itch.io

Hello jammers!

A word of appreciation for all 50+ teams who joined us this year and congartulations to the nearly 50 teams who completed the final sprint of the jam!

1. What’s Next? Final Voting: Submitters and contributors have 1 week to rank the other games. Please rank as many as you can. More details about voting below.
2. (optional) Cohort Feedback: We have reshuffled the cohorts on Discord. They are now a place to give direct feedback to the other developers. They are also "open" now so anyone can pop in and comment on any of the games. If your team is not assigned a cohort and would like to be let us know.
3. (optional) Charities and Orgs Challenge: This week's challenge is to find charities and other organizations that relate to the subject or message of any of the games and post about them in the #charities-and-orgs channel on Discord. We're looking for groups that might be interested in a particular game and worth reaching out to.
4. (optional) Jam Ideas: You can post an idea for a future Climate Jam theme or any other ideas for IndieCade game jams (especially using the 5-week Greenlight Format) in the #jam-ideas channel on Discord.
5. Keep working on your games! You've all done such great work in so little time. We encourage you to continue debugging, polishing, and expanding your games for future release.

Notes If you want to remove your project page from public view please wait until after the final jam stream where the top games in each category are announced. For example: if you want to keep it unreleased while you continue working on it.

Also, if you realize you made a mistake with your upload or have a game-breaking glitch it's too late to update your submission, but you can add a comment to your submission with links, corrections, etc.

Final Voting Instructions All submitters and contributors can now access and vote on the final Climate Jam 2024 submissions. We have a panel of judges voting as well!

The voting deadline is July 29th at 6pm PDT. The ranking results will likely take another week as we are preparing a results video to officially end this jam with. 

We ask that you prioritize entries without votes and do not vote on your own projects. Please vote on as many submissions as you can!

https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024/entries

Reminder: all of your team members should be listed as contributors on your submitted project. Whoever is hosting the project on their itch.io account needs to go to the project navbar, go to More->Admins, and add the rest of your team as admins. This will make it so that they are listed as Contributors on your jam submission.

Separately, we have external judges reviewing the games as well.

The FINAL RANKING CATEGORIES are more in-depth than the previous sprints:

• Engagement with the main theme: "Change the Story" - how well does this game engage with or implement this year's theme, "Change the Story". This theme is about telling the stories of climate justice that aren’t often told, countering the history of disinformation, and breaking out of the dialectic of pessimism (too gloom and doom) vs. optimism (too rosy).
• Engagement with the overall theme: how well does this game engage with or implement climate change and related issues?
• Gameplay / Mechanics - are the gameplay experience and the mechanics of the game novel, fun, or impressive? Do they support the jam themes? Are they effective for the specific topic or message of this game?
• Writing / Narrative / Storytelling - is the writing or storytelling immersive, compelling, or novel? Do they support the jam themes? If this game has a message, is it clear and effective?
• Visual Design / Art - are the visual elements of this game novel, effective, cohesive? Do they support the jam themes? Are they effective for the specific topic or message of this game?
• Sound Design / Music - are the audio elements of this game novel, effective, cohesive? Do they support the jam themes? Are they effective for the specific topic or message of this game?
• Innovation - does the game feel fresh, new, innovative in some way?
• Presentation - is the game's main itch.io page captivating and engaging? Is it well presented? Will it draw players in? (make sure to click through to the game's itch.io page, not just the jam submission page)
• Ready to Release for Money! - is the game truly polished and ready for release?
• Wishlisted! - is this game impressive, but not quite polished or ready for release?
• Can't Wait For More! - is this a game/team you want to see more from? Do you want a DLC or sequel?
• Overall: consider all of the criteria above and how well it stands out as a whole.

Enjoy the games!

Regards, The Climate Jam Team

Hi everyone!

Here are some quick updates about the remainder of the jam, but first we'd like to introduce the Climate Jam Bundle!

Climate Jam Bundle
An important goal for the Climate Jam is to make an impact by not only creating games, but getting them out to the public.  

 This year we have an incredible opportunity to create a Climate Jam Bundle that will be featured at the IndieCade Festival on Steam this November. With this bundle, not only will our messages reach a wide audience, it will concretely make an impact by donating a portion of the proceeds to a climate non-profit that all of us select! 

