A Wild Birbjam Appears!

Welcome to Birbjam, a semi-casual game jam hosted by the Birbhouse creative community on Discord.

The Birbjam will be an unranked, relatively relaxed jam which will begin in Late May and last for two weeks. We are very welcome to beginners, but are also warmly welcoming game jam veterans -- especially those who are willing to mentor game jam greenhorns in the art of jamming.

Surprise Theme Announcement!

Our Birbhouse community has solved three theme-related riddles, revealing the theme early!

The Theme for Birbjam#1 is actually Three Themes! You may choose to include any, all, or none of these themes in your project:

• Birds
• Rebel
• Breakfast

F.A.Q.

Q: Who, or What, is the Birbhouse?

The Birbhouse is a Discord social/creative community that's been around for just over six years. Originally a writing community on Skype, the Birbhouse has broadened its focus to supporting creatives of any media, and this jam is a way to celebrate our game devs and offer those who are interested in game dev a place to get started. It is also an open invitation to all game devs out there looking for a relaxed, friendly community to share their creativity with.

While not required, we would love all participants in this jam to pop into the Birbhouse Discord server, even if only to say hello. You can join the Birbhouse here.

Q: What Engines/Frameworks/Tools can I use?

You can use whatever tools you feel comfortable with! You don't even have to make a video game -- if you want to participate and you're more comfortable creating a new ruleset for a standard playing card deck, or making a hand-drawn board game, nothing should stop you.

We only ask that you find a way to submit what you create in a way that others can play the game, even if its an MS-Paint diagram of a game board or a PDF document for game rules and mechanics.

Q: Will there be a theme?

Yes! A theme will be announced when the jam starts

Q: Can I work in a team?

Yes, and we are encouraging participants that are new to game jams to find a team, or at least touch base with an experienced participant for guidance.

Teams are, of course, not required if you'd rather work solo.

Q: Are there winners? Prizes?

No. This jam will be unranked, and will not have a voting opportunity. We may run a ranked Birbjam in the future if there is enough interest in our community.

Q: Can I use a project I've already started?

No. The spirit of a game jam requires that a project not be started before the jam starts. You can plan a project and form teams prior to the jam, but all code and assets should be created during the jam window.

Q: Can I use assets I've found online?

Yes, as long as the assets are public domain, have a license that permits their use, or you've paid the creator for the license to use the assets. There are a great many asset repositories out there containing free and inexpensive assets.

Q: Can I sell my game after the game jam?

Yes. Your game is yours! Do with it whatever you like after the Jam ends. Just be sure to adhere to any licenses involved in any assets you've included in your project that you didn't create yourself.

If you were part of a team, you'll have to discuss the details with them. To make things easy, we recommend keeping team games free and being sure to include everybody in the credits. Ultimately it is up to the team.