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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a game jam?A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video game as quickly as possible.
Most game jams take place over the course of a weekend—24 to 48 hours is a typical length for a game jam, and they can take place online or in person. Some jams are ranked or judged, but as a beginner-friendly jam this one is not competitive. This jam is also completely online—you sign up and submit entirely on itch.io.
Who can join?
Anyone! You’re especially welcome if you’ve never made games before—you just may find that it’s not that terrifying or difficult with the right resources and community. Experienced devs are also welcome and encouraged to learn something new–whether it’s an engine, language, or type of game they’ve never created before.
- Yes, we really mean anyone can join, even if you have not made a game before or already have some experience making games or joining jams.
- You can work alone or in teams. Only one person is required to submit the game, but you can add additional teammates who have itch.io profiles from the More > Admins heading under the game project.
- There is no limit to team size. However, we recommend you keep your team size relatively small for ease of communication.
- You are allowed to join multiple teams, but be mindful that making games is a lot of work and we do not recommend this for your first jam or more than 2 teams.
- We do not pair you up with teams. However, you can use the teamfinding channel in the Discord server to find teammates.
- Please note our Discord server age requirement is 14 years or older.
When is the jam?
Current jam dates are displayed on the jam page above.
- However, if these jam dates don’t work for you, we host this jam annually! If you can’t make the current jam, follow us and check back next year.
- You can brainstorm, plan, and outline (including concept art, diagrams, and pseudocode) before the jam. However, any assets used in the game (including sprites, game-specific code, actual game dialogue) should be created within the jam timeframe.
- You can join the jam even after it’s started.
What can I make?
Make a game (or functional interactive work) in two weeks! This jam’s length is meant to encourage absolute beginners to take the time to learn how to make a game. Even if you have development experience, you should be learning something new—whether engine, language, or creating a kind of game you’ve never tried to make before.
- For the sake of the jam, we encourage everyone to be learning something new!
- You may use any game engine/framework/language to make your game and build for any platform you like, including mobile. For mobile, only APKs can be distributed on itch.io.
- We do not accept submissions that require external games or software to run such as Roblox. Games that require interpreters (python, some interactive fiction languages, etc.) are allowed.
- You are not required to build for a specific platform. Generally, the more platforms you build for, the more people can play your game, with web based games being the most popular.
- You are free to make a tabletop, card, or analog game.
- You may not make NFT games. Games that are monetized by or affiliated with NFTs or cryptocurrencies will be banned. Discussion legitimatizing NFT games will result in a ban.
- There is an optional theme announced when the jam begins. You don’t have to use it— it’s only there to help encourage ideas.
How do I join?
- Sign up for itch.io and hit “Join jam” on the jam page.
- Make a game.
- Follow this tutorial to submit your game.
- That’s it! If you have to drop out of the jam, you don’t need to do anything–the join button just helps us get an estimate of jammer count.
- You can also fill out our entrance poll. This just helps us assess the general interests of jammers and to help you set realistic goals. It is not required to be accurate, and you do not need to let us know if your answer changes!
Jam submission rules
- Your game cannot contain hateful, derogatory, or bigoted content.
- It must be created and submitted within the game jam time frame.
- In fairness to your fellow jammers (and other jams!), you may only submit your game to My First Game Jam.
- Your game is not required to be finished–we accept demos and unfinished games alike! You are also free to update your game after you submit it, even after the jam.
- We accept games with adult content, but they must be tagged +18 in the title and adult content must not be visible in the game thumbnail.
- While mature themes are allowed in game projects, please label your work accordingly for explicit/disturbing content. While heavy content and themes are allowed, we ask that you handle traumatizing subjects sensitively. You may be asked to revise your game, but in a failure to fit this guideline we reserve the right to remove your submission.
- We have the right to remove any game or jammer for violating conduct or submission rules.
- We don’t judge games. The jam isn’t a competition–it’s a community!
Asset and crediting rules
- You may use third party resources in your game if you have the rights to use them. A list of free resources has been compiled here.
- To credit resources in either the game credits or the game’s itch.io page, state the resource and the creator’s name and link. (i.e., Art by cool_artist)
- You can use pre-existing code and libraries you have the rights to use, including your own. However, anything specific to this jam game should be created within the jam timeframe.
- You may not use AI art, writing, audio, or code in your game, even for ideation. As a jam centered on learning we recommend following tutorials and guides, using public domain assets, or finding a teammate instead.
- We don’t require you to mention MFGJ in your game, but we appreciate a shoutout!
Legal and payment rules
- You retain all rights to your game and are free to sell it even after the jam has ended. We recommend “pay what you want” as a payment model to make your game accessible but allow people to tip you if they want!
- You do not have to pay to join or submit to the jam, however note that some game development tools cost money (but there are plenty of free options).
- While we don’t boot fangames, we are not legally responsible for anything that may happen.
Late submissions
- Discord: Message one of the available admins with a link to your game’s page on itch.io (which means, you need to upload it to the site.)
- Tumblr: If submitting by ask, make sure you’re logged in and do not submit as anonymous. We need to send you a link back to allow you to add your game to the jam collection.
- Email: myfirstgamejam[@]gmail[.]com
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