We have a local hackerspace that regularly holds gamedev meetings and once or twice a year holds a weekend long Gamejam. I love those because it's 2 days of ch

We have a local hackerspace that regularly holds gamedev meetings and once or twice a year holds a weekend long Gamejam. I love those because it's 2 days of challenging yourself to actually finish your project and do something crazy if you like. These constraints make it fun. Our regular meetings are a good mix of hobbiests, professionals and the very occasional idea guy to allow great discussions and feelings of community. Obviously there is no corporate sponsor and no prices besides the appreciation of your fellow hackers. I also participated in "local government" sponsored Hackathon and while those are nice to meet people and encourage the bueocracy to embrace the modern world it's almost always about some social goal like accessibility, open data etc. These are important and interesting topics but the projects are never that "fun".