OrcaJam is a local Game-Jam event along the lines of the Global Game Jam or TIGJams.

It's an event where a bunch of like-minded people get together and work on what they love - making games - for 48 hours. What's more fun than getting together and doing what you love, with people that love you?

Programmers! Artists! Audio Engineers! Board game designers! Anyone interested in game development at all should come; team up with your newfound friends and make something amazing!

Many from the local crowd are experienced developers, and will be working on their own projects or within their own teams for this event. But not everyone! You can team up with others, maybe learn a new skill, and jump on board with anyone that'll have you.

Be sure to show up at the pre-event mixer to brainstorm ideas and team up with people that can show you the ropes!

OrcaJam is being held from Friday, August 24th (6pm) for 48 straight hours, until Sunday August 26th (6pm). Those are when we will be at the venue, working on games.

Before the event (from approximately 2pm-6pm on Friday, August 24th) there will be an open-bar and free food at a local brewpub. This is a mixer event with brainstorming and meeting everyone!

After the event, from 6PM Sunday until around 11PM, we'll be relaxing, having drinks, and telling stories!

Note that this event happens the weekend before PAX Prime, and is only a few hours away. Maybe you can make it your travel plan to visit both venues?

Held in Victoria, BC, on the West Coast of Canada; Victoria is the Capital of British Columbia, and is a beautiful, sunny, garden town that is based primarily in tourism.

We've secured a set of 3 conference rooms at The Traveller's Inn, which many of you may remember as the site of the original OrcaJam. 1961 Douglas Street, to be precise.

There's lots of stuff to do here - tons of brewpubs, clubs, whale Orca watching tours, garden tours, historical districts, etc.! There's something for everyone! The city is pretty small though, so it's kinda like Vancouver or Seattle, but 10% of the size. For more info, there's always Wikipedia's entry on our fair city. NOTE: We are on an island. Indie Island.

We are asking for $20 (cdn) per person to attend the event. This price includes:

• Food and drink at a mixer party!
• Food and beverages on-site (details soon)
• A Commemorative TShirt (if you sign up before August 1st)
• A shot at winning a copy of Adobe's CS6 Master Collection!
• Door prizes!
• Full 48-hour access to the venue

Buy your ticket at OrcaJam's official Meetup.com page! Seating is limited to 80 people, so please sign up quickly!

This event is being held in hotel conference room, and their rules state we can't bring our own catering in. You can bring some snacks for yourself, but if a big group wanders back with a big pile of McDonald's wrappers the hotel gets all in a huff.

To compensate for this, we'll be providing food! Details soon.

We are in a set of 3 hotel conference rooms. Though the hotel has wifi, with all of our computers in attendance we will probably break it. Please make sure you have all the files you need before you come down.

We encourage you to bring your own laptops as desktops are big and bulky and makes the tables crowded. But if you must, you must.

We'll be bringing some extension cords and power bars, but if you can bring your own down it'll help us out. We don't have an infinite supply :3

At the end of the event, we will be setting up a projector and letting anyone show off their projects to the sleep deprived crowd! (Bring your own VGA cable if you don't have DVI)

Historically for these dates, Victoria has temperatures ranging from 10°C (50°F) at night to 22°C (71°F) during the day. It's downright pleasant. Rain isn't expected but is always a possibility. There will definitely not be snow, and us Canadians will be wearing shorts and t-shirts regardless.

The hotel we are jamming in is offering a discounted rate ($90/night) for anyone who wishes to partake. If this doesn't work for you, Victoria is a big tourism town with a few hostels and dozens of other hotels nearby.

The jam hotel is the Travellers Inn "City Center". To ensure you get the good rate, call them at (250) 953-1000 and mention you are attending OrcaJam. Be sure you reference "City Center" at 1961 Douglas Street! We have a dozen Travellers Inns in Victoria.

Remember: it's uncomfortable for the people around you if you sleep at the venue. Please, get a room or head back home once it's time to rest your head!

From abroad

Victoria has an International Airport [CYYJ]. It's a bit far away from the event space (25 minute drive or so, depending on traffic), and taxis will cost you approximately $55.

There is a shuttle bus operated by Akal that charges around $19 per person (less for groups) that will take you right to OrcaJam.

There is city bus service to the airport at a rate of only $2.50, but you will have to transfer once to make it to OrcaJam.

From Vancouver

BC Ferries runs several trips per day, every day, from Vancouver to Victoria. Cost is around $14 per person, and $50 per vehicle. The trip takes about 1.5 hours.

If you don't have a vehicle, you can buy an inter-city bus ticket from Pacific Coach Lines. They have a terminal downtown Vancouver (near Science World), and the ticket price will include the ferry and take you right past the venue in Victoria for $42. Easy!

If you can make your own way to the ferry, there is a city bus that can pick you up on the Victoria side and will take you downtown, for $2.50. A taxi from the same location would likely cost more than $70.

If you are Mister Fancypants and want to fly in, Helijet offers downtown-to-downtown service for $199. It's a pretty sweet ride, I'd recommend it if you have the cash to burn! There's also floatplanes that go downtown-to-downtown for $145.

From Washington State

The Victoria Clipper is a passenger-only ferry that can take you direct from downtown Seattle to downtown Victoria for just $100 (round-trip). It's fast (around 3 hours). From the Victoria side, it's only a 20 minute walk to the event location. Reservations are recommended, as it's cheaper that way.

From western Washington, the Coho Ferry leaves Port Angeles and will also take you to downtown Victoria. It carries vehicle and foot traffic (~$50/car, $12/person).

North of Seattle, there is a ferry leaving Anacortes for $16 (plus $55 for vehicles). This one arrives north of Victoria, near the airport and BC Ferries terminals.

American fancypantses can take a floatplane from Seattle to downtown Victoria for about $150 (round trip).

OrcaJam is organized by the LEVEL UP! organization, a collection of local game developers that are looking to promote the Victoria (and Pacific NorthWest area) game development scene. The organization is led by Andy Moore, and receives incredible support and organization from Chris Tihor, Fieran Mason and the IEEE Student Branch.

Any questions should be directed at Andy Moore via email.

SIGN UP NOW!