Earlier this year Level Her Up received an Inspiring WA STEM Grant to run a collaborative game jam for women in WA. As a brand-new community founded by a team of passionate women in the industry, we were eager to learn more about them and how their event went! Below is what Camille Woodthorpe, Founder of Level Her Up, had to say;
Who are Level Her Up?
Level Her Up is a community of women game developers from Western Australia looking to inspire more women to try out the awesome world of game development.
Our goal is to foster a sense of belonging for women and under-represented individuals in the game development community in WA.
What was your recent Game Jam event all about?
A game jam is an event where participants form teams and collaborate over a short period of time (usually a weekend) to create a small game from scratch. Game jams are a great opportunity to practise your technical, teamwork and management skills and end up with a functional game that you can be proud of, in a short time span. They are also a great opportunity to meet and network with likeminded people in a casual and fun setting.
The Level Her Up - We Can Build It! game jam took place over a full weekend as part of WA Games Week, and followed a theme of “CONNECTION”. The event was open to all women over the age of 18, from any background and level of experience. At the end of the weekend, we held presentations to showcase the games to each other and also special industry guests, and the week following got to showcase these games at the Perth Games Festival!
Who else was involved in the planning and delivery of the event?
We partnered with a number of organisations whose generous support made this event possible – including Inspiring WA, Screen Australia, DDD Perth, She Codes, Female Coders Collective, and our venue sponsor Sentient. The event was part of WA Games Week - the first week of its kind in Western Australia, hosted by a collective of Immerse Australia, Pixel Expo and Let’s Make Games - their promotion and support was pivotal to the success of our event..The event would also not have been possible without our experienced and passionate Mentors, and our dedicated Committee.
What’s next for Level Her Up?
We are in the midst of planning out our next events! We hope to make them even bigger and better in the coming year and allow a greater capacity, so we don’t have to have such a big waitlist of people who missed out! We’re also looking at social events, and more in-depth bootcamps. You can follow us on our social media pages (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X), and join our online Discord community to get to know us, share your projects, and get help and inspiration.
Quotes from game jam participants
“We made a game in a weekend! I didn’t think it would be possible but we went from theme to concept to a functioning game in two days. I learnt so much, challenged myself and would love to do another”
“I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Level Her Up game jam recently, and it was an experience like no other. This two-day event was a crash course in game development, taking us from concept to a playable game in a very short span of time.
The journey was intense and filled with highs and lows, but the rewards were beyond measure. What made this game jam truly exceptional were the mentors who generously shared their expertise, not only in every aspect of game design and development, but also in how to remain calm and moving forward after accidentally deleting your game in the dying hours of day 2…
By the end of it, we all walked away with a game we were genuinely proud of.
Level Her Up’s game jam not only equipped me with valuable skills but also left me with a sense of accomplishment and a network of passionate game developers. I can’t recommend this experience enough to anyone looking to dive headfirst into the world of game development. Thank you, Level Her Up, for making this journey unforgettable.”