Apocalypse Jam 2023

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This jam is now over. It ran from 2023-10-22 06:00:00 to 2023-11-06 01:00:00. View results

Apocalypse Jam returns for 2024! https://itch.io/jam/apocalypse-jam-2024

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Apocalypse Jam 2023 Awards Announcement!!!!!

Thank you to all of our submitters, judges, and supporters! Here are the top ranked games of 2023.

Submitter Rankings

Submitter's Choice (top game overall)
First - Was it always like this, dad? by Kritzlof
Second - Bio LaBs ! by FruitSoil
Third - Magical Girl Armageddon by Frogcake

Best use of chosen theme(s)
First - Was it always like this, dad? by Kritzlof
Second - Bio LaBs ! by FruitSoil
Third - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician

Judge Rankings

Best implementation of: Apocalypse
First - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof
Second - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician
Third - Seedead by Lia Hades

Best implementation of: Seed Vault
First - Seedead by Lia Hades
Second - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician
Third - Bio LaBs! by FruitSoil

Best implementation of: Technopocalypse!
First - Seedead by Lia Hades
Second - Bio LaBs! by FruitSoil
Third - Fading World by King O' Nebula

Best implementation of: Mono No Aware
First - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof
Second - Seedead by Lia Hades
Third - Magical Girl Armageddon by Frogcake

Best Overall
First - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof
Second - Seedead by Lia Hades
Third - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician

We'd also like to share the Judges' top rankings for some of the technical elements of the games.

Visuals / Graphics
First - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof
Second - Defend For Seed by behranaktan, CagatayBGonen
Third - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician

Sound Design / Music
First - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof
Second - Magical Girl Armageddon by Frogcake
Third - Bio LaBs! by FruitSoil

Game Mechanics / Gameplay Design
First - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician
Second - Bio LaBs! by FruitSoil
Third - Fading World by King O' Nebula

Story / Writing / Dialogue
First - Seedead by Lia Hades
Second - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof
Third - Magical Girl Armageddon by Frogcake

Fun / Enjoyable / Captivating Gameplay
First - SWARM OF HELL by FrogMagician
Second - Seedead by Lia Hades
Third - Was it always like this, Dad? by Kritzlof

Congrats to all the winners and see you next year!

-Bismod, Jam Organizer

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Apocalypse Jam is about the end of the world in all its forms.

Entries can be about the collapse of modern society and nature, sudden disasters, or post-cataclysmic survival scenarios. Your apocalypse can be literal or figurative, a historical doomsday, a pessimistic future, or something completely off-the-wall.

Running about 6 months after Earth Day, Apocalypse Jam is meant to be a fun and cathartic break from worrying about the world's problems. The vibe is "c’est la vie", an end of the world party. This jam isn't focused on awareness and solutions but also isn't actively rooting for death and destruction. Instead, it's using the concept of "apocalypse" as a jumping off point for creativity and as a form of mental relief.

This year's subthemes were...

Seed Vault
Technopocalypse!
Mono No Aware

Learn more about these themes below.

This is Apocalypse Jam's second year, check out last year's games here.

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Schedule

Morning of Sunday, October 22nd, at 12am midnight Mountain Time Zone: Subthemes are announced and jam begins.
Evening of Sunday, November 5th, at 6pm Mountain Time Zone: Jam ends and submitter voting begins.
Evening of Sunday, November 26th, at 6pm Mountain Time Zone: submitter voting ends.
Evening of Sunday, December 3rd, at 6pm Mountain Time Zone: awards posted and announced.

Themes

The main theme is Apocalypse: the collapse of modern society and nature, sudden disasters, post-cataclysmic survival scenarios, literal or figurative apocalypse, a historical doomsday, a pessimistic future, or some completely off-the-wall interpretation.

This year's three (optional) subthemes are:

Seed Vault
This theme is for games related to the concept of a Seed Vault and safeguarding the essential foundations of life for the future.

Technopocalypse!
This theme is for games related to the collapse of civilization, the end-of-the-world, or the end of humanity brought on by technology.

Mono No Aware
This theme is for games related to the understanding that all things change and end, and the sadness and beauty found in that understanding.

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More about the subthemes, directions to take

More about Seed Vault

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault provides long-term storage of duplicates of seeds conserved in seed banks around the world. This provides security of the world's food supply against the loss of seeds due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts, war, sabotage, disease and natural disasters.

