We're BBBAAACCCKKK!

BARA JAM was a great success its first time around so we're doing it all over again. This time BARAJAM is a 2 month long game jam dedicated to creating male and/or male-relationship focused games that feature the "BARA" influence. So what is BARA? Here are the most informative snippets as taken from Wikipedia:

"Bara - is a Japanese technical term for a genre of art and fictional media that focuses on male same-sex love usually created by gay men for a gay male audience. 

Bara can vary in visual style and plot, but typically features masculine men with varying degrees of muscle, body fat, and body hair, akin to bear culture in gay culture.

- commentators sometimes refer to bara as "yaoi", but yaoi is largely created by and for women and features idealized bishōnen. - In contrast, bara is considered a subgenre - for gay males - rather than ones for female readers."

While this jam is, of course, open to all participants/audiences of any gender, please be mindful that your submissions have the characterizations of BARA which lean to containing a character(s) who are muscular, bear-like build, possibly hairy or rugged. So although Bara can mean different things to different people, a good summary of this jam is a focus on non-bishounen characters, a reflection of varied body shapes and comfortable masculinity. I will not be policing this jam strictly, but please be respectful of the theme.

Also, to be clear, bara need not have NSFW content and submissions can simply discuss themes related to the essence of bara to qualify. For example, a story centering around a non-bara character's love of bara manga would be acceptable. 

This jam encourages creation of all genres of games and not just visual novels.

Rules (Adapted from Yaoi Game Jam 2018):

1. Your game must focus on queer relationships between men OR the queer male experience. This includes: gay, bi, trans, non-binary, aro, ace, pan, any male-identified LGBTQ+ characters. 

2. At least 1 of the main characters should have the essence of BARA associated with them.

3. Your game must have been primarily developed during the jam period (October 1 through November 30). The purpose of the jam is to encourage creation of new Bara-themed games. Demos are acceptable.

4. This is an inclusive jam and anyone can join. Although uncomfortable subjects can be explored, please be considerate of the themes/material used, and fellow creators/players. Entries that promote bigotry (i.e transphobic/racism) are not allowed.

5. NSFW entries are allowed, but please indicate and flag them as such.

Rewards:

This is not a competitive jam, and the primary reward is the satisfaction of a job well done. Plus you'll have contributed a game to the (limited) pool of bara-focused games, and hopefully met some other bara enthusiasts along the way.

However, bobcgames will be contributing BaraJam 2019 stickers and coasters! All you need to do to be eligible is to submit a playable game (or game demo) before the jam deadline. (Jam admins will pick winners in the event that there are more than 20 submissions.)

Further Links:

This year we have a BONUS surprise (just to mix things up and cause we like you guys)! Here is a link to a BARAJAM-themed FREE Creative Commons Licensed Sprite/BG Pack. It contains our mascot "BJ" sprites and expressions and 1 Bakery BG. (Feel free to add to or alter these assets as you need, it's your gift!) This is to help those new to VN game dev or are working solo for the jam and need a jump-off point.  DOWNLOAD NOW

Lineart by  SoulsoftEA + BG/Coloring by the always amazing CaesarCub . 

For more advice on visual novels, the Lemma Soft Forums are a good place to start and for general advice or questions you can also reach out to others here in the Bara Jam itch community or in the Bara Jam Discord.

You can also find Bara Jam on Twitter and Reddit..