(join the discord! https://discord.gg/EcfvvJu)
Tuesday, August 27, 7-10pm PDT (GMT - 7): The closing "let's play as many game jam games as we can" party will be livestreamed on https://www.twitch.tv/extracredits/
Extra Credits is hyped to host its 5th game jam! Wow! We've come such a long way from our first game jam in August 2018. Thank you, awesome Extra Jammers, for literally finishing 1,100+ games in the past 12 months (and starting at least hundreds more! Hooray for giving yourself a learning experience and a creative challenge, regardless of the final state of your game!)
We will have some fun activities coming up over the next few weeks to celebrate our 1st game jam anniversary which we'll update you on via itchio emails--click the "join jam" button to get those updates!
- Our first piece of news: SideFX is pleased to be sponsoring this game jam and is making a FREE 2-month Houdini Indie license available to help jammers get to the finish line faster! (More info below, under the "Extra Credit Challenges" heading.)
- Get 20% off the Game Jam Sticker, the Game Jam Shirt, the GAME Mug, and/or the Game Play Hoodie with code EXTRAGAMEJAM for the whole month of August: https://store.dftba.com/collections/extracredits
- HOW TO JAM ADVICE PAGE
- HOW TO UPLOAD AND SUBMIT A GAME
Theme: PASSAGE
Genre/mechanic/tool restrictions: None. Make a game based on your interpretation of the theme! (Regardless of what anyone asks or claims: there is no "wrong" or "correct" interpretation. Make a game in any format and medium you want--we love seeing all the wacky, diverse, and creative interpretations that jammers design! Yes, this includes physical games too!)
If this is your first time doing an Extra Credits-hosted jam (or if this is your first jam ever!), we really highly recommend taking the time to read over the FAQ and general rules we use. The FAQ has a ton of information about getting started making a game as well as info about how we pick games for the "Games You Might Not Have Tried" video after every jam.
Here's the basic summary of what's on that page:
- use your best judgement when it comes to re-using assets from the past--make a game inspired by the theme, don't make a game before the jam starts and then re-interpret it to fit the theme
- know your copyright 101 info. Game jams are a great learning experience, but you're still publishing a real game on a real storefront that people could pay you money for, so don't just "borrow" copyrighted assets like you would for a school presentation
- we really want everyone to be able to submit their game and we'll work with you as much as we can, but please know that late submission links are granted based on your particular situation/technical difficulties and are not automatically handed out
- it's totally okay to submit games that *aren't* inherently family-friendly/all-ages material (when you upload your game, you'll have a chance to put down any content warnings for players to know about), but don't advocate for discrimination, or other types of hateful conduct or beliefs, in your games
Extra Credit Challenges are 100% optional, fun creative constraints you can add to your game if you need something to help you generate more ideas! We will be handing out "awards" for each of these in the form of transparent PNG "stickers" you can embed on your project page as desired (you can edit your project page any time even after the jam ends). Our first challenge comes from our game jam partner SideFX, which is:
Extra Houdini Indie - Use Houdini Indie as one of the tools for your game, and (very important!) upload a screenshot on your itchio project page, of one of your game assets in the Houdini Indie interface. Games that fulfill this challenge are eligible to be selected for the prize of a 1-year Houdini Indie license!
This challenge was imagined by: SideFX (who makes Houdini Indie!)
Extra Media - Have at least 1 part of your game exist outside of the playable build. There are lots of ways to do this, from including additional files that contain clues, to using API integrations between the game and other apps, to creating in-universe social media accounts. (In another light, this could be the "Extra ARG" challenge, but we thought that label might create lots of over-scoping accidents.)
This challenge was imagined by: Jamie Spruin
Extra Delicious - Someone or something needs to eat jam in your game. Can be any kind of jam, and eaten with or without a spoon! (Bonus points if this is a game mechanic. Extra bonus points if it's a game mechanic in a physical game.)
This challenge was imagined by: Datz , Dafflebee
Extra CGA - Limit your game's palette to one of the old, 4-color palettes used by the Color Graphics Adapter for MS-DOS games. List of 4-color options at: https://lospec.com/palette-list/tag/cga
This challenge was imagined by: logichan , hfrox123, SmallTestAccount
Extra Hand - You need 3 hands to be able to properly play the game.
This challenge was imagined by: Raynor
Extra Voice - All audio, music and sound effects alike, must be verbally spoken by humans or animals (can include: onomatopoeia, a capella, voice acting, etc. Does not have to be self-generated or self-recorded sound, but it definitely can be!).
This challenge was imagined by: RainbowKappa , D-Studios
Extra Diegetic UI - The user interface should be designed as though it naturally occurs within the game's world. See this recent episode for specific examples. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-auyB19Mc6U (If your game has a main menu, settings menu, and/or a pause menu, these are allowed to be non-diegetic elements.)
This challenge was imagined by: Lauren, Extra Credits
Extra CC0 and CC-BY - All art and music assets come from public domain or Creative Commons sources (CC0 or CC-BY). Attribute them all on the project page and/or in the game. (If your game UI is non-diegetic, then the UI does not have to qualify for this challenge.)
This challenge was imagined by: Xankill3r
Extra Zoey - Include Zoey somewhere in your game. Can range from an "easter egg"-style cameo, to game mechanics designed for a cat. (A black cat with green eyes and a purple collar, Zoey is the real-life pet of our showrunner, Matt Krol.)
This challenge was imagined by: the entirety of the #extra-zoey-party Discord channel
Got game dev questions? Want to assemble a virtual team? Just want some social outlets during your jam experience?
You should absolutely join our central community and Q&A hub on Discord. It's also the most efficient way to contact the game jam coordinator with questions about your submission, but don't wait until the last day to hop online--we have a ton of amazingly kind and helpful jammers who can provide great support too!
We also have a Crowdforge! This resource is a handy way to visually find or organize a team to join.