TOP Jam 1 - Edutainment

The very first Odin Project jam!

https://www.theodinproject.com/home

Why a game jam?

Games are a big reason a lot of people get interested in programming; let's celebrate that.

The Odin Project has historically had a lack of teamwork opportunities, and this jam seemed like a good fix for this problem. This event is also the start of community events that we will be attempting to implement to help drive community engagement.

Besides, everyone needs a break from the every day! And it's only 3 weeks!

What is a gamejam? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_jam

Theme - Edutainment

Edutainment is the combination of education and entertainment. For example, those spelling games you may have played in computer lab as a kid. Currently, there is a massive lack of good games in this sector. Spending some time on this could be worthwhile as a whole for the sake of education.

A secondary theme will be revealed here 3 days before the jam's start date. You are free to choose any subject (math, spelling, reading comprehension, pattern recognition, etc) you would like to build a game around. However, an additional "flavor" will be revealed here to incorporate into your game. For example, the additional flavor may be "outdoors" or "trains".

Secondary Theme:

There isn't one! We decided to not do a secondary theme so we didn't stifle your creativity! Good luck, and have fun!

Rules

Don't begin work before the official start date!

It is OK to do some preliminary planning and get your group together and talk about things, but don't start writing code that will be submitted before the start date.

Only use tech that is taught by or closely related to The Odin Project.

Don't use fancy game frameworks like Unity, Godot, or Phaser.js.  Web-dev focused libraries like React may be used, but are not required.

DOM only (i.e. don't use Canvas)

This is the best way we can keep this competitive to as many people on Odin as possible. People who have completed Rock Paper Scissors should have a chance to participate with a good idea and not get overshadowed by people who may know more about traditional gamedev.

Your target demographic is somewhere between 3 years old to 12 years old.

That's roughly pre-school to 6th grade.  Try to focus your game to a more specific level within those bounds.

Max of 4 people on a team.

Too many people can give a team an unfair advantage. You may go at this alone if you wish. People outside of Odin are welcome to participate!

You must abide by the rules of TOP, see the discord #rules channel for more information. 

If you have any questions if you can do something, ask in the #jam-general channel

Do not violate IP/copyright laws

It's OK to use assets you did not create yourself, just be sure the license on the assets allows you to use it in this setting.

It must have some educational value.

A remake of asteroids does not have educational value on its own but could be extended so that asteroids had words that players must read, or numbers the players must add before shooting.  Pick a subject matter that falls into one of the main subjects kids learn in school like Math, Reading, History, or Science. (i.e. don't just make a normal game and try to call it "educational" because it teaches kids how to shoot aliens or something.   No, shooting aliens is not science.)

Must be within the spirit of the jam, or the submission will be removed

Avoid submitting games that make no attempt at education, and avoid inside jokes. If you have questions about if your idea is within the spirit of the jam, please ask.

Scoring Guidelines

Teacher's Choice

We have some teachers in TOP's maintainer team, they get to pick their favorites

Kid's Choice

Nothing better than the target audience to vote for their favorites!

TOP Maintainer Team Choice

We're putting this on, we have some say ;)

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Fun

How fun is the game? Do you enjoy it?

Visuals and Audio

Many games won't have audio, but it should help the score, alternatively, a visually stunning game can make up for lack of audio

Educational Value

How useful is this game in an educational setting?

Creativity/Originality

How "outside the box" is this game?

Theme

Does this adhere to the theme of the jam?

https://www.theodinproject.com