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Everyone who is on the discord has been made aware of the situation that has unfolded. My father in-law was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer around the end of our first Beginners Circle jam. It has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. The worst being recently where an emergency surgery in the beginning of November, forced us to visit. I just made it back into town on the 24th. This situation has led to the decision for  my wife and I to pack up our life and move 6 hours away to be closer to help out and make him as comfortable as possible.

This isn't a sob story which is going to led to plea for donations, nor is it an excuse to say the game jam will not be finished, this is me, the host trying to be as transparent and honest as possible about what is going on. While I was away, the judging period ended, leaving editing open. With the judging ended, we are working on making a reasonable and fair solution to re-do all judging, while doing it fairly after so many updates have occurred.

I personally understand how much work and time goes into a game and have not taken any of your time or work for granted. I ask that you please give me the same respect and understand the seriousness and severity of this situation and know that we are doing everything in our power to come up with a plan to make this up. Your work will not be in vein!

The prizes will be increased and there will be many other steps made to ensure that all participant's games get some love. Announcement to come as soon as we are finished planning it out. Please stay tuned.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, and for not writing this sooner on the itch page. Please be patient and understanding and I PROMISE, we will make it up to each and every one of you! 

As an experiment, we are trying out a voting system this time. All of YOU, the participants will have the chance to vote on each game! Each of of the follow categories will have a 5 star rating, 5 stars being the best, 1 start being the least.

Voting Categories are:
- Originality

- Audio / Sound

- Art

- Use of Theme

- Fun / Engagement

This is an experiment to see if we could handle voting FAIRLY among ourselves. There will still be Honorable Mentions, Super Solos, AngrySmile's Choice and a Special Guest's Choice. 

Your game was clearly made and edited prior to the start of the game jam. Game jams are friendly competitions to promote growth and learn techniques within the specified limitations. These game jam games are made within the game jam and not before. Many games were removed from this game jam for overlooking the meaning of a game jam, and using it as a place to sell, revive and advertise an old project to get clicks.

This game jam is not our Practice Circle, main difference being it has prizes and rules. If you mistook this game jam for the Practice Circle, I apologize. If you violated the rules and intentionally are looking for advertising, this game jam is not the place for this. I would try our Practice Circle for old projects in the future.

Congratulations on completing your first game jam and getting something entered! You made a nice lunar landing type game here. I hope you learned a lot and had fun creating this. The sfx were nice.  Keep up your game dev journey!

Advice for future / Feedback for improving this game:
- Look up TextMeshPro in Unity. Makes Texts very clear and doesn't stretch or distort text at all.
- Make your own art, make it personalized and unique to stand out as your own.
- Add fuel/gas to the controls. This will add an extra element of skill to the game.
- Add bonus item that is risky but gives extra points
- Have a timer / high score
- Continue practicing and making games to improve your skills for the future.

Thank you for submitting a this lunar lander to our game jam! I hope to see you again in the future.  Congratulations!

Video Play-through (<-Click)

The music what an amazing choice to tie in the mood of the story. The animations and art of the dog was very well done and I enjoyed this short and sad, but well made game. The scene transitions were a nice touch of polish, along with a opening start screen. Great work on this! Please continue on your game dev journey!

Advice for future / Feedback for improving this game
- Have the menu buttons have some visual affordance when you hover the mouse over them
- Have the player blink or have a death animation for practice
- Have paths that you can go back and forth from and have items that are collected in order to complete the game

Thank you for submitting this wonderfully made and emotion game! Hopefully we will continue to see you submit to our future game jams!

Video Play-Through (<-Click)

This game changed my life...

Video

What a phenomenal job your team has done! Each of the three of you came together and made magic here! All of your jobs were done perfectly and this game is just oozing with a certain unique love and charm. The art of the animations on the character followed the principles of animation very well, leaving the character looking squishy and adorable. The music change painted a unique experience and feel for each part of the level. The level design and programming of mechanics was superb and showed some careful planning and care. This game rocks! You team should be extremely proud of yourselves for turning out such a unique game so far! Keep up the great work!

