This jam is now over. It ran from 2022-05-23 16:00:00 to 2022-06-20 16:00:00. View results

Last year we Entered the Haroldverse and saw countless iterations of an archetypal hero. This year we explore the murkier corners of the cosmos, unsavory worlds where a cheerful himbo embraces a grim destiny, where the power of friendship gives way to the power of hatred, where fury is sparked, and the righteous come to heel. Human and the RPG Maker Beta Testers Server invite you to join Harold Jam 2022: Dark Universe.

Rules:

  1. Must include the character (okay it’s Harold), a line of dialog and location announced at beginning of jam (see required elements below).
  2. Following the "Dark Universe" jam theme is optional (theme is unrelated to required elements in rule 1).
  3. Judging will be within 6 categories (see Judgment Categories section below)
  4. Suggested time limit of 5-45 minutes, but no hard cap. 
  5. Collaboration is permitted (and any number of submissions is allowed).
  6. Participants are encouraged to play and rate at least 3 other entries. 
  7. All game engines are allowed, although for obvious reasons. Just remember to follow the EULA for any assets you use (MV Harold assets outside of RPG Maker games is not permitted). The jam community tab includes non-Harold resources you can use outside of RPGM (and we'll all know who they are supposed to be).
  8. No pre-existing games! Please do all your devving during the jam time. Pre-existing art work, animations, plugins, and other assets are permitted.
  9. Custom assets are allowed, including plug-ins and art made by others as long as you credit and have the rights to use them.
  10. It is recommended that games are playable on PC. Browser versions are also recommended as an option.
  11. Human reserves the right to disqualify entries at his discretion.

Required Elements:

All games submitted must have all three of these within the "game content" (so not the menus or the credits):

1. Character: Harold
You can use a variation of Harold, like Harry, hrld, Oldhar, Dlorah, etc.

2. Line of Dialogue: "What have you done, Harold?"
This must be spoken by a character, exactly as printed. You can replace “Harold” with a variation as mentioned above.

3. Location: Dead End
Defined as "an end of a road or passage from which no exit is possible." The player must go there.

Judgment Categories:

There will be multiple separate and independent award categories. Participants can gear their game toward any award or combination of awards as they see fit. There is no overall winner, but six separate ones.

 - Harold Award for Excellence: Gameplay

 - Therese Award for Strength: Battles

- Lucius Award for Laughs: Laughs

- Marsha Award for Melodies: Music

- Hrld Award for Visual Arts: Graphics

- Oldhar Award for Literature: Story

Rating Queue:

We will once again be using the "Rating Queue" system first seen in 2020's GMTK! All raters will be given a random selection of three games to rate before they can rate anything else. After rating the three randomly assigned games, raters can then rate whichever games they choose.

In case of many submissions (>20) the deadline for rating may be extended accordingly.

Thanks to Leaf @ itch.io for setting this up!

Prizes:

Winners of each category will be determined by community voting, based on the criteria above. There is no overall winner, only six independent category winners.  $50 will go to the winner of one award category, selected at random. Major bragging rights to each category winner.

The original Harold graphics belong to KADOKAWA. Once again thanks to Nowis for donating the fantastic banner and character art. Give Nowis a follow on Deviant Art and Twitter as well!

Asset commissions and prizes come out of my pocket. If you want to help support the server, the jam, or me,  drop me a dollar or two! I'm probably just going to burn it on community Harold art, but if you're here, maybe you're all about that. https://www.patreon.com/RPGBetaTesters We also welcome the sponsors of Harold asset creation, prizes, and any other contributions to the community.

Submissions(33)

All submissions
·
Browser playable (12)
·
Windows (16)

No submissions match your filter

A Coming-Of-Age Puzzle RPG Where Damage is Optional
Puzzle
Play in browser
Where's your SWORD, HERO?
Role Playing
Harold's fall from grace into the Dark Universe.
Role Playing
Play in browser
Guide Harold through the Dark Realm and confront sinister foes
Role Playing
A tournament to determine the ultimate Harold.
Role Playing
Short game made for Harold Jam 2022
Harold is drawn into a new adventure where he can't tell the difference between dream and reality.
Role Playing
YOUR ONLY WEAPON IS A PAINTBRUSH
Action
Play in browser
Fight the curse or embrace it
Role Playing
Play in browser
I still hate doing household chores
Play in browser
save heroes from other worlds to fight Oldhar
Role Playing
Harold fights some shadow monsters
Adventure
Pac-Harold is a pixel Harold game that you play as Pac-Harold!
Puzzle
Play in browser
Adventurers beware! Harold and his companions are coming for you!
Evil doesn't grow old. It gets HAR-OLD!
Role Playing
I THINK IM LOST
Play in browser
WHO IS IN WHERE
Play in browser
RPG Maker takes to the stage!
Role Playing
Evil Harold Space Shooter
Shooter
Harold is at the crossroad between good and evil which will he pick?
Harold finds himself in space in this "exciting" quasi-open mini-RPG!
Role Playing
A horrible adventure through a massive dungeon chocked full of random encounters and no gameplay balance.
Role Playing
Role Playing
Play in browser
A Lemmings inspired game about HRLD... S
Puzzle
Play in browser
Our 1st game jam ever (HaroldJam22). A mini-epic spanning 7 chapters in 1 hour. See Harold's journey through to the end!
Role Playing