Pump up the game jam or Blokejd

A team of students organized the first Blokejd game jam on February 8, 2025, in Novi Sad. As Philomena Cunk would say, 36 years after the unrelated Belgium techno-pop anthem Pump Up the Jam. Or not so unrelated? 🤔

You can try most of the games created at Blokejd on their itch.io page. Among the teams, there were also those whose members met for the first time at this event. First place went to Chesseption by team Ćaci, which consists of Filip Antonijević, Marko Petrović, Mateja Stojanović and Marko Moljković from the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Belgrade.

On the occasion of this great initiative, we decided to talk to the team that organized the event, as well as to the participants.

SGA: How did you come up with the idea to organize the Blokejd Game Jam?

Adrijana Đorić (FTN), Blokejd team: After about two months of blockade, we felt the need to contribute in our own way, if I may say so. It occurred to me that with extra time, we could use a game jam, a “students for students” thing. Soon, when I got in touch with colleagues from the Metropolitan and the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, that idea became a reality. It remained only up to us to realize it. 😀

SGA: Why do you think it was important for it to happen?

Aleksa Milošević (MET), Blokejd team: I believe that most of us were tired of running around plenums, meetings and protests, as well as of daily monitoring of the current situation in which we find ourselves. Blokejd came to us as a small break from everything and as a good opportunity to gather colleagues with whom we share interests. Organizing an event like this from scratch was not an easy job at all, but it was worth it to get a weekend during which we could sit down and socialize. I am very satisfied with the games that our colleagues were able to make in just 30 hours, and above all, with the fact that this experience was as much fun for them as it was for us. I was especially glad that some of us gathered at the protests in Kragujevac and Niš! 🙂 Apart from socializing and good games, we got some new friendships out of this.

SGA: How many participants were there, and how many games were completed in the end? Which games would you highlight?

Aleksa Manja (AUNS), Blokejd team: As many as 41 students participated in Blokejd, i.e. 10 teams, all of whom had a functional game at the end. There were a variety of games, from 2D and 3D platformers, to strategy, narrative and puzzle games, as well as mobile games.

One of the games caught my attention, Informed by Trik team, because it gives a particular critique of journalism in our society, dealing with the morality of journalists.

Also, I was especially interested in the game from the Cigla team, in which the astronaut has to find out the password for his rocket through the environment and dialogues with NPCs, who mislead him.

The last game that really interested me is the Tihi glasnik of the Kost team, which has a great hook, where the player finds and changes letters in the environment to change the objects in the scene and thus pass the level.

SGA: What was the game jam like?

Vidan Tomić (AUNS), Blokejd / Trick team: Blokejd was open to all students. Everything happened in a large gallery in the SKC in Novi Sad. We made a “corner set” or Chill Zone out of mattresses, where students could take a power nap during the Blokejd. Thanks to donations from IT Blokada, the participants also had three hot meals. The first three teams had the opportunity to win symbolic prizes, Blokejd badges made for us by @bedz.shop, bracelets made by students in the blockade of the Metropolitan University ❤️ and 3D printed whistles with our logo, made for us by a colleague from Faculty of Technical Sciences.

Nađa Stefanović (FTN), Pobuna igre team: In my opinion, the game jam was very pleasant and friendly, we all helped each other regardless of whether we were on the same team or whether we knew each other before or not. We took breaks when it suited us and there would always be someone new to meet, talk to, or have fun in some other way: playing volleyball with a stuffed toy at 7 AM and learning to throw cards. As someone who didn’t know anyone before this, I was really glad to meet so many new, smart and creative people with similar interests and to stay in touch with some of them.

SGA: Who were the jury members and mentors? What are the most useful tips and comments you received from them?

Aleksa Milošević (MET), Blokejd team: The members of the jury were our university professors, who gave us great support during the blockades. They are Petar Stamenković, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Digital Arts at the Metropolitan University; Ivica Milarić, Assistant Professor in the Video Game Design department at the Academy of Arts at the University of Novi Sad; and Bojan Banjanin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Graphic Engineering and Design at Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad.

