Using Sentiment Analysis to track reaction to the Global Game Jam Theme

In this paper, we examine the Global Game Jam Theme and the reaction of the 'jammers' to the release. The Theme is one of the main drivers for creative aspect of the Game Jam, it sets the tone of the games that are developed at the Jam. This paper introduces an experiment which uses 'sentiment analysis' to gauge the positive or negative reaction to the theme over the last 7 years of the Global Game Jam. The results of this study show that the 2012 theme had the the highest sentiment. Finally, we suggest that the 'sentiment analysis' or 'context analysis' could be used to gather data sets for other studies such as development practices.