Celebrating Iqbal Day with a Game Jam.

Join our discord community to meet Pakistani creatives, team up or find help.

What is a Game Jam?

A Game Jam is a short event where you and others work together to create a small game. Most Jams have some kind of restriction on theme or style to get you thinking about games in a new way. Iqbal Day Jam aims to be a way to encourage Pakistani game developers, provide opportunity for learning and skill building, and bring awesome Pakistani creatives together. 

Who can enter?

This Game Jam is strictly for Pakistanis. Your team must have at least one person with a strong connection to Pakistan. That includes everyone living in Pakistan, or Pakistanis living abroad or their kin.

What game to make?

Iqbal Day Jam will have a theme announced when the jam begins. Participants should make a small game that somehow includes that theme. Games can be made using any technology or game engine you like. Some popular game engines are Godot, Unity, Unreal and Game Maker Studio but you can choose anything as long as the game can be played inside a browser. From text based adventures to first person shooters all genres and types of games are welcome.

Why a browser game? Because we want as many people to play as possible. Making your game compatible with the browser makes sure that most devices will be able to run it. And players don't have to worry about downloading a virus.

Theme

Iqbal's Poetry.

That's right, make a game based on or including Iqbal's poetry or its themes. This could be
a very artsy way to represent one of Iqbal's poems
a game where the story or themes are based on one of Iqbal's poems
a game where characters discuss Iqbal's poems and message
a game where the poems are part of the game in a more literal sense like pieces of a puzzle or platforms
a more conventional game with every part themed to Iqbal's vision
or anything else. Get creative with it.

This is a ranked jam and entries will be ranked on three criteria:

1. Usage of Iqbal's poetry (How creative and interesting is the use of Iqbal's poetry?)
2. Fun (How fun is the game to play?)
3. Technical (Rate the art, music, sounds or mechanics or their in-game use)

It's up to you how you interpret the theme, and you can elaborate how your game fits the theme on your game page. 

Themes are meant to be a restriction that you need to solve your way out of. Don't despair if you dislike the theme, instead try to find a creative solution where you can have fun and try something you otherwise wouldn't have.

Setup

• Join our official Discord!
• Spread the word, bring your friends!
• Form up into teams or decide on running solo.
• Come up with a team name and get ready to jam!

Rules

• This is not an exhaustive list. Don't be a dumbass. 
• You must follow the Itch.io TOS.
• No teams of more than 5 people.
• Your submission must run in the browser.
• Be cool to each other.
• No AI-Generated Content.
• No Pornographic Content or Nudity.
• No Illicit Drug References.
• Any submission published before the jam's starting date will be removed
• Only one submission per person/team is allowed
• No paid games or games that require someone to pay in any way
• You can only use assets you have the right to use. You can build your own stuff and learn from it or you can use freely available asset packs.