Thought I'd put together a list of tips for game jams in general, I've done a massive amount of game jams in the past (literally over 100), and this is what I have learned:

1. SLEEP ENOUGH. DRINK LOTS OF WATER. EAT HEALTHY SHIT. Seriously, don't go too hard. You'll make far too many stupid mistakes if you're tired/dehydrated/surviving on pizza, monster and doritos.
2. Check your scope! Try aim for something you think you can do in a couple of days, then add to that if you've got time. Honestly I'd put this as number one if people stopped destroying their bodies during game jams, but alas...
3. Build early, build often. I always try have a playable build ready and being played after about 6-8 hours of work. Getting your core done early means you can get feedback, but also the process of building and uploading to Itch can introduce a few really weird bugs. Specifically, Unity's WebGL implementation is trash and usually causes some weirdo issue or another.
4. If you're stuck, ask for help! It looks like there's a Discord server - there'll be many other people in the same boat. Don't sit there agonising for hours, a second pair of eyes on your code can often solve things straight away.
5. Get up and go for a walk. This doesn't have to be your whole life for a week. Some fresh air, some social contact, etc will do you a world of good. Particularly if you've got a stubborn problem and the above advice hasn't worked yet!
6. If you don't have an idea straight away, you can still hop into your engine and make a menu system. Best to get that out of the way first 😉
7. "Theme" is only one category! If there's something you want to make, make it. Don't worry too much about it if you don't have something that fits. It is a jumping board - NOT a road block!
8. Have fun! Don't worry about your rating, don't compare yourself to other games. If you finish something, you have something to be proud of. Hell, if you don't finish anything - you've probably learned a lesson about scope 😂
9. A global leaderboard can go a long way toward increasing your game's popularity - I usually use http://dreamlo.com 😁

Good luck, have fun - and make something better than DreamWorld 😉

Point 2a... Always descope.

But from my relatively limited experience in jams and game dev... I do agree with all of the above

i love this! great advice