Advice for Future / Feedback for improving this game:
- Your team did something right here. I say you try to stay together when ever possible as your team certainly shows a special gift as you each compliment each others skill perfectly, which is hard to find.
- Make a logo, menu / start screen. Have a game loop for restarting over with a button to restart or quit the game. I liked how you put Alt + f4 at the ending.
- LOVED the easter egg I found, continue doing this in the future please.

Thank you for making my smile and providing such a great game to enjoy! I hope to continue to see more for this team in our future game jams!

Video Play-through (<-Click)

You had a very unique idea here. The game itself looks great! This game was oozing with charm and originality. I like the game, and understand you rushed it. Hopefully you had fun and learned something in the process. I would love to see you finish this up and get to show off your original vision.

Advice for Future / Feedback for improving this game:
- Have a simple particle system, or a few objects that randomly wonder around as the visitors. Based on the number of visitors, the number of these visitors objects will seem more and more chaotic, wondering around the zoo. You could then add an element of cleanliness that increases with the visitors, that would require janitors/cleaning crew that you have to use points to increase with the increase of visitor traffic. Maybe have bills and other randomize events that cost the zoo points at intervals. Maybe work hours with a day and night system, with the weekdays as well to bring in that tycoon feel. Have a goal to reach add a new extension / level each time. I am sure you had many of these and then some planned but rushed this out.

Thank you for submitting the unique and adorable game! Hopefully we will continue to see you in our future game jams! Keep up the game dev dream!

Video Play-through(<-Click)

This was a wonderful game. I have enjoyed similar downhill games in the past and had a ton of fun playing this game. The ragdoll effects made my laugh a few times. The force mechanic was well made and I felt it was balanced and allowed a good amount of force to be taken but also kill you if you land too hard. Great work on this. You can totally make a nice mobile game with these skills. Please continue on your game dev dream! Keep up the great work.

Advice for Future / Feedback for improve this game:
- Add items. Maybe try having a timer that is counting down to zero and have time pick ups that increase the time left. Giving an incentive to take risks and ride faster. You can also add damage instead of recovering force and have repair item pickups that remove the damage level.
- In the mobile game sense, you can add some upgrades and a point system in which to upgrade the bike/character.
- Complete a game loop. Have start menu, then a button to click into the game itself and have a lose condition on the gameover with a score/time display with a button to restart the game. This will be great practice to have in the future with any game. Always make a loop for repeatability and overall presentation.

Thank you so much for submitting the game and giving me a good laugh in the process. Hopefully we will continue to see you submitting fun games like this to our game jams in the future.
Video Play-through (<-Click)

High Score: 34.38 Seconds

This was a nice little demo of what is possible in Godot. I will definitely be playing around with Godot more to have experience in the engine. The story of the rich people going to "a different planet" was a nice use of theme as well. Nice work so far. Please make more 3D in Godot. Keep up the game dev dream!

Advice for future / Feedback for improvements:
- Add onto this game and practice some features within Godot. Maybe try to play around with health and an item to refill the health. If you can make a health pick up, you can make many different possible features for a puzzle/platformer. You could bring weapons and enemies into as well if you wanted to go a different route.
- Keep practicing. Take some tutorials / courses and get some experience and inspiration for what is possible within Godot. Utilize our Practice Circle for incomplete games in the future. You can finish them up in there and get a the same treatment as you would here in the Beginners Circle.

Thank you for submitting this nice little island to the game jam! I hope to continue to see more of you in the future!
Video Play-through (<-Click)

Greatest game in the history of time.

This was a fun remake of the original game. I hope you learned a lot in the making of this. You did a good job finishing up the game and having the incentive for spending points like the typical mobile game would. Not sure if this is a valid entry to the theme or game jam in general, but I enjoyed my play through regardless. Well done! Keep up the good work!

Video Play-Through (<-Click)

This was a wonderful experience! You put a ton of personal touches and love into this, and it shows. The beginning and ending cutscenes were well done and a nice touch. I loved everything about this! Your team should be very proud of what you made! Great work on the creepy atmosphere. Theme was well implemented as well as your game being original and well made. Bravo!

