🍂 Embrace the cozy vibes of creativity this fall! The Pygame Community Game Jam is back, ready to sweep you into a whirlwind of inspiration and adventure. While the season brings its golden leaves and misty mornings, your game doesn’t have to be autumn-themed—let your imagination run wild! Whether it’s a harvest-time tale, a magical journey, or something entirely unique, your coding skills and artistic vision will bring this season’s most captivating games to life. Ready to make some magic this fall?

Theme: 64x64

Rating Criteria

• Theme Integrity:
  • How well does the game capture the spirit of the jam's theme? Higher scores go to games that creatively interpret the theme or use it in unexpected ways.
• Artistry:
  • Does the game's audio and visuals create a compelling atmosphere or experience? This category considers the overall quality and effectiveness of the sound effects, music, and visuals, not necessarily technical perfection.
• Innovation:
  • How fresh and unique are the game's core mechanics and ideas? This doesn't necessarily mean complex mechanics; even simple ideas can be innovative in their execution.
• Polish:
  • How much attention to detail has been given to enhance the overall experience? This includes aspects like:
    • Programming details (physics, visual effects)
    • Graphic detail
    • Level design (count, size, detail)
    • User interface clarity
    • Presence of Easter eggs
  • Games with bugs or rushed sections will receive lower scores in this category.
• Engagement:
  • How well does the game hold your attention and make you want to keep playing? This considers factors like:
    • Fun factor and overall gameplay experience
    • Clear goals and mechanics
    • Difficulty curve that's both challenging and rewarding
    • Replayability or the desire to keep coming back for more

Rules

• All submissions must be created between the start and end of the jam. Games that were started before the start of the jam will not be allowed. Post-jam versions of your game must be clearly marked as such.

• Pre-existing engine/utility code can be reused for this jam. However, code specific for this jam must be created after the jam starts.

• Pygame(-ce) must be the primary tool used for rendering and sound. Using things such as, e.g. modernGL for shaders or pyaudio for sound manipulation is allowed, but pygame must be used for the bulk of the work. This helps to keep things even between participants. (If possible, the pygame-ce fork of pygame should be used)

• You MUST create all assets used in your entry during the jam. Asset generators are perfectly fine to use, but NO premade assets are allowed, even if you have the rights to them. This includes creative commons works (even CC0). Exceptions:
  • Things in the public domain that are over ~70 years old (e.g. classical music pieces, old paintings, etc) 
  • Fonts (which you must, of course, still have license to use).
  • Premade splash screens or logos
  • Pygame assets from https://pyga.me/docs/logos.html exclusively.
  Every jam we have a bunch of entries that ignore this rule, please don't ignore this rule.

• Please be careful with delicate or controversial subject matter. Do not make games with NSFW/18+ content. If you are unsure whether you can include something in your entry, ask a member of staff on the Discord server.

• Teams of 2+ are allowed for this jam. However, no more than 2 Discord Nitro awards will be awarded per team.

• Upon submitting your game you will be required to leave a link to your game's source code as well as the Discord #'s of all team members.

• You are not allowed to have fun throughout the creation process. Any team caught enjoying the jam will be disqualified! /s

Prizes

• 1st Place - 2 Months Discord Nitro

• 2nd Place - 1 Month Discord Nitro

• 3rd Place - 1 Month Discord Nitro Basic 

_{Note that for those working in teams, only a maximum of 2 Nitros will be given out for a given entry}