The mentors were Lazar Ristić from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences and Boris Jančić, who both engage in game development in their free time, and Dejan Poljvaš, an Art Director with over 10 years of experience in the gaming industry. They were of great help to us in the organization and in the formation of criteria for evaluating games.

Nemanja Jovičin (FTN UNS), team Kost: The professors drew our attention to the fact that we should invest more in game mechanics. That would be more enjoyable to the player and also recycle the content. For example, if the game was a classic platformer and not point & click, the whole experience would be more fun and last longer for most people. At the same time, it would reduce the work of artists.

SGA: The winning game is not on your itch.io page because the authors have other plans for it. Can you tell us more?

Tim Ćaci (MATF UB): Because of the great comments, we realized that people like our game. Although the performance was appropriate for a Blokejd game jam, we believe the idea has great potential. That’s why we decided to continue working on it. We won’t release the game until we get it to a level we feel is worthy of our vision. The plan for the future is to complete the mobile application, as part of which we would enable a matchmaking and ranking system, as well as the possibility of playing the game with two to four players. You can follow the development of the game on our Instagram profile, @rgbl_production.

SGA: What are the conclusions after the game jam? What have you learned, what do you still need to learn?

Lazar Ristić (FON UB), Blokejd team: Among the participants were students from various universities and we noticed a common problem – pitching. Most of us did not have the opportunity to deal with it at our universities, and we think it is of great importance. Therefore, we decided that our next step will be to organize a lecture on pitching, in cooperation with a company.

We definitely understood the need for such events and who our audience is, and we also gained valuable experience for future organizations. As for our colleagues, this was a great opportunity for us to learn something new from each other.

SGA: What are your plans for the future?

Adrijana Đorić (FTN UNS) Blokejd team: We definitely plan to continue and build the community. In addition to game jams, we would like to organize more relaxed events, get-togethers, workshops… Of course, when we have more time, given that we are all currently focused on a months-long fight. We plan opportunities for students as well as all young enthusiasts. We want to breathe life into a community where we will help each other, provide opportunities and step into the gaming industry together!

SGA: Thank you very much for this conversation! Keep pumping!

Blokejd team: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity for us and our colleagues! Pumpaj!

And here are the games created at game jam:

1. 3AM Youtuber Simulator: One viral hit can make you… or cancel you! Team Radonemir: Sara (AUNS), Čarli (MET) i Saša (VTŠ UNS).
2. Joker: Use your magic tricks to control the crowd of cards and dethrone kings and queens! Team Pobuna igre: Uroš (FTN), Nađa (FTN) i Bogdan (MET)
3. Informed: Deceive the people or let them know the truth. It is in your hands! Team Trik: Vidan (AUNS), Jelena (AUNS) i Nemanja (FTN)
4. Deception Wizards: Race and outsmart your opponent or fall into their traps, the path ahead is never certain! Team Game Against the Machine: Mark (ETF), Milica (ETF), Nađa (MET), Lena (MET) i Nikola (FDU)
5. Jacob’s Corporate Ladder: The path to Jacob’s success is filled with countless obstacles that will test your skill, strategy and perseverance. Team Artemi: Gavrilo (RAF), Todor sa AUNS, Vukan sa FON-a UB i Andrej sa MATF-a
6. KrozNjegoveOci: Grandpa is just trying to get to the Linda store, but the students are blocking his way. What will he do? Team Angels: Jelena (UUB), Katarina (FLUB), Ognjen (FTN), Vuk (FTN) i Nina (MET)
7. Truth Seeker: In this world, you can hardly trust anyone. Team Cigla: Stefan, Ognjen i Borislav (FTN)
8. Chesseption: In this strategy game, each player controls one chess piece and races towards the diamond. But be careful – drawing a figure determines how you can move… or at least how others think you should! Team Ćaci: Filip, Marko, Matejai Marko (MATF UB)
9. Tihi glasnik: In a world where words shape reality, a mysterious courier must change his surroundings using the letters he finds, and in doing so create a new future. Team Kost: Nemanja (FTN UNS), Dever (FTN UNS), Cone (ICT) i Petar (RAF)