What is a game jam? Think of it like a hackathon, but instead of creating apps, people create online games in a pressure cooker environment. It's high-pressure, but also lots of fun, with healthy competition and collaboration for novice and experienced game developers alike.  

Ludum Dare (#LDJAM) provides a platform for this game jam community to come together and has been hosting game jams on Linode since 2015. Each jam attracts around 7,000-9,000 participants with no signs of slowing down.  

Scaling a website like Ludum Dare isn’t a simple task. In fact, the game jam site was a niche project that Co-Founder Mike Kasprzak found a little tough to get off the ground. He faced cost issues and performance problems – that’s until he decided to go with Linode. 

Mike joins this episode in season three of the Craft of Code podcast to share his story so far. He takes us back in time to 2015, when he first started working with Linode, coming from shared hosting. He explains what Linode helped with the most and how he’s scaled Ludum Dare to become a thriving community with solid support and reliable performance.  

In this episode, we discussed: 

• How Ludum Dare has grown over the years 
• How Ludum Dare maintains a relationship with its community  
• The challenges of starting on a shared host 
• How moving to Linode helped Ludum Dare cut costs and boost performance  
• Top Linode features  
• Overcoming obstacles while scaling 
• What’s next for Ludum Dare? 

You can find out more by visiting https://www.linode.com/craft-of-code/  

Important Links & Mentions  

• Ludum Dare: https://ludumdare.com/ 
• Follow Ludum Dare on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ludumdare  
• Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekasprzak/  
• Finding Gaming Magic and Running with It: https://www.linode.com/content/mike-kasprzak/  

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