We all know that game development is a 24/7 job. Creative minds never sleep and this weekend at MIT-Gambit, 30 indie developers gathered together for Immigration Jam, a 2 day development session to produce games based around the hot topic of the moment (according to Glenn Beck).

The inspiration for this meeting of minds was a young man called Yilmaz Kiymaz who, having received his degree in Game Development, has been unable to find permanent work and is now having to go through the joys of the immigration process.

Organized by Boston Game Jams‘ Darren Torpey and Alex Schwartz (Seven45 Studios), the aim of Immigration Jam was to produce games that could – in theory – become part of the ever-expanding Apple stable. Developers, artists and musicians were sorted into teams and the race was on to produce a playable demo by the cut-off time of 5PM on Sunday night.

Game titles included ‘Cultural Exchange’, ‘Immcognitio’, ‘All The Pedestrians are Crossing’, ‘SuperMegaImmigrationOffice 2000’ – which simulated the trials and tribulations of an immigrant trying to get access through legal means – and ‘Smuggle Truck:Operation Immigrant.

Each game was different in concept and design, although Smuggle Truck did have the benefit of being “adopted” by our friend Chris Allen of infrared 5 who applied the Brass Monkey technology to the game to control the passage of immigrants through the iPhone.

Community is very important to Bostinnovation and another event where competition goes hand in hand with co-operation is one of the reasons that the Gaming Industry in Boston will continue to prosper. Despite the defection of 38 Studios and the recent purchase of Conduit Labs by Zynga, there is still a vast amount of talent here in Massachusetts and the lads at GameJam are to be congratulated for hosting such an interesting and topical development session.

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