Game Jams: Explained
Seen us talking about Game Jams? Want to know what's so great about them? Just keep reading to find out more!
Here at The Code Zone we love to give our members a chance to shine during the holidays and half terms, and we achieve this by having Game Jams during these times! But, I hear you ask, what actually is a Game Jam? Well dear reader, let me take you on a journey of discovery!
Build a game based on a theme
The first thing that happens with a Game Jam is the theme! (You might have already seen that our most recent theme just got announced: “Losing is Good”) Once we deliver the theme to our members we then give them a few weeks to make a game or animation that best fits it!
This can be through a blank project OR through one of our specially crafted base games, allowing everyone of any coding level to take part!
Supported by our Mentors
As with anything we do, our mentors are always around during the week to provide help and assistance with any ideas you may have, so don’t hesitate to drop us a message if you can’t quite get that mechanic quite right, or a pesky bug has plagued your game! We’re always happy to help.
Play games created by other members
Once the Jam is over, and all the games have been checked over to ensure they have a nice fun thumbnail, you can head on over to your Game Jam tab on your dashboard to play all the games everyone has made and shared, and even give bonus XP to your favourites!
“But how do I take part?” That is an EXCELLENT question, to take part all you need to do is be signed up to any of our memberships, where not only can you do some excellent work in our game jams, you’ll have the support of our STEM certified mentors!
We're running two Game Jams in August which means it's the perfect time to join The Code Zone and join in on the fun. Sign up now for a free taster session to see what cool games you can create!
About The Code Zone
The Code Zone teaches children aged 6 to 16 to code by building their own games. Outside the UK that is the Game Dev Academy: self-paced, so a child works at whatever hour suits them in any time zone, with a background-checked, STEM-certified mentor answering by text and video message.
It started in Britain, where in 2026 it was the highest-placed coding club in Club Hub UK's Top 100 Children's Activity Providers, and in 2025 received the Autism Inclusion Award from the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading autism charity. More than a third of members are autistic or have ADHD, based on what parents tell us when they join.
More like this
The blog is in two halves. Guides are the evergreen explainers written by the mentors who teach the clubs, covering the questions parents actually ask: what comes after Scratch, how to support a coding-mad child when you cannot code yourself, and what works for autistic and ADHD children.
Club news is the other half, and it is where posts like this one live: game jams, Minecraft builds and weekly roundups, written up by whoever ran the session. Neither is marketing. If you want to know what the work actually looks like before you sign up to anything, club news is the more honest read of the two.
Creating an account is free and we do not ask for card details. Create a free account, see what it costs, or read about support for neurodivergent children.
