Help make a new card game about Santa Monica
November 26, 2025 2:40 PM
by Naomi Okuyama
Santa Monica Cultural Affairs has partnered with Indiecade, the independent games festival, to embark on a quick Santa Monica 150th Anniversary game jam that’s taking place Nov. 15, 2025 through Dec. 13, 2025.
What’s a game jam? It’s when people of all levels of experience unite to create games (in this case one card game) on a theme. We’re asking you – yes, you! to write a few words and draw or find a picture to illustrate a playing card on the topic of Santa Monica as part of the 150th Anniversary.
The game is called Santa Monica: A Game of Connections, and the game jam prompt is to create a deck of people, places and events or objects of significance to Santa Monica from its past, present and future. The finished game will ask players to make connections between cards and through those connections tell a new story of Santa Monica.
This brief and fun activity is perfect for Thanksgiving gatherings, armchair historians, urban dreamers and all of us who have a connection to Santa Monica to express our knowledge.
How to contribute to the deck:
All ages (parents/guardians please upload for youth). Submit as many cards as you like between Nov. 25, 2025 and Dec. 7, 2025. We may edit or consolidate cards and topics.
Online: fill out a form for every card you’d like to contribute – directly online here: https://form.jotform.com/253159060785159
In person: there are paper submission slips at City Hall, the Main Library, and the Farmers Markets.
More info: go to indiecade.com/santa-monica-game-jam for more background and full directions.
Join us on Dec. 13, 2025 at 11 a.m. at the Miles Playhouse to playtest our game and afterward share it at the celebration on the Promenade at celebrating150.com.
Let’s get jammin’!
Authored By
Naomi Okuyama
Cultural Affairs Supervisor