 We welcome participation from all jammers.  If you are interested please indicate in the "Climate Jam Bundle" field when you submit your game at the end of the jam and we will follow up with you directly. Please note that participation may entail further work and polish on your game leading up to the release.

Final Deadline Details and Extension
Reminder that your final projects are to be submitted to the main jam page. 

https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024

Also, there are a large number of elements to add to your project page and to have ready for your final submissions. Read through them in advance here: https://www.indiecade.com/downloads/climate_jam_2024_materials.pdf

Due to some technical issues on our end, we've extended the final deadline for your last submissions to Climate Jam 2024.

Submissions to Sprint 4 are now due at the following time (adjusted for time zone). Please submit your materials before the following times/dates. 

• Pacific Daylight Time: Sunday, July 21st at 6pm
• Eastern Daylight Time: Sunday, July 21st at 9pm
• Central European Summer Time: Monday, July 22nd at 3am
• India Standard Time: Monday, July 22nd at 6:30am
• China Standard Time: Monday, July 22nd at 9am
• Australian Eastern Standard Time: Monday, July 22nd at 11am

Production Submission Voting
Voting is still open for the Sprint 3 submissions, please rank the games with few or no votes so far! 

https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-production/entries

Polish and Launch Session In case you missed it, here is the session where Benjamin Tarsa, longtime IndieCade contributor and Director of Business Development at indie.io, discussed and answered questions about polishing and launching games.

Sincerely,
The Climate Jam Team

Hello jammers!

You’re in the home stretch, read this update carefully to make sure your team knows everything they need to do this week!

Here are the highlights:

1. Vote on the Production submissions.
2. Watch Tyler’s intro to Sprint 4, read the “Final Submission Materials” document, and prepare your final submissions.
3. Join us Sunday, July 13th, for a Zoom session about polishing and launching your games.

Production Reviews All submitters and contributors can now access and vote on the Production submissions. You have 4 days to review entries from the other teams in a number of categories. We ask that you prioritize entries without votes and do not vote on your own projects.

https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-production/entries

Reminder: all of your team members should be listed as contributors on your submitted project. Whoever is hosting the project on their itch.io account needs to go to the project navbar, go to More->Admins, and add the rest of your team as admins. This will make it so that they are listed as Contributors on your jam submission.

If you didn’t manage to submit in time but get something ready within 48 hours please let us know. Contact Parker - IndieCade on the Discord server or parker@indiecade.com ASAP. Due to the spirit of this jam, we’re more lenient on the sprints, but the final Climate Jam submission will be a strict deadline to be considered for the awards.

Sprint 4: Release and Marketing Greenlight Jam co-creator Tyler Coleman explains the final sprint of Climate Jam 2024: 

1. Finalize your game for release.
2. Upgrade your game page with promotional assets.
3. Prepare additional materials and statements for your final submission.

The full breakdown of what you need to provide with your final submission can be found here, please read through it thoroughly and as soon as possible: https://www.indiecade.com/downloads/climate_jam_2024_materials.pdf

Final submissions are due before 6pm PDT / 9pm EDT on Saturday, July 20th (1am UTC, July 21st).

Submit to the main Climate Jam 2024 itch.io page: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024

Note: the goal of this game jam is to help you bring a project from inception to public release. We encourage you to continue working on your projects past the duration of the jam but for this final sprint you need to package the current version of your project for hypothetical release. In extreme cases, if your project is not in any sort of condition for release, complete the assigned tasks as more of a preview/pitch of the final project.

Ranking After Sprint 4 ends there will be a 5 day period to vote on the other submissions. Here are the criteria. You should be thinking of these as you work on your own project.

• Aesthetics: sound design, visual design, feel, vibe
• Gameplay / Fun-Factor / Mechanics - novel, compelling, fun, well-suited to theme, impressive
• Writing / Narrative / Storytelling - immersive, novel, compelling
• Use of Theme - how effectively or uniquely does this game engage in the jam's themes ("Climate Change", "Change the Story", or related)?
• Promotion - how captivating and informative are the images, videos, and language on the game's itch.io page?
  
• Can't Wait For The DLC / Sequel - for works that are impressive, but not quite polished or ready for release
• Ready to Release for Money! - for truly polished and ready to release works
• Overall: consider all of the criteria above and which games stand out as a whole

—---------------------

Good luck on your final sprint!

