Welcome to the 7th edition of inkJam!

This is an annual community-organized jam all about ink, a versatile scripting language for narrative games. If you're a writer it's one of the most accessible tools to get into creating interactive fiction. If you're a dev it gives you a massively increased scope in the story structures available to you. Is inkJam associated with ink's creators, Inkle Studios? No, but we love using it to tell stories.

This is an online jam, but if you'd like to create and host an in-person hub then get in touch via the Inkle inkJam discord.

And the theme is...

This is a weekend jam set up to accommodate participants across time-zones. Times are given in CAT/CEST

Jam Start & Theme Announcement: 12pm Friday the 1st of November.

Jam Ends & Submissions Close: 12pm Monday the 4th November.

Voting Closes: Midnight Friday the 15th November. (Lots of time to play and vote!)

Winners Announced: 12pm Saturday the 16th November. (That's a 12 hour drumroll 🥁)

Short Version:

Your submission MUST...

👍 ...use ink.
👍 ...be created during inkJam.
👍 ...have a reachable End State. No soft-locks. No game-breaking bugs. Test your game!
👍 ...credit all contributors.
👍 ...declare any assets used.
👍 ...declare any generative AI used.

Your submission must NOT...

👎...express hateful or bigoted ideologies.
👎...violate the creative rights of anyone else.
👎...contain NSFW  This is a more nuanced point than can easily be summed up in four letters. Nudity, profanity, sex, violence etc. have a place in art and entertainment. So instead of a blanket ban, any NSFW material MUST be marked as such so that participants can choose to engage with it or not.

Your submission should...

🙏 ...be playable without additional downloads.
🙏 ...include all the information required to understand and play it.
🙏 ...be in English to be accessible to the judges.

Long Version:

inkJam is an event where everybody should feel welcome and safe, no matter who they are. No hateful comments, language or visuals will be tolerated. Both in the games submitted, and the communication platforms used during the event. All submissions should have Content Warnings where appropriate

INK must be used to make the submission. It does NOT have to be the only tool used. (We mean ink the narrative scripting language, not the runny black stuff - which you can use if you want.)

The submission must be created during the period of the jam.

Pre-made assets including  code, art, plug-ins, music etc. may be used but MUST be declared in the game description. Credit where credit is due folks.

On Generative AI. Look, I know it can be useful to make stuff fast. Or answer questions that SEO garbage has clogged up. But I think if you use generative AI to create art and music and stories then you're missing out on some of the most human joys we have: creating art for fun, collaborating with someone who has complementary skills, and being shit but practising anyway - and through practising improving and/or embracing the unique qualities of something YOU made. So it's up to you, but if you decide to use gen AI then declare it.

Most categories are community voted, but Best Overall will be judged by... Sam & Sam!

Specifically, Sam Beckbessinger and Sam Wilson!

It's a total coincidence both the judges of Best Overall are named Sam. No relation, obviously. Just synchronicity. Both are accomplished South African writers who've got a couple of Interactive Fiction credits too

Find out more: Here, on the Announcement Post.

Btw... Only Best Overall is a judged category, all the rest are based on community voting.

ink resources on the Inkle Homepage: https://www.inklestudios.com/ink/

Join the community on inkle's Discord server, where a dedicated channel has been created: the Inkle inkJam discord

Atrament Web Ui: https://github.com/technix/atrament-preact-ui

Poink & Clink: https://github.com/averyhiebert/poink-and-clink

Visual Novel Ink Template: https://joshgrams.itch.io/ink-vn-lite

Calico Web Engine: https://elliotherriman.itch.io/calico

A Bitsy-like tool for ink https://smwhr.github.io/binksi/

Collection of Ink Resources on Itch: https://itch.io/c/3743463/ink

A tester for ink: https://github.com/wildwinter/Ink-Tester

🇿🇦 South Africa, Cape Town: Maker's Massive at Homecoming Centre
Corner Buitenkant St &, Caledon St, District Six, Cape Town, 8001
Friday 1st Nov from 12pm to 9pm, Sat 2nd 10am to 8pm and Sun 3rd 10am to 8pm (closed Monday)

🇺🇸 USA, Seattle Washington: Seattle Indies at Academy of Interactive Entertainment
305 Harrison St Ste 405, Seattle, WA on
Saturday, Nov. 2nd from 1pm to 7pm PDT (UTC-7)

If you'd like to create and host an in-person hub then get in touch via the Inkle inkJam discord.

🔹What is the theme?

🔸The theme will be announced when the Jam begins.

🔹When does it begin?

🔸The jam begins on Friday, November, 12pm (UTC+02:00 or CAT/CEST)

🔹Who can enter?

🔸Anyone, anywhere. Alone or as part of a team.

🔹Must I ONLY use ink?

🔸NO! As long as you are using ink in a way or another, you can use absolutely anything!

🔹Should I write my game in English?

🔸You can write in any language you like. Though, keep in mind that fewer people will probably be able to try a game only available in French or Czech than one available in English.

🔹Where can I find help?

🔸You can join the community on inkle's Discord server, where a dedicated channel has been created.

🔹How does the voting work?

🔸Once the jam is over (on Monday, November 4th, 12PM CAT/CEST), participants will have a week to review the games.⁣

Legalities

The inkJam is not associated with inkle.

Anything produced during inkJam is the property of the creators. (Of the thing, not of inkJam or ink.)

Any violation of copyright or terms of service by a team is the responsibility of that team alone.