Contrary to popular opinion, there is a lot more to video games than just playing them. In fact, according to statistics, video gaming is a 135 billion dollar global industry. The industry isn’t just made up of players, it also involves multiple roles such as game designers, musicians, artists, testers, reviewers, marketers, investors, promoters, psychologists, merchandisers, and many more. 

At CIS, the Digital Literacy team realised that the majority of secondary students are very interested in gaming so we started hosting regular game jam sessions to expose them to the different aspects of gaming and encourage them to adopt healthy gaming habits at the same time. Every Wednesday, secondary students are invited to attend these sessions to learn one aspect of gaming, play school-appropriate video games and connect with other like-minded individuals.   

Since introducing these sessions, students have explored game-related topics such as reviews, pricing, rating, design, history and music. Local game design company Mighty Bear Games has also popped by to introduce “Unity” - a powerful software that the best designers use to develop games. 

The Digital Literacy team aims to inspire secondary students to adopt healthy gaming habits and find balance through these 30-minute sessions.