The Senscape Jam is back... in style!
And the winners are...
Congratulations to the superb submissions that made the Top 5 list!
All of them made truly clever use of the theme, and they're fun, creative titles to boot! And kudos to the excellent runner-ups that almost made the cut:
Theme voting LIVE!
And the winning theme is...
"Only I can see the monsters among us"
Thank you for casting your vote! The favorite was clear. Now get jammin', the jam is afoot, etc, etc. Keep us posted about your progress here on itch.io or Discord. We'll keep an eye on the conversation.
Best of luck!
Join us in a new instalment to build a quick narrative project. But read on, there's news!
The short: we are not enforcing a scary theme this time (though fear is always more than welcome!). The big rule for your game is that it must be set at night. As you can sense from the artwork, we're encouraging a moody experience. Think late night drive-ins, neon-infused 80s, grindhouse, etc.
A theme will be voted by our Discord community, and it will be required more than ever that you honor it in your project, be it as part of the narrative or game mechanics. Hint: it will be loose topics inspired by lesser-known films you could rent in a VHS store. For example, "I have invaders from outer space hiding in my basement". What you do with that statement is up to you, but we will heavily weight our score towards creativity this time. The type of game you do could be dark comedy such as Scorsese's After Hours, cyberpunk, or good old fashioned gory horror.
Also, while we encourage using Unreal Engine, that won't be a requirement this time either.
Prizes
This is an event that welcomes both experienced and novice developers alike! You'll have two weeks to stir up your creative juices: go experimental, heavy on narrative, perhaps tackle completely visual storytelling, or stick to tried and true point and click. It’s up to you! The main rules are that it must be a narrative-driven game, set at nighttime, and comply with the voted theme.
If you decide to use Unreal Engine, the Senscape team can guide you through the development of your game with coaching and resources that will be constantly provided in our Discord community. Moreover, our talented crew will be running live workshops with a variety of topics!
And yes, Senscape is once again offering cash prizes for the winners:
- 1st. place: USD 1000
- 2nd. place: USD 500
- 3rd. place: USD 300
- 4th. place: USD 200
- 5th. place: USD 100
Games will be evaluated by a select group of judges, including mods from our community and staff from Epic.
Stay in touch!
Senscape has been supporting the adventure game community for many years. We’re the developers behind games such as Serena, the highly anticipated ASYLUM, and the cult classic Scratches. Our friendly and lively community on Discord will be our primary point of encounter for this jam with dedicated channels and resources. You can follow our Twitter account as well for the latest news and announcements.
The Senscape team will be online on Discord at every step of the way to keep an eye on your projects and provide support as needed. You're more than welcome to meet other developers from our community if you need more people in your team or want to join an existing one. Resources that will be posted on Discord in the coming days include our recommended assets from the Unreal marketplace to build adventure games, suggestions on how to organize your team, devise your project plan, useful tools, and much more!
Schedule
The jam is jam-packed (we can't help always doing the same joke!) with cool activities. Here's the quick overview:
- Unreal workshops: October 7-11
- Theme voting: October 12-13 at http://discord.gg/senscape
- Beginning of the jam: October 14
- Submission of optional project plan: October 17
- Deadline to submit finished games: October 31
- Announcement of winners: November 14 at http://twitch.com/senscape 3PM ET - 11AM PST
Novice developers are more than welcome to participate, even if this would be the first game you're making! The jam has been prepared with you in mind, which is why we will optionally receive a submission of your project plan and tell you our thoughts in advance, especially if your idea can be developed in two weeks.
Rules
The rules are straightforward:
- Anyone is welcome to participate in the jam, regardless of experience!
- You can go solo or with a team. Maximum team size is 5. We recommend our Discord server to connect with other developers and organize your team.
- You can use any game engine for your project.
- The genre of your game must be adventure. Please refer to the note below for our definition of adventure.
- Your game should include a reference to or fit in some way with a theme voted by our community.
- Please don't start working on the game prior to the jam as it's unfair to other participants.
- You may use pre-made assets, either made by you, from a previous project, or from a marketplace. You should, however, indicate if the work is 100% original or if assets were sourced from an online marketplace. As such, these should be noted with credit given to the original creators in your submission.
- Submissions that are offensive in any way or in poor taste will be disqualified and removed.
- Remember that your game must be free to play until the voting period is over.
- Please include a reference to the Senscape Midnight Jam in your game credits or store page, even if later released commercially. By submitting a game, you give Senscape permission to showcase your game in any future videos, streams, etc.
- You may use AI to produce concept art or prototyping, but we do not allow assets developed with AI in your game. If we catch you, you'll be instantly disqualified.