Regards, The Climate Jam Team

Hi everyone,

We're one week into the Production sprint with another week to go. We hope you're all making good progress towards playable games! At this point we recommend that you start sharing your work with your cohorts on Discord to get some input from outside your teams.

Climate Jam Progress Stream You have another opportunity for feedback coming this Monday, July 8th. We invite you to join a video stream where you'll get to show off your work and get advice from some of the mentors.

Participants will meet in a Discord voice channel, the session will stream on Twitch, where audience members can comment and ask questions about the games. The stream will begin at 5pm Pacific Time Zone / 8pm Eastern Time Zone. 

If your team would like to participate, please sign up here ASAP, additional details will go out Monday morning. https://form.jotform.com/241876123047052

Happy jamming!

The Climate Jam Team

Yes, but your project will not be eligible for all of the awards at the end. It will, however, still be ranked by the submitters and contributors.

Hi everyone,

Prototyping is over, time to make your games!

Prototype Reviews To wrap-up Prototype, all submitters and contributors can now access and vote on the submissions. You have 4 days to review prototypes from the other teams in a number of categories. We ask that you prioritize entries without votes and do not vote on your own projects.

Reminder: all of your team members should be listed as contributors on your submitted project. Whoever is hosting the project on their itch.io account needs to go to the project navbar, go to More->Admins, and add the rest of your team as admins. This will make it so that they are listed as Contributors on your jam submission.

Voting Criteria:

• Playability
• Promising Idea
• Aesthetic / Feel
• Use of Themes

If you don’t manage to submit for Prototype in time but get something ready within 48 hours please let us know. Contact Parker - IndieCade on the Discord server or parker@indiecade.com ASAP. Due to the spirit of this jam, we’re more lenient on the sprints, but the final Climate Jam submission will be a strict deadline to be considered for the awards.

Sprint 3: Production Greenlight Jam co-creator Tyler Coleman explains the Production sprint: 

As you build out your projects, keep in mind how each individual choice you make in game mechanics, aesthetics, and writing might further complement and engage with the themes of the jam.

Sprint 3 Submission Submit a fully playable game.

Submissions for Production are due by July 13th at 12pm Noon, Pacific Daylight Time. Submit your Production materials here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-production

Do not submit to the main Climate Jam itch.io page!

Ranking Once again, after Sprint 3 ends there will be a 4 day period to vote on the other submissions. Here are the criteria. You should be thinking of these as you work on your own project.

• Interesting Gameplay / Fun
• Likely to Release
• Smooth, Polished & Bug Free
• Aesthetic (Art, Audio)
• Use of Themes

Through Line Challenge Here is an optional task for the week, to help deepen the themes of your game:

Games can have an impact in many different ways: informing, inspiring players to take real world actions, and more.

What do you want players to take away from your game, particularly in regards to climate awareness and action?

Consider further ways every one of your game development decisions, from mechanics to sound and visual aesthetics to dialog and story, might strengthen, complement, and engage with your game’s intent as effectively as possible.

Post your responses in the #through-line channel on IndieCade’s Discord server.

Climate Jam Mentor Session with Chase Bethea! Award-winning video game composer Chase Bethea is holding a live session about music palette designing for video games for our jammers! The session will be on Sunday, June 30th, at 1pm Pacific Time.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84727538300?pwd=UlZix4AxTs9JJa24PgToQ9orZwhgXc.1

Reminder: Cohorts and Mentors Many of our teams have been placed into cohorts, groups of teams that are there so you can give/get feedback, help troubleshoot, and playtest with some of your fellow jammers. This becomes more essential as your prototypes solidify into playable games. If your team has not been added to a cohort and would like to be, just let us know on the IndieCade Discord server! Also on the server we have a number of jam mentors, post your questions and get their insights as you develop your projects.

---------------------

This is the longest and most critical sprint of the jam, so manage your time well, focus on the core elements of your games, and good luck to you all!

Regards, The Climate Jam Team

Hi everyone!

Congratulations to those of you who completed Sprint 1: Ideation. We’ve loved seeing your progress (and your climate storytelling posts) on Discord all week long. You’ve submitted 67 concepts, amazing job! 

Note: if you did not manage to submit in time but do have a concept, please send your notes to parker@indiecade.com. It won’t count toward this sprint, but you are encouraged to continue on through the jam.

