JamBytes 2025: Building Skills and Community Through Game Development

This past summer, Grade 12 student Vishnu Vignesh and his team brought together local youth for JamBytes 2025, a two-part game jam designed to spark creativity and collaboration in coding.

The junior event, hosted in-person at the Kitchener Public Library, featured Scratch and Pygame workshops, hands-on project time, and 3D-printed award plaques for the top participants. The senior event ran online over 48 hours, with projects judged using a rubric and prizes awarded to the top five entries.

Thanks to the support of the Youth Creativity Fund, Vishnu Vignesh and his team were able to secure a venue, provide prizes and certificates, and make the event accessible to youth in the community.

Along the way, he strengthened his project management, event coordination, and communication skills — all key skills for his future career goals in computer science and cybersecurity.

Reflecting on the experience, Vishnu Vignesh is most proud of leading a community event that gave youth a chance to learn, create, and showcase their skills.

He hopes to keep JamBytes growing, using the remaining funds to maintain the website and database for future participants.

“I have personally learned project management, event coordination, and expanded my customer service and networking skills. Along with it, my presentation, audience engagement, and overall communication skills have drastically improved.” – Vishnu Vignesh.

You can learn more about JamBytes at jambytes.ca