what do you all think about a game jam but instead of having 24hrs+ you only get 5 hours? I've been wondering how this would be seen and whether this a good idea, so I came here to see your thoughts

Not long enough.

@Root that's the point, you cut down the time to a very small amount and see what you can make in that time

@hamolicious Call it a rapid prototyping jam and you might get more interest. I could see myself using it as a way to test ideas for one or two mechanics, assuming the rules were reasonable (pre-made assets? types of engines/libraries available? Etc.).

@powerfulparadox wow the premade asset is a great idea!

@hamolicious It'd let people focus on doing interesting things with them, rather than waste time making them. Perhaps even assigning a particular set of assets per jam as a form of creative limitation (beside/replacing the traditional theme, maybe?) would help things along even more. Open Game Art has lots of really good stuff that would work well for something like that. They've also got a lot of game jam art for their own Liberated Pixel Cup (which isn't anything like what you are proposing, but it's CC-BY artwork for the most part, and reasonably high quality).

in the first 2 hours you are meeting your team, getting to know each other and their skills. I find 24 hours way to short already. Wouldn't even be tempted to join a 5 hour one.

@Codex404 have you ever tried doing one alone?

@Codex404 I wouldn't do it as a team activity, more as a "want a place to see how this idea might work?" sort of thing. Quick, single-idea prototypes from pre-made assets. It would be a way to evaluate particular mechanics in isolation, or just do something silly with assigned assets.

But I'm refining someone else's idea, rather than letting them develop it for themselves, so I'm probably taking the idea in a different direction than they would.

@powerfulparadox no to be honest your idea sounds more reasonable, it's frankly better than mine 😂

@hamolicious Well, I looked at your suggestion, said "how would I make this actually doable?" and went from there. I'm decent at helping refine ideas, even if I'm not great at actually carrying them out.

@Codex404 hopefully I didn't come of rude.

@hamolicious yes, in that case you will get just a screen with moving images with zero originality.

A game jam in 5 hours is not a game jam.