Ideation Reviews To wrap-up Ideation, all submitters and contributors can now access and vote on the submissions. You have 4 days to review concepts from the other teams in a number of categories. We ask that you do not vote on your own projects.

Voting Criteria:

• Promising Idea - How interesting is the concept? In a perfect world where all development goes as planned, would you want to play this concept?
• Reasonable Scope - How reasonable is the scope for the timeline of the jam? Does this project seem larger than the Climate Jam timeline?
• Aesthetic / Art / Sound - How cohesive is the aesthetic? Is there a clear theme? Is there concept art and does it help portray the game's intent?
• Well Planned Production - Is there a clear production plan? Does the developer clearly show a plan to make this, with an understanding of potential risks and unknowns?
• Use of Themes - how effectively or uniquely does this concept engage in the jam's themes ("Climate Change", "Change the Story", or related)?

Sprint 2: Prototype Greenlight Jam co-creator MJ Johns explains the Prototype sprint: 

Your second sprint is Prototype. For the next week, you want you to make the initial prototype of the game. It can be buggy, messy, and have all sorts of placeholders, but you should have the beginnings of a playable experience by the end of this sprint!

This is a time where you test out the simplest versions of your core mechanics, experiment, throw stuff out. Your original concept might radically change during this sprint, and that’s okay!

Submission For this sprint you should try to make some combination of these:

1) Graybox (or whitebox): blocked out level built with primitives, gives a sense of the space and flow of the level, where will objectives and obstacles be? How will the player navigate the space? How do you portray your gameplay mechanics in the space of your world?

2) Beautiful Corner: showcase the art and sound, but no playable experience necessary (maybe have a camera that can move around to view 3D models from different angles or get a sense of 3D sound effects)

3) Minimum Viable Product (MVP): core functionality in a somewhat fleshed out playable space (should give a clear meaningful representation of what the gameplay will be, what actions the player can take, how can they win or lose, etc.)

Submissions for Prototype are due by June 29th at 12pm Noon, Pacific Daylight Time. Submit your Prototype materials here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-prototype

Do not submit to the main Climate Jam itch.io page!

Ranking Once again, after Sprint 2 ends there will be a 4 day period to vote on the other submissions. Here are the criteria. You should be thinking of these for your own project as well.

• Playability
• Promising Idea
• Aesthetic / Feel
• Use of Themes

Jam Community / Discord Update The jam community in the IndieCade Discord server keeps growing! We have jam mentors, resources, climate-related stories our jammers have shared, and places for teams to work together. If you’re not on the server yet, we encourage you to join!

Cohorts Many of our teams have been placed into cohorts, groups of teams that are there so you can give/get feedback, help troubleshoot, and playtest with some of your fellow jammers. If your team has not been added to a cohort and would like to be, just let us know on Discord!

Note for existing cohorts: there will be a slight reshuffling of the cohorts so that only active, contributing teams are together.

We hope you have a great Prototype sprint, we’re so excited to see how your concepts grow and evolve!

Regards, The Climate Jam Team

If you're still looking for a team I'm sure you can find on on the Discord server.

Hi everyone!

We hope you’ve all had a great week of brainstorming and are getting your game concepts ready to share.

Submissions for the Ideation sprint are due by this Saturday, June 22nd, at 12pm Noon Pacific Daylight Time. We encourage you to get your entries in well before the deadline, you never know when technical issues might slow things down at the last second!

Here’s how to submit. Every project should only be submitted once per sprint. The entries for Sprint 1 are to be submitted to the Ideation page, not the main Climate Jam page. 

One member of your team should do the following…

• Login to your account on itch.io and create a new project.
• For Sprint 1 make sure to select these options:
  • Classification: Other
  • Kind of project: Downloadable
  • Release status: In Development
  • Pricing: No Payments
• Go to Dashboard->Projects->and hit “Edit” for your Ideation project. Then, at the bottom of the page under Visibility & Access, select Public.
• In the project navbar go to More->Admins. Then add the rest of your team as admins, this will make it so that they are listed as Contributors on your jam submission.
• Finally, go to the Ideation page and submit your entry.

Once Ideation closes we will reach out with information about ranking on each other’s projects and getting started on Sprint 2!

We can’t wait to see your work!

