CLIMATE JAM 2024 AWARDS

The top games of Climate Jam 2024 have been announced! 

Each game was ranked both by the community of jammers and a group of external judges for its engagement of the themes, releasability as a polished project, aesthetic and technical merits, and more. These results were combined for the final category rankings.

TOP GAMES

Top Overall: At Least I'm Rich
by Curious Goat
The game where only one thing matters, and it's not the environment!
https://emanona.itch.io/at-least-im-rich

Judges Choice: Coral Song
by Team Coral
A casual coral reef growing simulator set on a site of previous ecological harm.
https://zivankira.itch.io/coral-song

Jammers Choice: Skyglow
by Team Orion
A side-scrolling platformer where players must reduce light pollution by returning stars to the sky.
https://mrciac.itch.io/skyglow

Changed the Story: Behind the Hydra's Eyes
by House on the Bailey
Explore the tangled web of renewable energy, dispossession, and greenwashing through the lens of a British middle-manager.
https://adamdjames.itch.io/behind-the-hydras-eyes

Ready for Release: Carbon Clicker
by Team Yuzu
An incremental clicker game that gives players a challenge: “What can YOU do to lower the world’s carbon footprint?”
https://derekmiranda.itch.io/carbon-clicker

Wishlisted: Nine Shifts
by The Grubbery
Use your voice to escape a log cabin fire simulation by testing knowledge of Climate Change facts.
https://tikilittle.itch.io/nine-shifts

Top Gameplay and Aesthetics: Restoring Harmony
by Team 1-S
Use cards to reverse the harms of deforestation and restore harmony to the environment.
https://me-gan.itch.io/restoring-harmony

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Climate Hero
by Team B-3
Play the role of an ambitious climate activist.
https://krafter.itch.io/climate-hero

A Drop In The Ocean by
Hydrophile Games
An underwater narrative adventure celebrating the life beneath the waves. https://blubberbaleen.itch.io/drop      

Time Teddy
by Glacier Guardians
Help Teddy find his mom in this 3D puzzle adventure game!
https://gemxo.itch.io/timeteddy

Check out all of the submitted games here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024/entries

Final Sprint / Final Submission Guide

We are now in the last sprint, Release and Marketing, which ends on July 20th. This is the final entry and will be submitted here on the main Climate Jam page, there is no separate itch.io jam page for this sprint.

In order to be eligible for the top rankings, you need to have submitted to at least 2 of the previous sprints. Other entries will still be ranked by the submitters and contributors.

Greenlight Jam co-creator Tyler Coleman explains the final sprint of the jam:

Benjamin Tarsa, longtime IndieCade contributor and Director of Business Development at indie.io, discusses and answers questions about polishing and launching games:

Submission: This sprint has three parts.

1) Finalize your game For the purposes of this jam, you should now take the necessary steps to make your game releasable to the public. Fix any bugs and add some final polish, but be very mindful of how much time you have left.

After the jam you can and are encouraged to continue working on your games but for now focus on making what you already have releasable.

2) Upgrade your game page Create promotional materials for your game’s itch.io page. This page is people’s first impression of your game and should both inform and catch their attention. Consider this your first-draft "Press Page". 

The full breakdown of what you need to provide on your final submission page can be found here, please read through it thoroughly and as soon as possible: https://www.indiecade.com/downloads/climate_jam_2024_materials.pdf

3) Additional materials and statements  When you submit, you will be asked for additional materials and statements. Some are for the judges and participants reviewing your game. The others are for the jam organizers, including optional demographic information, and will not be visible to the other reviewers.

The full breakdown of what you need to provide when you submit can be found here, please read through it thoroughly and as soon as possible: https://www.indiecade.com/downloads/climate_jam_2024_materials.pdf

Final Submission Materials Checklist
To help keep track, here is a checklist sheet, we recommend that participants make a copy and use this as they finalize their materials.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dea79ztkHnqjdPXaHVSOCmbpWrt4RhGi-vmUfqNRHeE/edit?usp=sharing

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Categories for ranking:

• Engagement with the main theme: "Change the Story" - how well does this game engage with or implement this year's theme, "Change the Story". This theme is about telling the stories of climate justice that aren’t often told, countering the history of disinformation, and breaking out of the dialectic of pessimism (too gloom and doom) vs. optimism (too rosy).
• Engagement with the overall theme: how well does this game engage with or implement climate change and related issues?
• Gameplay / Mechanics - are the gameplay experience and the mechanics of the game novel, fun, or impressive? Do they support the jam themes? Are they effective for the specific topic or message of this game?
• Writing / Narrative / Storytelling - is the writing or storytelling immersive, compelling, or novel? Do they support the jam themes? If this game has a message, is it clear and effective?
• Visual Design / Art - are the visual elements of this game novel, effective, cohesive? Do they support the jam themes? Are they effective for the specific topic or message of this game?
• Sound Design / Music - are the audio elements of this game novel, effective, cohesive? Do they support the jam themes? Are they effective for the specific topic or message of this game?
• Innovation - does the game feel fresh, new, innovative in some way?
• Presentation - is the game's main itch.io page captivating and engaging? Is it well presented? Will it draw players in? (make sure to click through to the game's itch.io page, not just the jam submission page)
• Ready to Release for Money! - is the game truly polished and ready for release?
• Wishlisted! - is this game impressive, but not quite polished or ready for release?
• Can't Wait For More! - is this a game/team you want to see more from? Do you want a DLC or sequel?
• Overall: consider all of the criteria above and how well it stands out as a whole.

Welcome to Climate Jam 2024!

A five week game jam with sprints and deliverables where we’ll make games about the challenges of our changing climate!

We are once again inviting game creators from around the world to make games that explore solutions to address a rapidly changing planet. Together we can make a difference!

Mentors needed: learn more and apply here!

Kickoff Keynote

Game designer and USC Games professor Richard Lemarchand welcomes us to this year’s jam and goes over the game development process: 

When? June 15 through July 20, 2024 PDT

(Jam begins at 12pm Noon PDT on June 15th and ends at 12pm Noon PDT on July 20th.)

Theme: Change the Story

Climate Jam organizer and mentor Dargan Frierson introduces this year’s theme: https://youtu.be/xMqa74pycis

Climate Jam is a yearly game jam devoted to making games that raise awareness and explore solutions to address our rapidly changing planet.

This year’s main theme is Change the Story, which means: 

• Telling the stories of climate justice that aren’t often told. 
• Countering the history of disinformation.
• Breaking out of the dialectic of pessimism (too gloom and doom) vs optimism (too rosy). The real world is more complex! 

We strongly encourage you to make games that explore this topic, but any game related to climate change and related issues still fits the spirit of the jam!

One Month, Four Sprints

Climate Jam 2024 will be presented in the Greenlight Jam format; join us and work step-by-step towards a polished, releasable project!

The concept of “greenlighting” a project is giving it the clearance to be fully developed in a released project. For this jam, it only means taking the concepts from the first week and giving them the “all clear” to be made into a title worth selling!

Greenlight Jam co-creator Tyler Coleman explains why we chose this style of jam: https://youtu.be/IssqYwAU6wU

For the first time, we are incorporating the Greenlight format into Climate Jam. This means you are participating in a five-week jam broken up into sprints. Each sprint has its own focus and deliverables with the aim to work step-by-step towards a polished, releasable project.

The sprints ahead are Ideation, Prototype, Production, and Release and Marketing.

Climate Jam 2024’s sprint schedule is as follows:

June 15- June 22nd - Ideation: Brainstorm and work out what you will make. Do not start making a game, but work out your ideas with brainstorming, some research, and lots of prototyping (things you can throw away later!). For those of you that jam regularly, you might find it challenging to not jump right in. But the extra time spent ideating and planning will pay off in the upcoming jam series. If this was a typical 48 hour jam, this is the "end of Friday night" for where you should be. 

Submit your Ideation entry here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-ideation

 June 22nd - June 29th: Prototype: Make the initial prototype of the game. It can be buggy, messy, and all sorts of placeholder, but you should have a playable experience by the end of this sprint!

Submit your Prototype entry here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-prototype

June 29th - July 13th: Production: Two weeks of production based on what you discovered during the concept and prototyping weeks. 

Submit your Production entry here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2024-production

July 13th - July 20th: Release and Marketing: Fix the bugs, add some juice, make your polished masterpiece! This is the final sprint of this jam.

Submit your Release and Marketing entry to the main Climate Jam page, there is no separate itch.io jam page.

More on this year's theme...

"Change the story” as this year’s Climate Game Jam theme means we need to show that we can (and must) end the age of fossil fuels, and that our lives will be so much better because of it. We need today’s best storytellers to immerse players in narratives of the future, showing struggles, resilience and successes of climate action.

The scientific facts about global warming have been known for decades. But due to the bad actions of industry PR firms, the public was confused about even the basics. Even today some remain confused or hold conspiratorial beliefs about the realities of fossil-fuel-driven global warming. So part of “changing the story” is assuring that the scientific realities are conveyed clearly and authentically. 

