This jam is now over. It ran from 2022-03-04 17:30:00 to 2022-03-06 23:30:00. View results

Every member of your group must fill in this Google Form before submitting your project.

Register for the Hopin networking event taking place on March 6, 2022, from 4 PM to 6 PM EST!

You must join our Discord server to participate in the game jam.

Donate to the Ottawa Food Bank.

We're giving away $410 as rewards for the best submissions and for simply participating!

We also strongly encourage game jam participants to make a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank!

Game Design

1st place: $90 split evenly

Game Development

1st place: $150 split evenly
2nd place: $90 split evenly

Raffle

We'll also be raffling $80 to a random team who has submitted a valid project! Winners of previous categories aren't eligible for this raffle.

Who can enter?

Anyone 13 years or older can participate. You can work in teams of 1 to 4.

When is the jam?

The jam starts on March 4th, 2022 at 12:30 PM EST and ends on March 6th, 2022 at 6 PM EST. The judging period, judged by Teaching Assistants from Carleton University, will be from 6 PM EST to 8 PM EST on Sunday, March 6th. The winners will be announced at our closing ceremony. Both the judging period and winners will be announced live on our Twitch channel.

Is there a Discord I can join?

Yes! There is a dedicated section for the game jam on the Battle Royale server.

What is the theme?

Outer space! Space jam!

What are the fields?

The game jam has two fields for submission types. You may submit projects to both fields, but you will only be able to collect the rewards for whichever field yields the highest payment for your team!

Game Design: Advertise a creative game you have in mind that doesn't already exist! You can do so through designing a website with images on itch.io, creating a document, filming a video, or pre-recording a presentation/slideshow of your creation. Be sure to thoroughly explain your game idea and elaborate on who your target audience is and why they should be interested in your show. Creating a website is the baseline for this competition, but if you believe you have a killer idea that can't be expressed through a website, wow us! Videos are a great way of showcasing your ideas; just remember to explain how the game would play properly.

Game Development: Create a game using any game engine (Unity, Godot Engine, Unreal Engine, Game Maker, etc.) or write a game in any programming language. The game should use the jam theme (to be announced during the opening ceremony on our Twitch channel and on our Discord server). The game should only rely on mouse/keyboard inputs, not game controller inputs. Lastly, do it for the fun and the experience! Even though the jam is judged, the most important thing is to enjoy the challenge and to learn about game development. Use this as an opportunity to showcase your creativity and imagination!

What can I make my game in?

Anything, provided you include an explanation of how to run the game on Windows or browsers, with it being possible with minimal installations and playable with a standard keyboard and mouse.

What assets can I use?

The game should be developed during the jam, but you may use some pre-existing code and can use whatever art and audio assets you have the legal right to use.

Who will judge the games?

Games will be judged by a panel of judges made up of volunteers who are graduate students at Carleton University.

What will the games be judged on?

Games will be ranked against the following criteria: Fun, creativity, audio, theme, graphics, mood, and overall how they feel about the game.

Category	Explanation/Example
Creativity	Don't expect praise if you copy and pasted Asteroids...
Fun	Make sure that the game isn't frustrating and that judges will be able to figure out the basics during their playtime.
Theme	You will get more points if the game/game design is related to the theme, but not get as many points if the theme of the game/game design is that of a wizard school in the UK.
Mood	Does the game evoke a certain mood well? Not all games need to be traditionally fun but can instead be foreboding or spooky. Again, make sure the style of the game is cohesive unless the goal is specifically to make something weird and that you are able to make a game that is designed to be less cohesive.
Graphics	Make sure the graphics fit the style of the game, most likely a game that looks nice and has a HUD that makes sense will get a better score than a game designed to look like a Unity asset flip from 2014. While not technically part of the grading, keep in mind some people are colourblind and that can make the way of a game look different and could negatively affect enjoyment if it's a puzzle game based solely on colour.
Audio	Have audio that makes sense in the game; if you jump and land on an enemy, a sound should occur; same with if you push a block, a sound cue should also occur.
Overall	What do the judges think after playing the game? Would they spend more time playing the game if they could? Did they want to give up early? At the end of the day, game feel is very personal, and the other categories might not fully describe how the judges want to grade it.