Ratings

This jam is now over. It ran from 2022-10-21 06:00:00 to 2022-11-01 05:59:59. View results

Apocalypse Jam returns for 2023!

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Apocalypse Jam is about the end of the world in all its forms.

Entries can be about the collapse of modern society and nature, sudden disasters, or post-cataclysmic survival scenarios. Your apocalypse can be literal or figurative, a historical doomsday, a pessimistic future, or something completely off-the-wall.

Running 6 months after Earth Day, Apocalypse Jam 2022 is meant to be a fun and cathartic break from worrying about the world's problems. The vibe is "c’est la vie", an end of the world party. This jam isn't focused on awareness and solutions but also isn't actively rooting for death and destruction. Instead, it's using the concept of "apocalypse" as a jumping off point for creativity and as a form of mental relief.

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Schedule

Morning of Friday, October 21st at midnight, Mountain Time Zone: Subthemes are announced and jam begins.
End of day Monday, October 31st at 11:59pm Mountain Time Zone: Jam ends and submitter voting begins.
End of day Tuesday, November 15th at 11:59pm Mountain Time Zone: submitter voting ends.
Morning of Saturday, November 19th at midnight, Mountain Time Zone: awards posted and announced.

Themes

-Explanations, Suggestions, Considerations-

Post-Apocalyptic Desert Madness: ala Mad Max, Fallout, Dark Sun, etc.
Too Late: with or without an exclamation point.
Transhumanism: "The belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology." Will this help us adapt to a dangerous future or accelerate our extinction?
The Fall of Rome: what caused it, scenes from the collapse itself, and/or what was left after the fall?

Or just go wild with your interpretation of the subthemes!

Participation

Jammers are expected to incorporate the main theme: Apocalypse, and at least one of the four subthemes. Inclusion can be literal, symbolic, or just using a theme as a jumping off point. However, if you have a great idea that only reflects one of those five elements that's completely fine. Subprizes are based on incorporation of the themes but the Best Overall award has a little more wiggle room.
Join the Apocalypse Jam Discord to chat with other jammers, show off your progress, and share other apocalyptic games.
Any kinds of games are accepted so long as you can submit via itch.io.
Jammers may use pre-existing assets to make their games.
Games must be primarily assembled during the duration of the jam. Cross-jam submissions are allowed if the starting timeframe is fairly close to the start of this jam. If you're unsure please ask.
Due to our theme, games with heavy content are expected (though not required). Please make sure to include a content warning when submitting.
For those working in Unity, GameDevHQ is providing a 1 month free trial of Filebase, their assets library. Add the code FREEMONTHONFILEBASE when checking out. Users have to sign up for the monthly package and apply the code. Users get to keep the assets even if they cancel. There's no contract or obligation so they can cancel any time they want.

Awards

Submitters may vote starting November 1st, ending at end of day November 16th.
Submitters will vote on the best overall entry, which will receive the Submitter's Choice award.
Submitters will also rank games based on best use of the theme "Apocalypse" (either most apocalyptic or most interesting take on that theme) and each of the four subthemes.
Judges will decide the winners for Best Overall, best use of Apocalypse, and best use each of the four subthemes.
If anyone is not participating but would like to help us judge the games please reach out to apocalypsegamejam@gmail.com
Awards will be posted and announced the morning of Saturday, November 19th at midnight, Mountain Time.

Prizes

The Best Overall game selected by the judges will receive a jam-branded messenger bag with a few survival goodies inside
The Best Overall and the Submitter's Choice teams will each receive a 20% off discount code to submit to IndieCade 2023 and a free one-year subscription to Filebase for the team members (max 2 per team).
All award winners will receive jam-branded patches and be featured in an IndieCade social post.

GameDevHQ has a product called Filebase which is an all-you-can-download "buffet" for 2D and 3D assets. How it works is you pay a monthly/yearly subscription and can download any of the available assets in your project. Currently, Filebase is only available for Unity but they are working to convert their assets to work with other game engines like Godot, Unreal engine etc.

GameDevHQ is providing a free one-month trial for everyone to test and use Filebase for the Apocalypse Jam, and users get to keep the assets even if they cancel. There's no contract or obligation so they can cancel any time they want. One of the founders of GameDevHQ is quite fond of horror games so there are tons of great assets for apocalyptic and horror-themed games!

They are also providing a free one-year subscription to the teams (max 2 per team) of the top two winning games!

Website: https://gamedevhq.com/
Filebase: https://filebase.gamedevhq.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameDevHQ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDevHQ
Discord: https://discord.gg/x7B8Azw

IndieCade Festival – Anywhere and Everywhere will kick off November 4th and feature Nominated and Award winning games, as well as alumni and member games across genres, platforms, and experiences. Join the celebration, connect with the creators, experience the gameplay, play demos and featured games, and have a chance to be a part of this groundbreaking community!

IndieCade is involved in a number of game jams including Climate Jam, the inspiration behind our jam here. If you enjoy jamming and want something a little more hopeful, check it out and join them next Earth Day!

https://www.indiecade.com/
https://www.indiecade.com/climate-jam/

IndieCade is providing a 20% discount to both of the two top winning game teams to submit a game to IndieCade 2023! They will also do a social post on all the winning games.