On the other hand, many environmental messages come across as “gloom and doom,” in which the problems are described but paths towards solutions are less evident. Some climate change narratives quickly fall into "The Last of Us”-style apocalypses. Although future floods, droughts, and heat extremes will certainly be more intense in coming decades, their effects on people are never inevitable. Planning at the local, national and international scales can prevent many human impacts. In what ways can you imagine how changes in housing, energy, food, and transportation systems could protect the most people? 

Climate justice has proven to be an effective frame at changing the narrative. Burdens of fossil fuel use have so often fallen on indigenous communities, communities of color and other marginalized groups. Who instead benefits from continued reliance on dirty energy sources? 

Climate justice activists present visions of a world in which pollution is not in anyone’s backyard, where humans and nature are no longer commodified, and where today’s extractive, polluting economy is instead replaced with a regenerative one. Can games incorporate these ideals? Aesthetics such as Afrofuturism and solarpunk could help to shape vibrant visions of a just climate future within games. 

We’re at a critical juncture for climate action. New heat extremes are being set every month, yet there’s still more carbon pollution being released than ever before. Change is inevitable, but justice is not. It’s time to take control of the narrative to help us envision and realize a better future. 

Jam Community

Join us on Discord! This year's jam will take place on the IndieCade Discord server. There will be mentors there to help with your creations and resources available for you to use during the jam and beyond. It is also an easy way to ask questions, chat and meet other jammers. 

We’ll have a jam team-making channel where you can offer your services to others who are working on the jam or if you are a team looking for someone with specific skills, and many other channels dedicated to helping you have the best experience possible.

If you are new to the IndieCade Discord server:

1. Go to indiecade.com/discord 
2. Hit the green button with the checkmark to acknowledge our Code of Conduct.
3. Enter in the following command in any channel to get the Climate Jammer role: !climate
4. There are marked specifically for Climate Jam 2024.

Jam Resources

For first-time jammers, we've assembled a list of resources to help you get started. Don't hesitate to ask us any questions you might have in the discord! Be sure to check out the Environmental Game Design Playbook from the IGDA Climate SIG.

We’re also going to have mentors relating to game development, climate change, and this year’s theme! If you are interested in being a mentor this year, please apply here: https://form.jotform.com/241055950933154

More resources will be listed as we move through the jam.

Looking for more inspiration? Check out past Climate and Greenlight games:
Results from the 2023 Climate Jam
Results from the 2023 Greenlight Jam

Rules and Info

Participants will be tasked with creating a game between 6/15/2024 and 7/20/2024, in whatever format they choose, while using the themes as guidance. Form a team with others or work solo - you decide!

The jam is open to people of all skill levels, newcomers are always welcome, and we will ensure that everyone finds a team to join that fits your skills and interests.

Use of pre-made code/assets is allowed as long as they are credited to the proper source.

FAQ

Do I have to work the whole time? No, of course not! These time frames are longer than we expect you to work on the game, just to allow for a variety of schedules. We’d recommend anywhere between 8-16 hours a week per jam session, but whatever you have time for, you do you! 

Can I work in teams?
Of course, we’d recommend it! 

Can I start working on X part of the project before the listed time frame? We’d recommend you spend the time developing the game per the schedule provided, but we won’t require you to stay on our recommended schedule. As long as you start with the opening of the jam and submit with the milestone jams, you can be malleable with your changes of production. 

Is there a theme?
Climate Jam’s theme this year will be announced on Earth Day! 

Can I make a physical game?
Yeah! Absolutely, we love board / card/ tabletop games and this would be the perfect scope to make a first version. 

Am I required to sell my game after, or can it still be free?
You can put it up for free, but we'd love to see you add a suggested price tag! Your work is amazing and you deserve it. 

Can I work on a game I previously made, or am currently in the middle of developing?
We ask that you not use the jam as a continuation of a previous project. You may take a new approach on the idea of a previous game of yours, but the whole process from concept to completion should be new. 

Why 'Greenlight'?
In our sixth year, we have seen that the games coming out of Climate Jam have incredibly important messages and innovations in approaching climate solutions. We opted to use our Greenlight Jam format for multiple reasons, one is to allow a production path that will provide more depth and more support in the creation work, and the second to enable  jam participants to have prototypes or small games that have the potential to get to the next level and a broader audience. 

Game Design Internship Opportunity

NOTE: Applications for 2024's Summer Game Design Internship have now closed.

Are you a game design student? IndieCade is incorporating a Summer Game Design internship opportunity into this jam.

Learn more here: https://www.indiecade.com/internships/game-design/

Sponsors and Partners

IndieCade

Games For Our Future

EarthLab @ University of Washington

Indie Cluster