Advice for the Future / Feedback for improving this game:
- Play around with the oxygen functions. Have a item pickup that refills the O2? This will add an extra element to the game.
- Following the Metroid formula, you could have the Captain have no weapon or breach charges, has to find them. They unlock new parts of map. https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/HugoBille/20120114/90903/The_Invisible_Hand_of_S... nice level design layout of Super Metroid for inspiration.
- Continue adding more story that leads the Captain deeper and deeper into the cave and maybe a boss fight that leads into the discovery of the planet's secret.

Video Play-through(<-Click)

Very sweet and simple game. I enjoyed it as it was a nice breath of fresh air to play this little gem. You did a great job on the enemy movement.  The art was original and well made. Animations on the walk work well and the portals looked very cool. You did a wonderful job on this game! You should be proud of yourself.

Advice for Future / Feedback for improving this game:
- Make a fullscreen mode.
- Make a HTML/WebGL build to increase the amount of plays
- Sell your game better by making the game page theme colorful and always have a description of what someone is about to play.  Coming up with a better title and use of theme as well would make these types of games do well in our game jams.
- Add more content / longer level. You could try to experiment with items too. Make a door or a path that requires obtaining an item to unlock it.

Thank you for submitting the wonderful game into our game jam! I hope we continue to see you participating in our future game jams! Keep up the great work on your game dev journey so far!
Video Play-through (<-Click)

I gave it a go and ended up getting stuck on the ladder. This would have been a perfect entry for the Practice Circle, as the score for this game is fairly low because of the rules involved in the Beginners Circle. Hopefully you learned Unity a little bit and have some experience in it now.

Also since this game was entered from and most likely made for another game jam, I didn't put the time into completing it, like I will the others who put the time and effort into following the rules. 

Advice for the Future / Feedback for this game:
- Make everything you make original and your own. Try not to use templates and generic assets within the Beginners Circle, but rather utilize the Practice Circle for these types of projects in the future.
- Practice more within Unity and maybe follow a few tutorials to gain confidence and learn how to do more within the engine
- Have a description to your game and play around with the theme. Try to sell your game so others play it.
- Fix the Canvas / UI

Thank you for submitting a game into our game jam! We hope to see more of you in the future, whether that be the Beginners Circle or the Practice Circle.
Video Play-test(<-Click)

After over 2 hours of repeat fails, I will be back to finish, rate and comment. 45 mins of video up already...

Congratulations you made your first game! You did an amazing job! You should feel proud and accomplished that you were able to submit a game into the game jam. I love the original art and how each level was distinct from each other. I need to get experience in Construct3 to be able to understand how it works and its limitations to give you the best feedback.

Advise for the future / Feedback for this game:
- Fix Level 6. I tried a few times and it looks impossible. I went back and tried off video and now see that it is a bug. No worries! You made a game here and were sooo close to making the finish.
- Play around with different gravity / jump height
- Make health with impacts taking away from the health until death. This will make it possible to have power ups, like health.
- Having doors / paths that require an item to unlock. Maybe an item makes a platform appear in level 6 to finish it up?

All and all, I really enjoyed this beautiful, homemade entry. These types of love filled games are the reason I made this game jam in the first place. I will have to look into Construct for the future, so I can give more realistic and specific feedback to that engine.  Thank you for submitting this gem! Hopefully you will continue to submit to our game jams in the future!
Video Play-Through(<-Click)
I tried to beat level 6 :)

This was a nice rendition of fappy bird. Keep up the good work on your game dev dreams. I enjoyed the change of pace and set a high score of 29.

Advice for Future / Feedback for this game:
- Add music / SFX.
- Game-over screen with the score
 - Read the rules of each game jam and try to adhere to a theme better than just a title.  Take chances on art and mechanics to really make it your own.
- Continue to practice and learn. Use our Practice Circle's if you aren't going to try to follow the theme of the Beginners Circle

Thank you for submitting this fun little gem into the mix. Hope to see you continuing to participate in our upcoming game jams! Keep on practicing and learning!
Video Play-Through(<-Click)
Highscore: 29

This was some experience. It took me back to the old school days of repeatedly throwing yourself at the seemingly impossible over and over, until it becomes easier and easier. I enjoyed the music and the variation of enemies and their weapons. Pause menu and other final touches shows you put some thought and love into this. Hitboxes were well done too, felt like the misses and hits were very fair. You did a fantastic job on your first game jam!

