WELCOME TO THE HAWKTOBER GAME JAM! 

What terrors await at the 5th annual Hawktober Game Jam?!

Gee, kids, sure looks like BLOOD RAIN

The theme for this year is:

Family Tradition

It's finally time for my favorite time of year: THE TIME OF MY BIRTH! Ok, ok, that's my second favorite. The actual favorite time of year? The Hawktober Game Jam! And this year will be no different. I mean, we've been doing this for five years now. It's become something of a tradition! One could call it a...

Responsibility to family.

The theme this year is Family Tradition. Some examples: an archaic ritual that must be enacted each year. A promise made generations ago that must be upheld, no matter the cost. Dinner. Delicious, succulent, meat-filled dinner. 

There are many things that can make up a tradition that keeps a family together. Some ideas are that it could be ties to the holidays, or just something grandma got up to in her youth! Go wild! 

But that's not all! This year the games submitted MUST be of the horror genre! In the past, Hawk has been somewhat lax on the requirement of horror games for a horror game jam, but this year he is putting his foot down! The game must contain some form of horror. Any horror! Psychological, Creature-related, Thriller, Supernatural, Cosmic, you name it! Just make sure it's...terrifying.

RULES

1. Your entry MUST utilize the theme in some manner or form, and can only be worked on during the submission period. It is very open to interpretation, and creative/unique usage of the theme is encouraged!
2. Horror-themed games are 100% required so long as your game follows the theme. If it's not horror, it will not be judged!
3. Once the submission period is over, NO UPDATES TO YOUR GAMES ARE ALLOWED. Judges will ONLY play your submitted copy, and will not update with any bug fixes. Please DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ENTRIES!
4. Your entry can be made with ANY engine and ANY assets you have the legal rights to use.
5. Absolute NO ripped/stolen assets will be allowed or tolerated, and will result in immediate disqualification.
6. GAMES MUST BE WINDOWS BASED. No exceptions. Browser-only games must have a downloadable copy available.
7. No fan games. Your entry should be 100% original and/or based on your own worlds and lore that you have rights to.
   1. The only exception is if you have received written permission from another developer/creator in the community giving you permission to use their world/characters.
8. The length of your game MUST be between 5 and 60 minutes.
   1. If your game runs short, it risks being disqualified.
   2. If your game runs long, judges WILL stop playing at the hour mark (give or take a couple minutes), and will ONLY judge on the first 60 minutes they played INCLUDING CUTSCENES. They will NOT be required or expected to finish the game.
9. Content that includes Heavy Violence, Language, and Adult Themes up to an 'R' rating are ALLOWED.
   1. Please ensure your game is still Twitch appropriate. If not sure, ask on Discord!
10. Lewd and/or Adult themed games ARE NOT ALLOWED.
11. There is no limit to the amount of times someone may enter, but they may only win ONCE (Either Judge's Choice or People's Vote)
12. Teams are allowed, and Discord role prizes will be awarded to everyone who was a part of that team.
13. Judges are allowed to enter. However, a substitute judge will take over judging their game, if necessary.
14. Finally, submissions remain the full property and copyright of those who submit them. HawkZombie only reserves the right to use said submissions in promotional materials related to the Hawktober Game Jam ONLY.

JUDGING CRITERIA

All submissions will both be open to public voting AND will be judged by a panel of judges including myself starting October 11th at 12am MDT. Other than breaking any of the rules listed above, if an entry is unable to run for at least 5 minutes without game-breaking errors it will be disqualified. All games will be judged on the following areas (in no particular order of importance):

1. The Theme (Family Tradition) - Pretty Obvious. Horror is a must as well as the main theme.
2. The Story - How was the story? Easy to follow? Enjoyable? A nail-biting mystery? How well was it written?
3. Asset Usage- Were there any custom assets? How did they fit the game? If non-custom assets were used, how were they implemented in unique ways?
4. Gameplay - Was the game fun? Did it try and add something new? Was it easy to understand? Was it challenging?

For the People's Vote, it will be a simple 1-5 star category, so vote your honest opinion of the game!
Judgments and voting results will be announced (and made public) on Oct 31st during HawkZombie's birthday stream!

PRIZES

Unfortunately, the year 2022 has been hard on many of us, and Hawk is no exception. Instead of cash prizes this year, it will just be bragging rights and special Discord Roles on HawkZombie's server for different placements.

First Place - Judge's Choice: Hawktober Game Jam Winner 2022
People's Vote: Hawktober People's Pick 2022

In the event that a game wins both categories, the next in line will get the role for the People's Vote role.

Good Luck...