"God's a house. Which is not to say that our house is God's house or even a house of God. What I mean to say is that our house is God."

"Non enim videbit me homo et vivet. Whoever sees God dies."

-- Excerpts from House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

As summer draws to a close, it becomes a time for transitions. The transition of leaves, the transition of temperature, and many personal transitions as well. It's a time to turn our thoughts inwards to where we house our true feelings and ask: How has this year treated you so far? How have you treated it? What revelations have you made?

What's even more important to think about as Autumn arrives is...

Hey, friends!!! My birthday is coming up soon! Let's have a Bitsy Jam to celebrate!!!! ✨❤💕🎉🎉✨💖

Wait, who are you and why should I care if it's your birthday?

My name is Emma!! I'm in the Bitsy community! And I love my Bitsy friends, so I'm celebrating my birthday by throwing a Bitsy jam!! This is a thing I did last year and was really happy with how it turned out, so we're doing it again! Wheeeee!

Basically this jam will be a run for a week, starting on October 13, 2019 (my 25th birthday!!). Anybody who likes using Bitsy is welcome to join the party! Old friends, new friends, friends who haven't even used Bitsy before...we're all friends here! 💖

Hold on there, friendo, what is Bitsy??

Bitsy is a cool online program made by this neato Adam guy that lets you make cute narrative games! It's really easy to use and you can make awesome stuff with it! You could check out these collections I have for examples of some of the cool games that have been made with Bitsy!

If you have never done anything in Bitsy before, here's a really good tutorial on how to get started, and of course, if you want to hop into the Bitsy Discord (Bitscord), the people there will be happy to answer any questions you have!

The theme of this jam is inspired by several meaningful events in my life that took place this year. In 2019:

• I participated in my fourth Global Game Jam, and had the most emotionally-fulfilling weekend I had ever had with a GGJ. The theme this year was What Home Means to You.
• I and a handful of other Bitsyfolk read House of Leaves over the summer as an unofficial & disorganized Bitsy Book Club. House of Leaves is a twisting stories-within-stories narrative that centers around a house with harrowing, space-defying architecture.
• I moved! I finally escaped my parents' place and started renting an old, yet charming house in the city. (and Bitsyfolk Ebeth is soon to be my housemate!)

And so this culminates in this theme, which I'm keeping rather nebulous on purpose to encourage your own creativity & vision. You could say the theme is "House", or "House of Leaves", but it's more than that. What kind of meaning do houses (the physical structure) have in your life? How would you feel in a situation where everything in your house seems just slightly...off? How to the concepts of 'house' and 'home' intersect for you?

You can draw inspiration from anywhere: from House of Leaves's twisting meta-narratives, from your experiences moving houses, from stories of haunted houses that you heard as a kid, from house renovation TV programs..........I'm excited to see what you come up with!

An FAQ:

Does the game have to be made in Bitsy?

Um, yeah. I think that was pretty clear. 💖 If you're really feeling contrarian, I guess instead you can make a game with Candle's Flicksy, but that's the only exception!

Can I use hacks?

All hacks / any hacks / no hacks is all welcome here!! Fuck it up, Kenneth!!!!

I've never used Bitsy before, can I still join?

OMG YES!!! I'D BE HONORED IF YOUR FIRST BITSY GAME WAS MADE FOR MY JAM ✨✨✨

Does the game have to be made within the week, or can we start on it early?

The spirit of the jam is to make it within the given timeframe, but like, I understand if that's Tricky™ because of Life™. So I won't say no if you want to start early! ^^ Also, if you wish to submit a late entry, just message me once you're finished and I'll add it to the submissions list!

Do I have to have read House of Leaves to participate in this jam?

Absolutely not! I found it a very compelling read but it's definitely not a book for everyone and that's okay!

I'm thinking about maybe making a game that has more mature themes. Is that alright?

Yes! It's October, after all, I assume that some of you will want to get spoopy! But please be mindful and put the appropriate content warnings on your game!

Hey, I want to be a dick and making something that's racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/something that insults and attacks marginalized groups, is that alright?

NO!!!!! Please keep your evil content to yourself! 🎵It's my party and I'll ban if I want to🎵

Happy Birthday!! 🎉

Thank u, thank u <3

Happy jamming!!! ❤💖🦀