It's that time of year again! Sponsored by BiteSizedHorror.com, the semi-annual BITE SIZED HORROR GAME JAM returns! If you're looking to stretch your gamedev muscles, get into gamedev for the first time, or just contribute to the legacy of Halloween, consider making a bite-sized horror game this October. It's easy! It's fun! It's spooky!

The jam takes place the last week of October, from Wednesday to Wednesday. 

Two years ago, the Bite Sized Horror Jam was for text-based games only, but now, all games are accepted! Whether it's a browser game, a text-based Twine game, a card game, an RPG, a chess variant, a word game, a car game, a social game, or just a version of catch where you paint the ball like a pumpkin -- there are no rules on the kind of game -- just that it be spooky and SMALL!

WHAT ARE THE RULES?

1. You must make the game in the week before Halloween. Starting at Zero O'Clock on Wednesday, October 24 (PST) and ending at Midnight on Halloween (also PST). That's a whole week to make a whole game from scratch. If you use assets you've already created, you're not disqualified from the jam. However, you might suffer the wrath of the mummy's curse. So, you'll have to take that into consideration.

2. Someone must be able to play a game in less than 10 minutes. You had a week to make it. They should be able to finish it in ten minutes. The shorter, the better! They don't have to be able to unlock everything in 10 minutes, but they should be able to reach some kind of end state. This is what makes it bite-sized!

3. It should be spooky! How spooky? That depends on your own tolerance for spookiness. It can involve Draculas or Frankensteins or ghosts and skeletons, or it can about the crushing realization that all that lives must die. Or it can be about politics. Politics are as spooky as it gets.

4. There will be a theme that you'll have to incorporate in some way into the game. This will be announced the night before the jam is to begin, so that we know none of you cheated and started working on the game right now. ANNOUNCEMENT: THE WORD IS "BEYOND."

BUT I'VE NEVER MADE A GAME BEFORE!

Well, this is a great time to start! You can make the smallest game you can think of and completely fulfill the requirements of this jam.

If you're not a programmer, that's fine! You can make a card game. You can make a board game. Just make sure you can upload some kind of PDF with the rules. (Also, you could meet a collaborator here!)

If you want to make a computer game, but you don't know how to code, try Twine. It's a great engine for making text-based games. Tweet me @gregkarber if you have any questions! I'd love to help you make your first game.

ARE THERE PRIZES?

Do Monsters Mash? To begin, the overall winner of the average of the three categories (Originality, Execution, & Charm) will receive an Amazon Gift Certificate worth $25. The best non-videogame (text game, RPG, board game, etc.) will receive a copy of Stephen King's Danse Macabre, a wonderful overview of horror fiction.

If you'd like to donate a prize, tweet me @gregkarber with what you'll donate!