It's the spooky month once again, and that means it's time for some delicious jam. Too bad you have to survive a night in a HAUNTED HOUSE first!!!

Welcome to the Haunted House Jam!

Your task is simple: Create a game featuring a haunted house in some way. The house doesn't have to be the central focus of the game, you can decide what exactly "haunted" means, and it doesn't even have to be a spooky game. Use your imagination! This jam is not a contest, the objective is FUN. There is no voting on which game is "the best", and I'm not here to complain that a particular game is "not haunted enough" or whatever. Game length is also unimportant.

BEGINNERS ARE ENCOURAGED! If you've never made a game before but are still interested, Twine is entirely text-based (though you can add pictures if you like), and is a great way to make a very simple interactive story. Here is a simple tutorial that I've used in the past, but you can find more comprehensive ones on Google.

Another option is Inform 7, which has an in-built tutorial. Again it's text-based, though more complicated than Twine, but also far more versatile. I learned it from scratch in a few weeks for a contest, and it's simple enough to make a very short game in if that's what you want. These tutorials really helped me a lot too.

I've personally never used programs such as Unity, GameMaker, Construct 2, RPG Maker or Adventure Game Studio, but I understand those are also popular options for game jams. I believe they all have free versions too. Use whatever you like!

You are welcome to work either individually, or part of a team. The only issue is that you'll have to nominate one person to upload the finished project. Just make sure everyone is credited though, and it should be fine.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me on Twitter, I'm @ZombieHam.

Good luck, and try not to get too spooked!

Cover art by Philadelphia Hanson-Viney. Used with permission.