Welcome to the FIFTH b3agz Game Jam!
This is just a fun little game jam hosted by a small-time YouTuber. It's open to anyone who wants to join, all levels of game-development ability, solo devs, and teams. As with the previous jams, you can use any tools and assets you have the commercial rights to, whether you want to make your game in RPG Maker using artwork from OpenGameArt.org, or you want to make all your art from scratch and code the entire thing, engine and all, in Assembly. Or anything in between those extremes.
This is the fifth b3agz Jam. If you want to see how the previous jams went, you can find them here;
You can also check out the Discord server if you want to talk about the jam with other entrants!
THEME: ...will be announced at the start of the jam!
RESTRICTION: YOUR GAME MUST HAVE AN ACCESSIBILITY OPTION
The winner of the jam will be decided by b3agz and any of his fancy content-creator friends he can rope into helping out. The community winner will be decided by you guys, the participants, rating each others games.
The Incentive
The winner of the jam will receive a $100 cash prize. This could cover your Steam page fee... or you could blow it on ornamental frogs. We don't judge. The top community voted entry gets a $50 cash prize. Prizes will be paid out through PayPal, please bear this in mind before entering. If you don't have a PayPal account (and can't get or borrow one) and there is no way I can get money to you from my PayPal account, you will not be able to collect your prize. You can also choose to have your prize money sent to a charity of your choice if you wish. The only restriction is that I must be able to send the payment using PayPal.
You will also get a winner's "laurel" to show off if you decide to take your game further. You can use this in promotional content, on your Steam page, etc. Just a small way of showing off that your game won a jam.
The Voting Categories
Entries will be judged in five different categories with the winners being determined by best overall score. Here are the categories along with a description of what they mean;
- Theme — How well you think the game implements the jam's theme.
- Fun — How fun the game is to play, ignoring all other aspects. Even if it has poor graphics and crashes constantly, if you still had fun, this category should be a high rating.
- Art Style — This is not "graphics". A good art style can come in anything from monochrome pixel art to AAA computer-melting 3D. Things to think about here include whether the art style feels cohesive (not just a mishmash of random assets) and whether you liked it.
- Sound Design — Again, we're not looking at the quality of the sound as such, but the effectiveness and cohesiveness of the audio.
- Innovation — How off-the-beaten-track is the game? Does it do something new and interesting? Does it put an interesting spin on an established mechanic?
These categories have been chosen because it allows for a wide range of games to do well. For example, someone could make a Wolfenstein-style first-person shooter that is incredibly fun, but not very innovative, or an amazing-looking game that is a bit of a slog to play through, and still stand a chance of winning.
FAQ
What game engine/tools can I use?
You can use any game engine or game-making tools you like as long as you are legally allowed to make your game public and freely available.
What platforms do I have to build for?
I am not placing any restrictions on what platforms you build your entry for. However, bear in mind that your game is going to be voted on by the other participants. If you only release one build, and it's for macOS, you're going to miss out on a lot of votes from people who can't play your game. I would recommend doing a web build wherever possible to make it easy for everyone to play your game, but it is not a requirement. After web, Windows is the platform that will be compatible with most users. If you can build to all platforms, even better!
Who owns my jam entry?
You do. There is no sneaky fine print or expectation that I can do anything with your game other than play it in a YouTube video or Twitch live stream. It has to be free and available to play during the voting window if you want to have a shot at winning. After that, you can take it down, put a price tag on it, enter into other jams (that allow pre-made games), or anything else you might want to do with it.
How are the games judged?
The overall winner is decided by b3agz and jam judges, the community winner is determined by participant and contributor ratings. There are a few different categories to vote on and the winners will be the entries with the highest overall scores. In the event that the community winner is tied, the prize will be split.
How does the voting period work?
As soon as the jam ends, your submission will be locked for a week during the voting window. During this period, you can make changes to your jam page but you will not be able to upload new builds. Participants are encouraged to go play each other's games and leave honest ratings (and feedback if you can). At the end of the voting period, build uploads are unlocked. TIP: you can set up your page and even upload builds at any point through the jam, you will only be judged on the build that is live when the jam ends. Don't leave it until the last second to upload!
Is there a theme?
There is a theme, and it will be announced at the start of the jam to prevent people from making their whole game before the jam even starts! We can't stop you from starting on your game before the jam starts, but your game will be judged on how well it incorporates the theme, so starting early will hamper your chances of winning.
What's the difference between Theme and Restriction?
As mentioned above, the theme is both open to interpretation and optional. You can ignore the theme or be extra creative in how you interpret it. The restriction is not optional, and failing to adhere to it may kill your chances of winning.
How is the theme being chosen?
Over the month leading up to the jam, I will be taking suggestions (in YouTube comments, Discord, the community here, basically anywhere) and keeping a list. This list will be fed into a little random item picker I made and the picking will be live-streamed on my channel at the jam launch.
Do I have to stick to the theme?
As mentioned above, not incorporating the theme will reduce your chances of winning as that is one of the categories your game will be judged on. However, the theme is not a requirement for entry. If you think your game is so amazing that it can win without any points in the theme category, or you just don't care about winning, feel free to ignore the theme. The real goal of the jam is to get people to make games.
Who is "b3agz"?
b3agz is a small-time YouTuber that makes videos around game development aimed at beginner (sometimes creeping towards intermediate) developers. You can find the channel here.
Why are you running this jam?
I was asked, lol. The first jam was a massive success so I decided to keep doing it.
I have a question that isn't answered here...
The best way to find out more is by joining the Discord server and heading over to the #b3agz-jam channel.