⚠️DO NOT START WORK ON YOUR GAME UNTIL THE JAM BEGINS!⚠️
*Planning and Concept work are allowed, but please try and do all in-engine work during the submission period.

Every year, the streamer HawkZombie hosts a horror game jam near his birthday (Halloween!) where he livestreams all the entries. Affectionately referred to as 'Hawktober' it has been going for SEVEN years now, and it's a lot of fun for those involved. Some years there are prizes, and each year's winners get special Discord Roles to show off in the main community server. 

Every year Hawk usually picks a specific horror theme but this year is going to be a little different...

Instead of a specific theme this year, it's going to be more open: HawkZombie's favorite horror genres! Now don't fret; not all horror needs to be neatly put into a box, and many types of horror can cross multiple genres. But simply pick any of the following to be the main basis for your game, and then let your macabre imagination run wild:

• Slasher (IE: Friday the 13th or Scream)
• Creature Feature (IE: The Blob or Aliens)
• Biological Horror (AKA body horror. Zombies count!)
• Cosmic (IE: Event Horizon or Annihilation)
• Eldritch (Lovecraft/C'Thulu)
• B-Movie (Campy/Trope filled. IE: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes)
• Supernatural (Hauntings/Demonic Possessions, etc)

All submissions will be judged on Story/Writing, Gameplay, Creativity, Sound Design, and Horror for both Public and Judge's votes. The rankings will be determined by an average of all the scores.

To make the jam more interesting/fun for those involved, this year we're adding a new challenge section! These are additional elements or themes you can incorporate into your game, or use as inspiration for ideas. These are all 100% optional! Don't feel any pressure when using these!

• Hawk has written some custom pieces of dialog. Pick one (or more) to showcase within your game:
  • Finally, the nightmare has come to an en-
    
  • Who the fuck do you think you are?!
  • Love isn't something you just let go of.
    
  • Happy Birthday! I hope you like my gift.
    
  • When I looked into his eyes, I could see right through him.
    
  • Let go of me! This is wrong! All of it is a mistake!!
    
  • Sorry, but that is only available to premium subscribers.
• HawkZombie (the streamer or the Hawk Zombie mascot) has a cameo in your game.
• All characters in the game are classic horror tropes (The Final Girl, The Nerd, The Jock, The Wise Old Person, etc)
• "Lucky #7"
• A subversion of expectations. The best example is a twist ending.

• Your entry can be made with ANY engine/code base and with ANY assets you have the legal rights to use.
  • You may NOT use an existing project (unfinished or otherwise) as your submission.
• Your game can be submitted to other game jams and vice versa, as long as it follows the submission guidelines and theme.
• Absolute NO ripped/stolen assets will be allowed, and will result in immediate disqualification/removal from the jam.
•  GAMES MUST BE WINDOWS BASED.
  • Browser Based games are allowed, but a downloadable version would be preferred.
• SUBMISSIONS MUST BE FREE. Whatever you do after the jam is your business but any paid submissions will be removed.
• No fan games/games based off intellectual properties you do not expressly own the rights or licensing rights to.
• Your game must be at LEAST five minutes in length, not including credits.
  • For the sake of time while streaming, very long games will only be played around an hour maximum.
• Adult content (partial nudity, gore, violence, etc) is allowed as long as it falls within acceptable Twitch guidelines.
  • If you are unsure, an ESRB Rating of M is a good guideline.
• NSFW games (18+) are NOT allowed.
• Teams are allowed and encouraged! Join our Discord community for help in finding people!
• There is no limit to the amount of entries a person may submit (or how many teams they can be a part of).
  • However, a person can only win in ONE category (People's Vote or Judge's). If part of a team, they will be given the choice of which Discord role they prefer.
• Submissions remain the sole property and copyright of those who submit them. HawkZombie reserves the right to ONLY use these submissions as promotional material related to future Hawktober Horrors game jams.

While there are (currently) no monetary prizes, a special Discord Role (with icon!) is awarded to the person/team to win in each category of voting: People's (the public vote) and Judge's (HawkZombie and others will be voting privately).

Also, HawkZombie will pick his PERSONAL FAVORITE GAME to showcase as the intro video on his YouTube channel! AND, Hawk will replace his current 60 second promo on his Twitch channel with a highlight of that same favorite game!

These winners will be announced on a special stream on Twitch on November 23rd (the day after the voting period ends).

Lastly, be sure to join our friendly Discord! This is the official server for HawkZombie the streamer, but it is VERY dev friendly, and we love to see new faces!