Regards,

The Climate Jam Team

Welcome to Climate Jam 2024!
Kickoff Keynote - game designer and USC Games professor Richard Lemarchand welcomes us to this year’s jam and goes over the game development process: https://youtu.be/rIQK5cP9sak

Theme
Climate Jam organizer and mentor Dargan Frierson introduces this year’s theme: https://youtu.be/xMqa74pycis

Climate Jam is a yearly game jam devoted to making games that raise awareness and explore solutions to address our rapidly changing planet.

This year’s main theme is Change the Story, which means: 

• Telling the stories of climate justice that aren’t often told. 
• Countering the history of disinformation.
• Breaking out of the dialectic of pessimism (too gloom and doom) vs optimism (too rosy). The real world is more complex! 

We strongly encourage you to make games that explore this topic, but any game related to climate change and related issues still fits the spirit of the jam!

Format
Greenlight Jam co-creator Tyler Coleman explains why we chose this style of jam: https://youtu.be/IssqYwAU6wU

For the first time, we are incorporating the Greenlight format into Climate Jam. This means you are participating in a five-week jam broken up into sprints. Each sprint has its own focus and deliverables with the aim to work step-by-step towards a polished, releasable project.

The sprints ahead are Ideation, Prototype, Production, and Release and Marketing.

Sprint 1: Ideation
IndieCade Co-Founder and festival Director Sam Roberts introduces the Ideation sprint: https://youtu.be/o3WMp31XRGk

Your first sprint is Ideation. For the next week, you want you to focus on brainstorming and working out what you will make.

Do not fully start making a game. Instead you should brainstorm, research, work out team structures, and do some early prototyping (things you can throw away later!). What are you going to make? What is the gameplay? How will the player engage? What is the fun-factor? What will it look like?

For those of you who jam regularly, you might find it challenging to not jump right in. But the extra time spent ideating and planning will pay off in the upcoming weeks. If this was a typical 48 hour jam, this is the "end of Friday night" for where you should be. 

Submission
For this sprint we want you to submit concept art, storyboards, and mood boards. Show us your aesthetic plan, your ideas about potential game mechanics. Provide a rough plan of what you’ll make and how you'll make it in the weeks provided.Consider how and where your project might be released once it’s done.

Submissions for Ideation are due by June 22nd at 12pm Noon, Pacific Daylight Time.

Submit your Ideation materials here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-ideation

Do not submit to the main Climate Jam itch.io page!

Ranking
After submissions close, and Sprint 2 begins, there will be a 4 day ranking period where we invite Submitters and Contributors to look at the other entries and rank them on the following criteria (this also gives you an idea of what to think about while working on yours).

• Promising Idea - How interesting is the concept? In a perfect world where all development goes as planned, would you want to play this concept?
• Reasonable Scope - How reasonable is the scope for the timeline of the jam? Does this project seem larger than the Climate Jam timeline?
• Aesthetic  / Art - How cohesive is the aesthetic? Is there a clear theme? Is there concept art and does it help portray the game's intent?
• Well Planned Production - Is there a clear production plan? Does the developer clearly show a plan to make this, with an understanding of potential risks and unknowns?
• Use of Themes - how effectively or uniquely does this concept engage in the jam's themes ("Climate Change", "Change the Story", or related)?

Jam Community
We have a Climate Jam community on the IndieCade Discord server! We have channels for resources, mentors to discuss science and game development, places to find team members, and more! It’s a great place to ask questions, chat, and meet other jammers. 

If you are new to the IndieCade Discord server:

1. Go to https://www.indiecade.com/discord 
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. Enter in the following command in any channel to get the Climate Jammer role: !climate
4. There are channels marked specifically for Climate Jam 2024.

Also, if any of you want to share a devlog with the community, let us know! We can link to an external site where you post or host it on the server.

Climate Storytelling Challenge
To help get you in the Climate Jam mindset, and help your fellow jammers, we have an optional weekly challenge. Find a good example of climate storytelling from a media source other than games. It could be from a social media post, a TikTok or YouTube video, or a news article. It could be climate fiction, in the form of a short story or movie.

Share it to the #climate-storytelling channel, and say why you like it! At the end of the week we’ll compile them into a list on the #jam-resources channel.

Extra side quest: Contact the creator of your piece, tell them about our jam, and ask them if they have ideas about making quality climate games!

We hope you all have a fun jam and can’t wait to see your ideas come to life!

