I invite everyone in the server of all skill/experience levels to make some bullshit within a month. It does not have to be good or even original. It just has to be functional, interactive and related to some original content you’re cooking in your head.
Small, bad projects like this can help open the doors for further long-term commitment to your work. You might even find a new engine or workflow you enjoy!
Potential beginner projects include drag and drop dress-up games, short visual novels or Twine projects, basic RPGMaker games, ARG websites, Flappy bird clones, or tic-tac-toe but with your guys in the corner. The only limit is your imagination and level of employment.
The definition of “game” is very generous here. If you want to make a period tracker or SSP virtual assistant or Shimeji skin or random name generator for worldbuilding, then I will count that as a “game”. I guess I should call it a software jam but its not as snappy
While I encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zone a little, you're also welcome to make other types of original games, like tabletop, if you think you can express your idea better in that medium. However, it must be short enough that a session can be completed in a day. I want all voters to be able to experience all the games.
At the end of the month, we'll take a week for everyone to try each other's work and have an awards show the next weekend. Shoot for categories like Best Story, Best Gameplay, Best Soundtrack, Best Visuals, and so on. More specific categories will be revealed as we figure out the schedule.
Q: Who's that little freaque in the corner?
A: That is OC-tan. Her grotesque visage is inspired by the "OS-tan" trend of anthropomorphizing consumer operating systems and virtual assistants from the 2000s. Hint hint...
Q: What if I don't finish on time?
A: I will probably stress you out about the deadline because usually no deadline = no games BUT extensions will be provided if necessary. It's my first time hosting a game jam and a lot of peoples' first time making a game, and the scale of the whole thing is pretty intimate, there's nothing tangible at stake here. At the very least, I'd like to do the awards show before summer ends.
Below is a list of free resources for projects that require minimal/no programming knowledge. These either utilize basic visual code or have specific languages designed for ease of use by those who are new to programming; I cannot promise that there is no learning curve. Feel free to look for templates online and modify them, anything goes.