Advice for future / Feedback for this game:
- Add some power ups, such as lives, health and maybe a weapon upgrade?
- Make a distinct final boss at the end of each level, with or without a health bar
- Keep practicing and improving

Thank you for the fun and rewarding experience! Hopefully we see you continue to participate in our future game jams! Keep up the great work!
You seen the videos on discord so I won't link

Congratulations on making a snake game! You made it! Keep up practicing and learning! Wish the high-score was working so I could've played longer. Keep up the good work and keep making games!

Advise For The Future / Feedback for adding onto this game:
- Fix the scoring 
- Add fullscreen mode or a downloadable version
- Change movement buttons from arrows to something else. This is to prevent the page moving with the press of up and down arrows
 - Make a nice description and change the theme of the game page to help sell you game and get more plays.
- Utilize the discord for play-testing and feedback before submitting a game
- Use the Practice Circles and continue to learning and grow

Thank you for submitting this snake game to the game jam! Hopefully we will continue to see you in our future game jams! Keep up on your game dev journey!

Video (Click here)

I cried, I laughed, I was amazing all at the same time. Can't believe such an action packed game could control my emotions in such ways with such a Oscar worthy story line... Please keep up the great work!

Great work on this! You used the theme well and were able to tie it into a nice little 8 bit adventure. This was a great example of a first game jam entry. I enjoyed the alien characters and the short and simple, yet  cute and endearing story/end. Great transitions to the next scene too. Please continue with your game dev journey. 

Advise For The Future / Feedback for adding onto this game:  (Wish I had experience in this engine to help you out more)
- Play around with adding content such as more story, more room choices, or maybe a key that could be an item set as a trigger that unlocks a door or clears a blocked path. You were able to create a mechanic like this with the cell door unlocking. Maybe set a condition on having to collide with an item first, before the door / path becomes available.
- Watch tutorials, and practice more in this engine to learn some possible new mechanics within its limitations

Thank you for creating and submitting this wonderful game to our game jam! I hope you learned and had fun. Hopefully we will continue to see you in the our upcoming game jams!
Full Video Play-through(<-Click)

The date and time for the results will be announced within a week. Right here... 

All of you should be super proud of your beautiful pieces of art! All of these look so good, I am so excited to get lost in these amazing games. Give us a few days to figure out the date and time please! In the meantime, you can play all of the many great entries and give them some love... You may get some back...

Results will be:

First set date: (Live) 13th November, 2020 @ 6 p.m. UTC; Available on Itch afterward.

Backup Date : 20th November, 2020 @ 8 p.m. UTC

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I would like to personally say thank you for providing such thoughtful advice to this wonderful community. It means a lot to know that there are others out there who are selflessly looking out for the beginners, without a personal agenda behind it. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime! I would love to discuss more with you in private. 

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No specific engine. As long as it is playable on Windows, without any extra steps or software.

Of course! Just make sure to credit them within the itch game page.

RPG Maker is totally fine. I started with RPG Maker when I was young in the 90's. There is a way of editing the assets slightly, if I am not mistaken, so you can probably create something rather unique and more original this way. Default assets may slightly affect the originality score, but you can make up for this with Fun / Engagement and Community Spirit.  I love the goal of making a game along with your son.

I look forward to see what you guys turn out! Good Luck!

Great answer!

From 9th to the 16th October. There will then be a 24 hour grace period to fix all bugs as well

Yes. Good question. As long as you are learning and using it yourself, not just copy and pasting.

Allowed yes, but it will count slightly less in the originality judging, and possible cost any chance of winning a prize. As long as you are learning from it and have a high community spirit score, you can make it into the honorable mentions, if your game if well made.

Good luck!

I'm excited too!

Thank you. Perfectly put.