Regards,
The Climate Jam Team

This is your reminder that this is one of four "sprints" for Climate Jam 2024: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024

You are not meant to submit to Production unless you are participating in the full five week jam

This is your reminder that this is one of four "sprints" for Climate Jam 2024: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024

You are not meant to submit to Prototype unless you are participating in the full five week jam

This is your reminder that this is one of four "sprints" for Climate Jam 2024: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024

You are not meant to submit to Ideation unless you are participating in the full five week jam

We now have signup sheets for jammers looking for teams and teams looking for more team members. The first wave list of participants will be posted on Monday the 10th.

1. If you are an individual looking for teammates or looking to join an existing team, please complete the Jammer Info form. https://form.jotform.com/241567155297061

1. If you have an existing team and are looking for additional team members, please complete the Team Info form. We also ask that each current team member complete the Jammer Info form as well. https://form.jotform.com/241567564152156

We now have signup sheets for jammers looking for teams and teams looking for more team members. The first wave list of participants will be posted on Monday the 10th.

1. If you are an individual looking for teammates or looking to join an existing team, please complete the Jammer Info form. https://form.jotform.com/241567155297061

1. If you have an existing team and are looking for additional team members, please complete the Team Info form. We also ask that each current team member complete the Jammer Info form as well. https://form.jotform.com/241567564152156

We now have signup sheets for jammers looking for teams and teams looking for more team members. The first wave list of participants will be posted on Monday the 10th.

1. If you are an individual looking for teammates or looking to join an existing team, please complete the Jammer Info form. https://form.jotform.com/241567155297061

1. If you have an existing team and are looking for additional team members, please complete the Team Info form. We also ask that each current team member complete the Jammer Info form as well. https://form.jotform.com/241567564152156

We now have signup sheets for jammers looking for teams and teams looking for more team members. The first wave list of participants will be posted on Monday the 10th.

1. If you are an individual looking for teammates or looking to join an existing team, please complete the Jammer Info form. https://form.jotform.com/241567155297061

1. If you have an existing team and are looking for additional team members, please complete the Team Info form. We also ask that each current team member complete the Jammer Info form as well. https://form.jotform.com/241567564152156

We also now have signup sheets for jammers looking for teams and teams looking for more team members. The list of participants will be posted on Monday the 10th.

1. If you are an individual looking for teammates or looking to join an existing team, please complete the Jammer Info form. https://form.jotform.com/241567155297061

1. If you have an existing team and are looking for additional team members, please complete the Team Info form. We also ask that each current team member complete the Jammer Info form as well. https://form.jotform.com/241567564152156

 Looking for teammates? We have a Looking for Team channel on the IndieCade Discord server!

If you are new to the IndieCade Discord server:

1. Go to indiecade.com/discord 
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. Enter in the following command in any channel to get the Climate Jammer role: !climate

We are looking for mentors and judges for Climate Jam 2024!

This jam is entirely online. Mentors will interact with participants over Discord and/or provide videos to be shared with our participants and on the website. Mentors for this year's jam should have knowledge and experience related to climate science, this year's theme, and/or game development and related specialties. 

This year's central theme is "Change the Story." More on what that theme means for Climate Jam 2024 can be found on the itch.io page. For examples of 'specialities', please visit a previous Climate Jam mentor page. Specialties are listed below each mentor's name: https://www.indiecade.com/climate-jam-2022-mentors/

Note: Signing up does not guarantee you will be selected as a mentor.

Interested? Sign up here: https://form.jotform.com/241055950933154

Hi, there. I'm Parker with IndieCade. We're having a flash submissions sale (ends this Thursday) and are reaching out to game jams that ended after our regular submissions for this year closed. If you think your jammers might be interested in submitting their games I can provide more details. No worries if not. (I didn't see another way to contact you.) https://www.indiecade.com/submissions

To simplify the teambuilding process we have a Looking for Group / Looking for Group Member spreadsheet available now! Please do not alter other people's entries. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1e9u3LFqnAYrtVtRQuakbqkzvpaTVVzgthp9R2wf-KfY/edit?usp=sharing

Artist Statment from the Devs:

Our team wanted to make a game based on our hidden heroine, a team members sister, Cassandra. Casandra has struggled with anxiety, ADHD and Autism her entire life but overcame her adversity through climbing and our team found that extremely inspiring and touching. This is why our team created Inspiration Climb based on our heroine Cassandra Xavier; Thank you and we hope you enjoy your climb! 

