About Us
Jam Session is a team at the CMU Entertainment Technology Center focused on exploring rhythm games. By creating a set of innovative and engaging prototypes for a variety of platforms, we aim to push the boundaries of rhythm game design to create innovative and engaging rhythm-based experiences. We will be documenting the iterative design process as well as our playtesting feedback in order to gain a greater understanding of rhythm games.
How we got our start
The inspiration for the project came from a game this team made last December for the ETC’s Building Virtual Worlds class. This game, called Beat’Em, featured rhythmic elements in a 360° space, and proved to be very engaging and popular. It was selected as a finalist for the 2018 ETC Festival.
In the process of researching for this game, the team found that it was difficult to find a cohesive/complete source of information about all aspects of rhythm game design. Because of this, we decided to come together in spring 2019 and pitch the idea of exploring rhythm game design to the faculty.
We hope that the prototypes that we create and the documentation that we will compile will not only be an exploration of the possibilities within the rhythm game genre, but also be a useful resource for other creators interested in developing their own rhythm games