[1] Hosted in Oakland, California just before the Game Developers Conference, the IGJ ran on sponsorship and donations.
After the third IGJ, Doug Church commented, "[..] it's kinda true that nothing works, but you just throw everyone into the middle of the fire and things come out.
[3] He also noted that while IGJ may not itself revolutionize the mainstream video game industry, it may inspire individuals to innovate.
[5] Numerous well known indie developers and other game industry figures have participated, including Jonathan Blow, Doug Church, Chaim Gingold, Justin Hall, Chris Hecker, Austin Grossman, Marc LeBlanc, Randy Smith, and Robin Hunicke.
Each year, Indie Game Jam posed different questions about innovation of new settings, genres, and controls.