- Team Banana Berry 

Thank you!

Hi there! We had a glitch on our side of the jam and lost the "Artistic Statement" field. It's back in place so please resubmit this game or at least add your artistic statement as a comment. I believe to resubmit you'll need to delete your submission first. Sorry for the inconvenience.

If you are still looking for a team, we encourage you to post your details on our #jam-team-making channel on the IndieCade Discord server and browse the posts from the other jammers.

If you'd like some extra help finding a team, or are open to adding another member to your existing team, please reply to the Team Making Assistance post in the #jam-team-making channel and we will try to assemble a team with you, although it's ultimately up to you who you jam with.

If you need help making a team but are not able to join Discord for whatever reason, please reply to this post!

As a reminder, here are the steps to joining our Discord community:

1. Go to indiecade.com/discord
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. There are channels marked specifically for the game jam
4. In #jam-info hit the red button to get the Hidden Heroes Jammer role so we know who you are!

1. Go to indiecade.com/discord
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. There are channels marked specifically for the game jam, including #teammaking
4. DM us if you have questions or have trouble finding a team.

Definitely check out our Discord server for teammaking.

1. Go to indiecade.com/discord
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. There are channels marked specifically for the game jam, including #teammaking

Definitely check out our Discord server for teammaking.

1. Go to indiecade.com/discord
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. There are channels marked specifically for the game jam, including #teammaking

We would like to invite you to take part in an online research study related to the Hidden Heroes Game Jam which will take approximately 60 minutes of your time. The purpose of this research is to study the game jam itself, as well as the process of creation based on non-fictional stories.

If you decide to take part in this study, we will ask you to participate in an online Zoom interview session. You will then be asked to fill out an online survey and submit your game for our research team to run a content analysis research.

Upon completion you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card as a thank you from our team. Please note participating in this study is completely voluntary and you may quit at any time.

Follow this link to sign up: https://form.jotform.com/230525008664048

FAQs

What the heck is a “game jam”? 

A game jam is when a group of people work on games around a particular theme or idea for a concentrated time period. The games produced are usually prototypes—which means a rough draft of a working game—which can be refined further afterward. The idea is to get your hands dirty and learn by doing!

What is Hidden Heroes? 

The goal of the Hidden Heroes Jam is to encourage intergenerational collaboration by having younger creators help translate the stories, experience and wisdom of older adults into games! In the process, we want to empower older adults to become game creators, and to expand their representation in games.

What is a Hidden Hero? 

One of the most unique and beautiful aspects of humanity is our ability to share wisdom through generations – passing down knowledge, stories, histories to those younger than ourselves. This gift of wisdom can come from a wide pool of people too: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, family and older friends, mentors, teachers, even someone from your neighborhood – those who have struggled and can now share their lessons, those who have persisted against hardships, those who have lived lives full of adventures, both vast and cozy. These are hidden heroes. People whose journeys shape our own.

Do I need prior experience in game design to join the game jam? 

No prior experience is necessary! Hidden Heroes is designed to encourage intergenerational collaboration. If you have a younger relative or friend who’s into games, ask them to join your team! There are plenty of easy-to-use game-creation tools to choose from. You could even make a game with Minecraft!

Does it have to be a digital game? 

You can create any type of game you like, digital or otherwise—a board game, a card game, even a tabletop roleplaying game

Do I need to know how to program? 

You can collaborate with a team that includes a programmer, and even if there are no programmers on your team, there are lots of different easy-to-use tools that you can use. Examples include Minecraft, Roblox, RPG-Maker, and Gamemaker.

What are some examples of the types of games that might be produced? 

A handful of game developers have created games based on the stories and lives of older family members. The model for Hidden Heroes is Brukel, created by jam co-organizer Bob De Schutter with his grandmother about her experiences in Belgium under German occupation during WWII. Similar and related games include BORDERS, by Macua, based on the designer’s parents’ stories of crossing the border from Mexico to the United States; and Spectre, by USC’s Vaguely Spectacular Team, explores the memory of a 73 year old man. Other games with related themes include Old Man’s Journey, 

For younger game makers: What if I don’t know any “Hidden Heroes”?