This theme might engage with:

seed vaults such as the one in Norway
the broader concept of seed banks and other gene banksl
alternative methods and locations for this concept
creating, maintaining, and utilizing these resources
extinction
what could go terribly wrong with such places, or what could go right
what happens without one when you need it
broader stories about doomsday vaults
plans for weathering the end times and rebuilding
desertification
unintentional seed vaults
metaphorical “seed vaults”
food chain and environmental collapse
anything else that might relate to this topic

More about Technopocalypse!

This is about technology running rampant and ending the world as we know it, either through unintended consequences, negligence, or done intentionally. Also, Technopocalypse is fun to say!

This theme might engage with:

gray goo scenarios, nanobots run amuck
Killer robots
The Singularity
an invention having an unintentional, but dramatic, side effect
geoengineering
someone using tech to intentionally doom the world as it is
“old” tech destabilizing a civilization in the past
other forms of “technology”
Y2K
something disrupting some of the tech we’ve become dependent on, and the aftermath
a Carrington Event
anything else that might relate to this topic

More about Mono No Aware

Mono no aware describes the awareness of the impermanence of things, and both a transient gentle sadness (or wistfulness) at their passing as well as a longer, deeper gentle sadness about this state being the reality of life. This category will also include the beauty found in that understanding.

This theme category is about knowing that everything (from your shoes, to your house, to your friends, to your family, to the internet, to humanity, to the universe itself) is constantly changing and will eventually end. It’s about the inability to keep things the way they are, fear of change, appreciation of what you have now. It’s the quiet sadness that comes from knowing you will die someday. It’s also about finding beauty in the present moment before it passes, finding beauty in things you might take for granted because they are temporary, and finding beauty in the signs of transition.

This theme might engage with:

mono no aware, the awareness of impermanence of things
wabi-sabi, the acceptance of transience, imperfection, and incompleteness
memento mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death
acceptance
decay
remembrance
warning signs
regret
the pre-apocalypse
anything else that might relate to this topic

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Participation

Jammers are expected to incorporate the main theme: Apocalypse, and at least one of the subthemes. Inclusion can be literal, symbolic, or just using a theme as a jumping off point. However, if you have a great idea that only reflects one of those five elements that's completely fine.
Join the Apocalypse Jam Discord to chat with other jammers, show off your progress, and share other apocalyptic games.
Any kinds of games are accepted so long as you can submit via itch.io.
Jammers may use pre-existing assets to make their games.
Games should be primarily assembled during the duration of the jam. Cross-jam submissions are allowed if the starting timeframe is fairly close to the start of this jam. If you're unsure please ask. If you have a game you've previously made that really fits the theme you are invited to share it, but it will not be eligible for awards.
Due to our theme, games with heavy content are expected (though not required). Please make sure to include a content warning when submitting.

Awards

Submitters may vote from the end of the jam until the evening of Sunday, November 26th, at 6pm Mountain Time Zone.
Submitters will vote on the best overall entry, which will receive the Submitter's Choice award.
Submitters will also rank games based on best use of the theme "Apocalypse" (either most apocalyptic or most interesting take on that theme) and each of the four subthemes.
Judges will make the final decisions on the winners for Best Overall, best use of Apocalypse, and best use each of the four subthemes.
If anyone is not participating but would like to help us judge the games please reach out to apocalypsegamejam@gmail.com
Awards will be posted and announced the evening of Sunday, December 3rd, at 6pm Mountain Time Zone.

Prizes

The Best Overall and the Submitter's Choice teams will each receive a 100% off discount code to submit to IndieCade 2024!
All award winners will receive jam-branded patches, a 20% off discount code to submit to IndieCade 2024, and be featured in an IndieCade post about the winners!
We also have 3 keys for SpriteSuite Pro that will be distributed to the top teams!

Please reach out if you want to contribute something else as a prize!

IndieCade Festival is happening November 4th thought 17th with a two week Steam sale, the Festival Awards, post-mortems, show-and-tells, and the return of Night Games, live and in-person in Downtown LA November 10-11! Learn more and stay tuned here: https://www.indiecade.com/festival-2023/

IndieCade is involved in a number of game jams including Climate Jam, the inspiration behind our jam here. If you enjoy jamming and want something a little more hopeful, check it out and join next year!

IndieCade is providing a free submission for IndieCade 2024 for each of the two top winning games as well as a 20% off discount for the other winning game teams! They will also do a social post on the winning games.

SpriteSuite Pro is a simple to use tool for merging and splitting images without the need for photo editing software. Get consistent results faster than using similar php tools. Thanks, CharlesE!