Welcome to another Newbies Game Jam for 2023!

New Devs Game Jam is a competition for people who is new to game development and has less than a few years of experience! (Check out the rules for more detail!)  

This game jam is an excellent opportunity to give you a nice little boost for the beginning of your journey.

THERE IS NO SHAME IN TRYING! As game developers, we should improve ourselves in different ways, and believe me, every one of us once attempted only to work on a single (!dream!) project. However, you can't go much further without creating different types of games and going through a try-fail process! 

Believe in "improvement by challenging your limits" because at the end of it, you are not here to win you are here to learn!
Whatever happens you will be happy with what you've come up with, even if it's not the final look.

The theme is a required idea of what your game needs to be about!

Themes are no limitations! Instead of limiting, they give you a starting point of an idea! 

THE THEME IS...

Light is The Enemy! - by Mercinn on discord!

Here are some possible game ideas generated by AI with this theme!

Game Idea 1: Shadow World

In this game, players navigate through a dark world where light is the enemy. The player character is a creature that thrives in darkness and must avoid any sources of light. The game mechanics involve stealth and puzzle-solving as players must find ways to navigate through the environment without being seen by light sources. The game could have a spooky or eerie atmosphere to add to the tension of avoiding light.

Game Idea 2: Dark Energy

In this game, players take on the role of a character who has the power to absorb and manipulate dark energy. Light is the enemy in this game because it weakens the player's powers. The game mechanics involve using dark energy to defeat enemies and solve puzzles, while avoiding light sources that drain the player's energy. As the player progresses through the game, they can upgrade their powers and unlock new abilities.

Game Idea 3: Night Vision

In this game, players take on the role of a character with enhanced night vision, but who is extremely sensitive to light. The game mechanics involve exploring dark environments and using the player's night vision to see in the dark. However, players must avoid any sources of light, as exposure to light can cause the player to become disoriented and lose their night vision. The game could have a survival-horror feel to it as players must navigate through dangerous environments with limited visibility.

The Rule of Three!

An OPTIONAL limitation, this limitation is here to give you some idea about what to work on! You can still create a game without these rules, but your game still has to be about the theme!

Limitation Mechanics: 

1. Toggling (key or button)

2. Flying/Floating

3. Pure Talent (which basically means no luck based)

This optional limitation is there to challenge you, and inspire you even more!
To take this challenge, you should include all 3 game-mechanic rules above!

1. Newbie! What is this newbie anyway? If a limit is what you are looking for, it is better to have less than a year of experience, no one can prove that you are experienced, but neither you can improve by participating in this jam if you already have lots of experience! And this "experience" is not for a single tool, talking about your whole game development months of experience, (i.e if you have been doing games for 5 years, you can't join!) 
2. Time Out! You must submit the game within the determined Game Jam period (April 18 - 28) - When the voting is over, you can continue improving your project! (we make exceptions for people who are late to submit)
3. Challenge the Time! Try at least making 80% of the game within the time limit! Free assets/resources are okay; getting help for the coding is also not an issue. However, do not submit a game you've already started earlier or even finished for other projects!
4. Let's be Polite! Inappropriate content is prohibited! Any 18+ content carrying game competent(s) will get banned from the competition.
5. No App Limitation! Use any Game engine, Art Software, or Audio Recorder (DAW)
6. Be Good, Not An Expert! The main point of this jam is to collect new developers who wants to get on this journey! If you have less than or nearly a year of experience, you are more than WELCOME! But if not, then pick another jam. (We still can make exceptions! Check Q&A)
7. Vote to appreciate! The experience you have will be shown under your submissions, so everybody is not as experienced as you are; that's why keep that in mind before voting because this might be their first-ever project!
8. The team has limits! Unfortunately in this type of game jam, we can't let a 10 or 20 people community to create a single game, that's why every team can have up to 4 team members only! Do you need a team? The answer is in Q&A
9. Have fun (I'm serious)! Okay, at first I didn't care about this rule too, but I now know that you should do this as a hobby! Don't take it so seriously; give your shot, it doesn't have to be the best, but it can be something that years later you will turn back and say, "Hey! That was fun to work on." Just mess around with your project; it's okay to struggle or fail to add some polishment, but the important thing is that you had fun and at the end, you shared it with the community that can appreciate your work.

Q&A

• What happens if I'm only a few minutes late to submit?                 
  • No worries! Just create your itch io page without submitting here and contact me from our Discord server, and don't forget to mention the reason you are late, then I can give you a little more time to submit it!
• I want to do my project by getting help from my friend, am I allowed to do that?             
  • Of course, if you all have less than a year of experience, you can team up! 
• I'm afraid to do this by myself, can I team up, and should I?
  • I would say teaming up is easy, but when it comes to working as a team! it's a little hard to progress; you need a good planner and/or a leader, if your team can work organized, then you will come up with something amazing! You can also team up by finding someone on our discord server!
• I have less than a month of experience, and I think a game jam would be complicated! But I want to try. What should I do?
  • Enter the jam and discord server! I am open to any questions about projects you are working on to help! I can't find every answer, but if you stay in a community, you can always find some help! Usually, people would say give your best shot, but no! crucial for now that you participate and experience how to be in a game jam! You don't need to win a competition to be good at game dev, that's why we don't have a prize, just try it, and you'll see that game jams help a lot!
• Is there a prize? 
  • I can gladly answer that as no... Because this competition is only to begin your journey, and the thing is, you don't have to start with this Jam; you can select another game jam to start but JUST START! It's your choice. The goal behind Newbies Game Jam is to compete with the people you are nearly on the same exp level. But of course, there will be little appreciation for the winners like special discord role; other than that, if you really want something special for the winner, just suggest your ideas on our discord server!
• What if I have more than years of experience with the [Old] Game Engine but not with the [New] Game Engine? Can I enter the Jam by using only the [New] Game Engine?
  •  I have to say no. You cannot hide your experience on failed attempts, successes, or any progress! Game Engines are only the tools we use to make life easy, but the experience you have won't fade away after changing the game engine!! That's why it is called "developer experience" and not "experience with [This] Engine."

1.  Dungeons & Dwarves - by High Lord
2. Armored Spirit - by FaQndo
3. Die, Skull, Repeat - by skullbuns
4. Blobby Hell - by Bloodyman2103, yanvv
5. Candle Deep - by NUTT

more

You can also join our Discord server to get help and feedback and vote for the theme!