WELCOME TO THE HAWKTOBER GAME JAM! 

What devilish treats await?

Look to the STAR!

The theme for this year is:

SATANIC PANIC

It's finally my favorite time of year: MY BIRTHDAY! Sorta. It's Hawktober time, and you know what that means: HORROR GAMES! And what better representation of the 6th Hawktober Game Jam than some delightfully sinful games?? Afterall, 666 is the sign of the beast.

Now, as everyone knows (or may not) Satanic Panic was basically a period of time that started in the 80s in which people believed that cults of satanic/occult origins were performing Satanic ritual abuse on people. First starting in America, and then moving worldwide, there were approximately 12,000 reported cases of such rituals and satanic incidents. None were substantiated. (For a hilarious example, look up the Dark Dungeons Chick Tract).

The jist of the theme as it pertains to THIS game jam however is anything having to do with demons, hell, satanic cults/occult, etc. I just liked how Satanic Panic sounded ;)

Some examples of the theme: A Faustian bargain gone wrong. A summoning ritual with a higher price than expected. A portal leading straight to the bowels of hell. A cult descending upon a small town to overthrow/sacrifice it. Even a retelling of Dante's Inferno! The possibilities are endless. Just involve Satan, Demons, and/or The Occult.

All submissions MUST be a game with horror themes. Be it psychological, comedy horror, supernatural, gothic, slasher, etc.

RULES

1. Your entry MUST utilize the theme in some manner or form, and can only be worked on during the submission period. It is very open to interpretation, and creative/unique usage of the theme is encouraged!
2. Horror-themed games are 100% required so long as your game follows the theme. If it's not horror, it will not be judged!
3. Once the submission period is over, NO UPDATES TO YOUR GAMES ARE ALLOWED. Judges will ONLY play your submitted copy, and will not update with any bug fixes. So please DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ENTRIES!
4. Your entry can be made with ANY engine/code base and ANY assets you have the legal rights to use.
5. Your game can be submitted to other game jams and vice versa! So long as your game was made with the theme in mind AND within the submission period!
6. Absolute NO ripped/stolen assets will be allowed or tolerated, and will result in immediate disqualification.
7. GAMES MUST BE WINDOWS BASED. HTML/Browser Based games are allowed, but a downloadable version would be preferred.
8. No fan games. Your entry should be 100% original and/or based on your own worlds and lore that you have rights to.
   1. The only exception is if you have received written permission from another developer/creator in the community giving you permission to use their world/characters.
9. The length of your game MUST be between 5 and 60 minutes.
   1. If your game runs short, it WILL be disqualified.
   2. If your game runs long, judges WILL stop playing at the hour mark (give or take a couple minutes), and will ONLY judge on the first 60 minutes they played INCLUDING CUTSCENES. They will NOT be required to or expected to finish the game.
10. Content that includes Heavy Violence, Language, and Adult Themes up to an 'R' rating are ALLOWED.
    1. Please ensure your game is still Twitch appropriate. If not sure, ask on Discord!
11. Lewd, NSFW, and/or Adult themed games ARE NOT ALLOWED.
12. There is no limit to the amount of times someone may enter, but they may only win ONCE (Either Judge's Choice or People's Vote)
13. Teams are allowed, and Discord role prizes will be awarded to everyone who was a part of that team.
14. Judges are allowed to enter. However, a substitute judge will take over judging their game, if necessary.
15. Finally, submissions remain the full property and copyright of those who submit them. HawkZombie only reserves the right to use said submissions in promotional materials related to Hawktober Game Jams ONLY.

JUDGING CRITERIA

All submissions will both be open to public voting AND will be judged by a panel of judges including myself starting October 16th at 12am MDT. Other than breaking any of the rules listed above, if an entry is unable to run for at least 5 minutes without game-breaking errors it will be disqualified. All games will be judged on the following areas (in order of importance):

1. The Theme - Pretty Obvious. Horror is a must as well as the main theme.
2. The Story - How was the story? Easy to follow? Enjoyable? A nail-biting mystery? How well was it written?
3. Gameplay - Was the game fun? Did it try and add something new? Was it easy to understand? Was it challenging?
4. Asset Usage- Were there any custom assets? How did they fit the game? If non-custom assets were used, how were they implemented in unique ways?

For the People's Vote, it will be a simple 1-5 star category, so vote your honest opinion of the game! Judgments and voting results will be announced (and made public) on November 1st during HawkZombie's special birthday stream!

PRIZES

Currently, there are no plans for cash prizes. If this changes I will update this section and the Discord with more information. If there is anyone who wishes to donate any prizes please get in touch with Hawk through the Discord OR hawkzombie.ttv@gmail.com.

First Place - Judge's Choice: Discord Serve Role (Hawktober Game Jam Winner 2023)

First Place - People's Vote: Discord Serve Role (Hawktober People's Pick 2023)

In the event that a game wins both categories, the next in line will get the role for the People's Vote role.

Good Luck...