Welcome to the Canadian Game Jam!
A game jam focused on collaboration with other Canadian game developers, and providing a collection of Canadians together for easy networking.
Full google doc of all the important info:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OLJKwKx6E1y92zQAMoy931nb0HKLvttq7zdn0Gke2WA/...
The community;
Dates:
Canadian jam #1
March 1st is the theme announcement
March 14th is when game submissions are due
March 21st is when public voting is over and winners are announced on stream
Starts and ends on Fridays.
A 2 week long jam that ends before Canadian Spring break ends so students can use the break to crunch and still have a weekend of their break when it's over.
Canadian jam #2
October 4th is the theme announcement
October 18th is when game submissions are due
October 24th is when the public voting period is over and winners are announced on stream.
Starts and ends on Saturdays.
Another 2 week long jam with the Canadian Thanksgiving Long weekend in the middle so there is a long weekend and then a few days before the deadline crunch.
Rating:
The games in this jam will be rated from public voting. Although there is no prize, we hope to showcase a livestream, at least demonstrating a preview of the games submitted after they've been publicly rated!
The 3 Criteria are:
Is it Fun?
Voting on the overall feel and enjoyment of the game, whether it be story elements or gameplay.
Does it look cool?
Ranked on Visual art style, palette and character design, VFX
Does it work?
Ranked on Mechanics and functionality
Any games submitted that do not follow the rules are subject to removal from the jam.
Rules;
1. No artificially generated content.
This includes promotional materials, GDD text, concept art, assets, thumbnails, code or otherwise created by an artificial generative tool or use artificial intelligence in any degree.
2. At least 1 member from your team must be Canadian and/or reside or work in Canada.
The entire purpose of this whole jam is for Canadian developers to network and make connections with other Canadian developers, kinda defeats the purpose of being a Canadian-made jam when nothing about your team is Canadian. Anyone not Canadian in your team should be specified in the credits, this is to help future hiring scouts.
3. No free or paid assets.
In this jam, everything has to be made by the participants in this jam. Pre-made before the jam assets are allowed, but only if it's made by the participating creators.
4. Double teaming/old projects are welcome!
You may participate in multiple projects or groups, submit your project to multiple jams in and bringing in existing projects is also welcome, as long as you can make it incorporate the theme in some way in your submission.
5. Team max size is 10 people.
You may not have more than 10 people total contributing to a single project in this group, groups must contain at least 2 people, no solo developers.
6. Game rating must not be higher than E10-rated ESRB
Mild violence and cartoon violence is ok but no Sexualized or extremely violent content. See the official ESRB website for more information https://www.esrb.org/ratings-guide/
This rating was chosen for maximum stream-ability and content creation in the future, as well as keeping content palatable for a broad audience and age range.
7. Anything made during and for this jam maintains ownership to their original creators.
Fan games are OK, and anything you make yourself remains yours, we claim no ownership over the content you create! But do not use assets or content made by people not participating in the jam! If someone leaves or halts contribution your team or project, you need to maintain permission to use the assets they created.
8. Games must be WebGL embedded
All games submitted must be able to play in-browser. Ideally chrome, but if not please specify on your games page.
9. Wait until the voting period is over before updating your game after the submission deadline.
Of course we want to see your game even more finished! But it isn’t fair to the other contributors who made the deadline if you update your game after the deadline but before the voting period was over. Just wait until the competition is over before putting updates on your project.
10. HAVE FUN!!!
We strongly believe in keeping a welcoming and friendly environment within all platforms of this jam; harassment, discrimination and bullying of any kind is subjected to immediate dismissal/ban.
Helpful canadian resources:
This jam is focussed around getting canadian devs to network together, all the more benefit if you choose to network and start a canadian business after!
Here are some helpful resources for starting your Canadian indie game company;
Canadian business benefit finder search:
https://innovation.ised-isde.canada.ca/innovation/s/?language=en_CA
2 Year tax benefit
https://www.cpit.co/lp/small-business-funding-program
Other helpful resources;
The official ESRB website for rating information https://www.esrb.org/ratings-guide/
Game jam general tips;
Join the discord
It's an active community to see who's available to team up, and get aid on your projects if you're stuck or need help!
Don't wait until the last day to submit the game to the jam!!!
You and your teammates need sleep!
Export and compile your game first thing in the morning on the 2nd last day, because uploading to itch.io is a lot of work too! You need an appropriate game description, proper credit to your team, a video uploaded to demonstrate the game and whos to say there won't be some much needed troubleshooting involved to make it work in the browser at the last minute!!!
Compiling your game and uploading to itch.io can be a whole days work if you're new to it, so don’t leave it to the last hour!