That’s why they're hidden! It might take a little detective work to find the right person. Look at the game jam as an opportunity to get to know someone you admire better. It might be a parent, an aunt, or a grandparent. Perhaps you have family members you don’t get to see very much, either across your own country or overseas.  It could also be your favorite teacher, a mentor, even a boss who had a big influence on you, perhaps a neighbor or family friend you’ve always looked up to. Use the Hidden Heroes Game Jam as an opportunity to reach out and connect with an older adult in your life.

For older adults: How do I find a partner to work with? 

A good place to start is your own family. Maybe you play games with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews (both adults and children!). Imagine how cool it would be to ask them to make a game with you! Do you have younger family members or friends you don’t get to see very often? Reach out and use this as an excuse to connect! 

Why?

A couple of reasons. The larger entertainment industry—film, TV even popular music—have caught up with the idea that stories for and about older adults are cool, and older adults who are in their prime are making groundbreaking and award-winning work in all these media. The game industry has still not hurdled the ageism barrier, despite the fact that adults over 50 are the largest growing market for its products. The goal of Hidden Heroes is threefold: 1) To empower older adults to tell their stories through games; 2) To encourage people to engage with games across generations; 3) To expand representation of older adults in games, both as subjects and creators.

Who? 

The Hidden Heroes Game Jam is a collaboration between IndieCade, the International Festival of Independent Games, and Northeastern University’s “Games for Life” initiative, and AARP Games. The goal of this wider initiative is to study and create games for the over fifty gamer, including expanding our knowledge of the benefits of games, understanding play preferences, and advocating for greater accessibility and inclusiveness in the mainstream industry.

How to make a Hidden Hero Game?

Perhaps the most obvious way to do a hidden hero game is to create a documentary or simulation game about your hidden hero, and while that is certainly a good option,  there are many other ways to do a hidden heroes game as well!

Here are three tips towards making a great Hidden Heroes game:

Analyze your inspiration - The first question to ask yourself is what inspired you to pick your hidden hero? What aspects of their personal story and wisdom do you want to form into a game? You will want to ensure that your narrative is engaging and will make sense to an outsider. What game mechanics will communicate your hidden heroe's wisdom interactively? It is a good idea to start with analyzing your inspiration.

Any mechanic goes - While this game jam lends itself easily to a documentary game with a lot of narrative - think That Dragon, Cancer, This War of Mine or Brukel - your game does not have to be all about its narrative. Narrative-heavy games are very welcome, but you can design any kind of game you want for this! As long as your game relates meaningfully to your hidden hero, you are doing it correctly. For example, is your hidden hero a skater? You could make a skateboarding game to share their experiences., Is your hidden hero an artist? Why not create a game that embraces their creative process. Maybe your hidden hero's life is full of overcoming perceptual challenges – a puzzle game could fit! In a way, if Tony Hawk was not famous, or if Paper Please’s protagonist was real,  Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Paper's Please could both qualify as Hidden Heroes games.

Involve your hero (optional, but highly recommended) -  Participants are encouraged to interview their hidden hero and record the footage, or audio, of them doing so. Previous projects have shown that players respond strongly to games with authentic voice and video, so maybe you can use those elements in your game? Alternatively, participants are welcome to bring the person that inspires them along (in person or remotely) to collaborate on the project.

Here are three questions that could help guide this conversation:

• If your life were to be a short film or game, what would it be like?
• If you could pass on some of your wisdom to future generations in a time capsule, what would it be?
• What would you say is the most important lesson you ever learned, and how did you come to learn it?

Possible Themes

• Identity - A game that celebrates the uniqueness of the hidden hero
• Intergenerational Connections - A game both would love to play together
• Empathy - A game that uses the hidden hero’s story to inspire others
• Wisdom - A game that shares a specific lesson from the hero’s life experience
• History - A game about an experience that intersects with historical events
• Cultural Connections - An experience about exploring other cultures
• Creativity - A game that builds on the creative talents and hobbies of the hidden hero
• Co-design - A game with meaningful content contributions by the hidden hero
• Health and wellbeing - A game that uses the hidden hero’s story towards promoting a healthy lifestyle

Actually I found it, you can use this link to add your game now: https://itch.io/jam/16722/add-game/765475?token=ROg6DY9KsOsq28O1yNOmHQOUk

Sure, what is the link to your game page?