Castle Game Jam is a rapid result driven game development event where teams create prototypes over the course of 1 week in a big castle. Teams generally consist of 1 to 4 developers which are either formed beforehand or during the start of the event. The location of Castle Game Jam vary from year to year and its participants come from all over the world. After a successful game jam the teams should've created prototypes and formed connections they can bring with themselves home. There's also lectures, workshops, live music, trade fair, parties and so much more for the participants to attend. You have to be at least 18 years old to attend this event as a participant since there may be alcohol present at the venue during the week.

Jaunpils Castle, Latvia
The castle in Jaunpils is first time mentioned in 1411. Most likely it's built in the end of the 14th century. The tower was added in the 15th century. In the first half of 16th century Jaunpils Castle was the place where many old and weak brothers of Livonian Order settled. In 1576 Jaunpils Castle became property of last komtur of Dobele Matthias von der Recke. Castle was owned by his descendants until 1920. The castle was heavily damaged in war by Swedes in 1625. Later a third floor was added and the old fortress became a manor with all conveniences in the end of the 17th century. The building was partly reconstructed in the 18th century. The castle was burned down during the Russian Revolution of 1905. A year later it was rebuilt by architect Wilhelm Bockslaff.

From the 16th century until 1920 the castle belonged to the family of the Baltic German baron von der Recke. One of the family members who lived there in the 18th century was the poet Elisa von der Recke. After the Latvian agrarian reforms of the 1920s, the castle complex housed a cattle-breeding experimental station. During the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the interior of the castle was heavily reconstructed and for many years had typical Soviet interiors from the 1960s. In the 2000s, a team of Latvian designers refitted the interior of the castle. Today it features luxurious medieval style apartments which blend luxuries with glimpses of the castle's history.

The actual game jam will last for 120 hours, midnight to midnight, 2023-06-12 to 2023-06-16. We recommend you plan for a 24 hour game, and instead focus on polishing a small tight core of a game. The absolute best thing you can bring with you home from a game jam are memories and new friends/connections, so make sure you also spend time networking with others!

Theme
The theme for the jam will be announce 2023-06-11 20:00 at the BBQ party, and during the week leading up to the start the event you'll have the opportunity to vote for various themes in order to impact the final choice.

Competition
If you're interested in participating in the competition to win a trophy or two to celebrate your ingenuity, the rules are simple. The amount of contributers may be max 4 people, all must be on-site and no other assets may be used unless it's free and open-source, and each such asset should be mentioned in credits.
The categories which you will be competing in are: Innovation, Controls, Mechanics, Story, Replayability, Graphics, Audio, Game of the Year.

At the end of Castle Game Jam we'll have a conference day which will feature various speaker sessions. Our main focus for these topics will be centered around starting and running your own game development company, whether it be a studio or freelancing. You may however submit an application to do a talk about a different subject as well.

- Each session is 30 minutes + 15 minutes Q&A.
- Our focus is on practical or inspirational talks, where attendees will ask questions.

If you're interested in covering Castle Game Jam as a journalist or a content creator, reach out to us and we'll help set it up. Our goal is to give as much attention as possible to our attendees, and we'll do our best to accommodate you!

For more information contact James Newnorth; james@spelkollektivet.com.

Shared accommodation
We provide free accommodation in the form of shared accommodation in a nearby school. We'll have different class rooms available and you may choose a location based on preferences, such as "no snoring" or "females only". We recommend that you bring an air mattress or similar, but if you don't want to travel with that you can also rent it from us. You'll find the option to rent sleeping gear in the add-on section.

Castle bedrooms
If you've got it made and you're looking to have the best sleep, we've got your back. There's a very limited amount of cool bedrooms in the castle. Each bedroom has a double bed, and some have plenty of room for air mattresses should you want to book one for your whole team. More information about each individual room is available in the add-on section.

Castle hostel
If you're interested in sleeping inside the actual castle, but don't need a whole bedroom for yourself there's hostel rooms available with 8 beds in each room. This is available in the add-on section.

Castle mill hostel
Just outside the castle is an old mill which has been furnished to be a hostel. There's 30 beds in it, but also room for an additional 20 air mattresses. Unless you book one of the beds, we recommend that you bring an air mattress or similar, but if you don't want to travel with that you can also rent it from us. You'll find the option to rent sleeping gear in the add-on section.

Tenting
For the adventurers attending Castle Game Jam, there's plenty of space in the beautiful nature, so that you may sleep just a few meters from the castle itself.

Other options
Unfortunately, there's not much of other options in walking distance to the castle. If you have access to a car, it might be possible to find quite cheap hotels within a driving distance.

Food is not be provided by the event with exception of the BBQ-parties and opt-in breakfasts. We've already talked to some of the restaurant owners, and will provide a list of recommended restaurants nearby that will provide discounts to all attendees.