From Cultural Game Jams to Applied Jam Models: A Longitudinal Evaluation

Abstract

This study examines four editions of the EPIC-WE Cultural Game Jams (ECGJ) organised in Óbidos, Portugal (January 2024 - May 2025), within the context of the Horizon Europe EPIC-WE project. Building upon previous studies presented at ECGBL24 and ECGBL25 (Almeida & Luz, 2024; 2025) that introduced the ECGJs and their operationalisation through the Applied Jam Model (AJM), previously designated the Applied Cultural Jam Model (ACJM), the present work analyses four consecutive implementations to evaluate and consolidate the model through longitudinal analysis. Across the four ECGJ, 146 participants, including 95 students from Lusófona University and 51 secondary school students from the Josefa d’Óbidos School, developed 40 digital game prototypes inspired by different cultural heritage themes. The design of these events was grounded in the state of the art on cultural game jams (Costa et al., 2024), informed by the Applied Jam Framework (Reid et al., 2020) together with the structured preparation practices proposed for serious game jams (Aibara et al., 2020). Through successive iterations, these principles were refined to shape preparation phases, facilitator roles and post-jam opportunities, establishing applied game jams as collaborative environments for experiential learning through game creation and extending projects beyond the game jam itself. Using a mixed-methods approach combining surveys, observational documentation, and analysis of the prototypes, the study assesses the cumulative outcomes of the four events. The results highlight how the structured practices consolidated in the AJM support collaborative design and interdisciplinary project development by integrating learning activities before, during, and after the game jam, linking preparatory activities, collaborative game creation supported by facilitators and post-jam mentoring for selected teams within a professional production context. Overall, the findings consolidate the AJM as a structured framework for applied game jams and provide the first longitudinal evaluation of the model across four consecutive implementations, while identifying key structural design principles for applied game jams in educational and collaborative contexts.