🚨 DETAILS 🚨
Welcome to Game Design and Development at Berkeley's Bear Jams!
This event is an online game jam, where all submissions will have a live playthrough!
You can participate remotely on our Discord server: https://tinyurl.com/BearJamsDiscord.
There will also be an optional in-person kickoff for brainstorming and theme reveal on the UC Berkeley campus!
And after the main jam is over, we will have a full Stream Week, where you can see your game played live, ending things off with our Finale on Friday.
Participation is open to everyone, not just Berkeley students! There is no difference between teams with and without students, however, there is a team size limit of 5 people! We're so excited to see all your wonderful games!!
🦸♀️ TEAM FORMATION MIXER 🦸♂️
Our Team Formation Mixer will be on 3/1 from 1-2 PM on Discord (in Mixer Main) If you're interested in participating but don't have a team, or just want to check out the vibes, come along and we will make sure everyone leaves with a team in time for the jam!
🎢 IN-PERSON KICKOFF 🎢
The jam will start with an in-person kickoff from 6-8 PM PST on FRIDAY, MARCH 7, where we will announce the theme and provide a space for people to form teams and work together. We will also stream the beginning of the kickoff on Twitch. The location for the kickoff is Wheeler 120.
🌅 TIMELINE 🌅
(All times are PST)
JAM📌
[3/1] Saturday
1 PM: Team Formation Mixer (on Discord)
[3/7] Friday
6 PM: In-person Kickoff + Kickoff Stream on Twitch
~6:30 PM: Theme Announcement
[3/8] Saturday
All day: Make your games! If you need help, ask in the "Talk to Staff" category of the discord. Make sure to tag one of the hosts!
[3/9] Sunday
3 PM: ALL SUBMISSIONS DUE
STREAM WEEK📌
[3/10 - 3/13] Submission Playthroughs
7-8 PM: Streaming playthroughs of submissions on Twitch
[3/14] Finale
7-8 PM: Doing a retrospective of all submissions and announcing winners! Streamed on Twitch
🌠 SCORING 🌠
Bear Jams scoring is handled by a panel of judges from the GDD Staff. We judge based on the following 5 categories:
- Fun: How enjoyable is the gameplay/game design
- Theme: How unique/creatively the game interprets the theme
- Art: All visuals, color scheme, cohesion
- Sound: Any SFX, music, or other audio
- Judge: A final category for judges to give their overall opinion on the game, considering it as a whole
We only judge based on the assets made by the team. Using assets from other sources is okay, but they MUST be credited. Any game with uncredited work will be disqualified.
Heavy reuse of assets made before the event is highly discouraged and may affect judging scores.
We will NOT be releasing our raw scores. However, feel free to ask judges for feedback on your game!
🛑 USE OF AI 🛑
WE DO NOT CONDONE THE USE OF AI! Bear Jams is all about creating a game hands on with a HUMAN team, not AI.
The following is strictly forbidden:
Generative AI. This means no ChatGPT, Github Copilot, Dall-E, or any other type of AI tool that automates anything for you. Usage of assets made outside of the class. Copying large amounts of code from others/online. Unapproved usage of asset libraries or packages.
You will be disqualified if you use any of the above. So don't do it 👺
📎 SUBMISSION 📎
Submission Deadline: Sunday, 3/9 @ 3 PM PST
Any ONE of the following submission formats is acceptable:
1) A WebGL Build (or any build that can be played online on the itch page)
2) A Windows Build
3) A Mac Build
However, while not necessary, we’d appreciate it if you submit WebGL or Windows (for ease of judging).
🎊 PRIZES 🎊
General Prizes
First Place: $150
Second Place: $100
Third Place: $50
📚 RESOURCES 📚
All of the event Rules and Guidelines can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/BearJams-Rules
All participants MUST follow the Code of Conduct: https://tinyurl.com/BearJams-CodeOfConduct