bank, Palestine, who shared his experiences in game development. Rasheed’s keynote was inspiring, starting meaningful conversations about creativity and resilience through storytelling in games. Importantly, he talked about his upcoming game Dreams on a Pillow, a game set during the 1948 Nakba.

Throughout the event, the participants were guided by our expert panel featuring Institute of Digital Games’ Professor Antonios Liapis, Maltese game designer Luca Spiteri, and last but not least, Rasheed Abueideh. The mentorship and feedback of the experts supported the jammers in bringing their ideas to life.

Rasheed’s story inspired the jammers, with a clear impact was shown as the winner of the popular vote was a personal story of social anxiety; a twine choose-your-own-adventure game called Sorry to Burst Your Bubble where you try to leave a conversation that just wouldn’t end:

The Malta @globalgamejam.bsky.social hosted at @indigitalgames.bsky.social this weekend went super well! Proud of the games our students made. Here's one: Sorry to Burst Your Bubble, a Twine game about navigating social anxiety while trying to get out of an interminable conversation.

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— Daniel Vella (@danielvella.bsky.social) 27 January 2025 at 17:51

The winner was tied with the more light-hearted the Bubble Siege of Bubbleonia: a game where you choose either to play as a Bubbleonian or a relentless Bubble Corp.

February, a personal story of war is a deep psychological art game that explores the struggles of civilians during war. The story reveals three sisters who are trapped in cold in an occupied city.

Students from this year's cohort made a short fantasy game called Bubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble... "One final bubble rose, firm, filled with the witches power it, wafted through the woods, towards the village..."

Also a board game called Lifecards on Duty! Who experienced some trouble with the website by first-time jammer Vincenzo who took the runner-up in the popular vote.

Malta Joins the Global Movement of a Successful Game Jam!

We are proud to have contributed to this year’s successful Global Game Jam. With 35,371 jammers across 97 countries creating an astonishing 12,098 games, this year’s event marked a 20% increase from last year, as reported by GGJ. The Institute of Digital Games proudly contributed to the international celebration of game design.

What Malta Global Game Jam 2025 Taught Us

This year’s jam wasn’t just about making games—it was about encouraging jammers to push their creativity, experiment with ideas, and not be afraid to learn from their mistakes. We got to see some of the best ideas this year, including games on navigating social anxiety while trying to get out of interminable conversations.

Game development is beyond just a technical skill – it is an evolving and a growing art form, something we teach at the Institute of Digital Games as well. This blend of storytelling, technology, and design to craft experiences that resonate is what makes studying this discipline so important.

As we look ahead, the Malta Global Game Jam community is set to grow stronger, more innovative, and more connected. Excited to see more passion and creativity at the Malta Global Game Jam 2026!