- Finally, it's very important to have fun during the jam!
Note that we define an "adventure game" in this context as a narrative-driven or story-based game with optional emphasis on puzzles (i.e.: logical or inventory-based) and little or no reliance on action elements. Thus, your project could be anything from a traditional point-and-click adventure to a visual novel, to a mind-blowing interactive experience that transcends the medium if it doesn't tax any reflexes.
In other words: physical challenges should not be your primary game mechanic. It's OK if you have to escape from an unexpected threat in your narrative game, but if running and escaping is the primary mechanic, then it won't be taken into consideration. Good examples of narrative games featuring action sequences that fit our criteria are Still Wakes the Deep, The Quarry and The Walking Dead. Examples of games featuring strong narrative content that don't fit the criteria would be Amnesia, L.A. Noire and the Uncharted series, which focus too much on the action and stealth. If in doubt, propose your concept in a project plan and we'll get back to you!
Voting Criteria
After the submission period, judges will evaluate entries with the following categories in mind:
- Creativity: The overall presentation and vision of your game, how well its concept works, how original it is.
- Storytelling: How compelling your story and its setting is. If you made extensive use of environmental storytelling, the design of your environments will be considered for this category.
- Gameplay: How your mechanics fit with the story and ultimately feel to play.
- Entertainment: Whether your game was fun to play or not. And yes, disturbing and scary horror games are welcome — we'll consider the overall experience.
- Visuals: How good the game looks, understanding that this is a jam.
- Audio: If the game has sound effects and music, this category will be considered, although we recognize some narrative subgenres may not need extensive use of sound. We still encourage you to work on this area.
Categories will be given more or less weight depending on the nature of your game. The use of sound is one example: it's perfectly possible to tell a good story just with sound, and in such a case excelling in the Audio category will be crucial. Just as well, strong graphics are welcome but not always necessary for the execution of a good story. However, if setting and atmosphere were essential to your story, then the Visuals category will be given much more importance. Just don't feel like you need to comply with any of these categories — you could submit an experimental piece that doesn't necessarily excel in any of these categories, and it still could be amazing!
Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 14. The team of judges will be disclosed in the coming days.
Previous winners
The Senscape Jam has given birth to many remarkable games. We encourage you to take a look at these highlights, as they did a great job fitting our rules and some of them even got to Steam!
- Insert Video Game Here by Tillion and his sister
- Halloween World by Victory and Gargoule
- Partum Artifex by Joakim "Chef" Lundström
- Sacrificial Lighthouse by OgnePtaX, Puba24, AHPyXA and TorquoiseHex
- The Wrong Kind of Shadow by Joakim "Chef" Lundström
Partum Artifex and Sacrificial Lighthouse are commercially available on Steam with very positive reviews.
FAQ
Can I start thinking of ideas ahead of time?
Of course you can! Just don't start making the actual game until the jam begins. Also, we recommend you scale back your ideas.
Does it necessarily have to be a short game?
Well, no — we suggest a short length of maybe around one hour at most because it's a jam and focused, well-executed stories can be more powerful. Also, remember that we established a maximum team size of 5.
Does voice acting count towards the maximum team size?
No, your game can feature as many voice actors as you need. But please, remember to credit their work when you submit the finished game!
Can I use pre-made assets?
Absolutely, but you must have the appropriate permissions and mention any required attributions. Remember to disclose any assets that were not created during the jam when you submit your game, so that judges rating its audiovisual categories can give a fair rating.
What platform should I create my game for?
You may create your game for any platform. But! It is highly recommended that you create the game with Windows as the primary platform in mind. Mac and Linux versions are a welcome too, but they should be preferably optional builds. We can't guarantee every judge and content creator will be able play games that at least don't offer a Windows build, which could affect your final rating.
Do I have to use the whole jam period?
Not really, but we do recommend you make the most out of the available time. Even if the game is ready before the deadline, you could polish some areas, test some more, etc.
Can I use other peoples' work in my game?
It's the same case as with pre-made assets: we do not take responsibility for any unauthorized uses of other peoples' work (including music, sound and art) and any consequences that may result from its use. So please make sure before you submit that you have the appropriate license/authorization for each asset you didn't do by yourself.
Do I keep the rights to my game?
Certainly! You keep the rights to everything you created for this game jam.
Notices
King Wash Laundromat environment by Dekogon Studios. VHS store adaptation inspired by Anastasia Ermakova. VHS Rack with Horror & Sci-Fi Classics prop by Glowbox 3D. Movie posters are copyrighted by their respective owners. This game jam is a nonprofit event.
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