Game jams are exciting, but once you have more than one or two people on a team, things can become chaotic quickly.
Tasks get forgotten, people work on different priorities, and the game can end up with lots of half-finished features instead of one small, playable experience.
The tool you use matters less than having a simple workflow everyone actually follows. Jira, Trello, Notion, or even a shared document can work. The important thing is keeping the team aligned.
When we used Jira last time, we ended up throwing that out and went to a Notepad instead which we would just past in Discord after our daily sync xD
Before you start
Start with a backlog of ideas and tasks, then divide them into:
- Must have
- Nice to have
- Only if there is time
For each task, decide:
- Who owns it
- What “finished” means
- Whether anything depends on it
- Roughly how long it should take
Try to define the smallest playable version of your game before you begin. For example:
- One playable level
- One core mechanic
- One enemy or obstacle
- One basic progression loop
- A start screen and an end state
Everything else is optional until that foundation works.
Use a simple board
A basic workflow is usually enough:
Backlog → Ready → In progress → Review → Done
Avoid having everyone work on too many tasks at once. A smaller number of completed tasks is more valuable than a large number of unfinished ones. With this it also is more clear who is working on what and makes collaboration a lot easier.
During the jam
Have a short check-in each day. Everyone can answer:
- What did I finish?
- What am I working on next?
- Am I blocked?
Keep the board up to date so it reflects what is actually happening. If someone is blocked, make it visible quickly. One blocked task can sometimes hold up several other people.
Also, agree on a feature freeze before the deadline (set this up beforehand and stick to it, it's hard but a small polished jam game is better then a feature packed unpolished monster :D). After that point, focus on:
- Fixing crashes
- Improving controls
- Testing the exported build
- Adding polish and feedback
- Preparing screenshots and the submission page
Adding a large untested feature during the final hours is usually risky (but also very game jam typical *guilty*).
After the jam
Take 15 minutes for a quick retrospective:
- What worked well?
- What caused delays?
- Which tasks were underestimated?
- What should we do differently next time?
- What should we keep?
A short retrospective can make the next jam much smoother, even if you don't jam with the same people next time.
A tool I have been building
I have been working on FrostFire, a project-management workspace made for small game teams.
It includes:
- Task assignment and tracking
- Sprint planning
- Meeting notes
- Retrospectives
- Releases
- Team progress and rewards
I originally built it for my own team, and three other teams are now testing it. I’m looking for a few more teams to try it during the upcoming game jam and give me honest feedback.
If your team has more than two people, send me a message and I’ll upgrade your board to support the full team size for free. I can also help set it up around your workflow.
There’s no obligation to keep using it. I’m mainly interested in seeing how real game-jam teams use it and learning what is useful, confusing, or still missing.
You can take a look here:
Good luck with the jam!