Submissions for Climate Jam 2025's Ideation Sprint have closed.

Learn more about Climate Jam 2025 overall on the main jam page, found here: https://itch.io/jam/climate-jam-2025

Table of Contents:

1.  The schedule for Sprint 1 (Ideation)
2.  Ideation Kickoff videos
3.  A breakdown of the goals of Sprint 1
4.  The format and requirements of your Sprint 1 submission
5.  How to submit your Sprint 1 materials
6.  The criteria by which submitters and contributors will rank each others Sprint 1 submissions
7.  A reminder of the rubric by which your final Climate Jam 2025 submissions will be judged
8.  (OPTIONAL) A reminder of the eligibility requirements for teams that want their Climate Jam 2025 project to be considered for inclusion in the Climate Solutions Compilation project.

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Sprint 1 Schedule
Schedule times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time. Convert to your local time zone here: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

• Sprint 1 begins - Friday, June 13th at 10am PDT
• Sprint 1 submission deadline - Thursday, June 19th at 10am PDT
• Sprint 1 voting deadline - Monday, June 23rd at 10am PDT

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Ideation Kickoff Videos

Climate Jam Sprint Structure video:

Ideation Introduction video:

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Sprint 1 Goals
Brainstorm and work out what you will make for Climate Jam 2025. Do not start creating your game, but work out your ideas with brainstorming, some research, and early prototyping. What are you going to make? What is the gameplay? How will the player engage? What is the fun-factor? What will it look like?

Consider concept art, storyboards, mood boards, show us your aesthetic plan. Ideas about game mechanics. Provide a rough plan on how you'll create it in the time provided. Determine how your game will engage with the themes of the jam.

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Sprint 1 Submission Format and Requirements
Submit a one-page design document that includes:

•  An elevator pitch
•  Player goals
•  An explanation of gameplay and core mechanics
•  Art style, concept, and mood images
•  An explanation of how your game will engage with the themes of the jam:
  1. What topic are you addressing and what experts/scientists/communities are you consulting for input?
  2. What did you learn this week about natural hazards and climate change?
  3. What thoughts about natural hazards will your game provoke?
  4. What is the call to action that you expect players to come away with?
  5. Have you thought about the presence of misinformation/disinformation with regards to your hazard?

Design document example: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p0zCTMYuVbvhhLnZk3QzXABH0S_lD6Fh_tvP9-p4VNg/...

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How to Submit your Sprint 1 Materials
The entries for Sprint 1 are to be submitted to this jam page (Sprint 1: Ideation), not the main Climate Jam 2025 page. 

Please submit your materials as early as possible so we can help you if you hit a technical error while submitting.

Every team should only submit once per sprint. All additional team members should be marked as Contributors.

When you submit your materials for Sprint 1, you will be asked for the following. These fields are hidden and for internal use only. Please have your answers ready.

• Team ID or team name.
• Discord handle or email for a team contact.
• Whether your team includes any IndieCade Summer Game Design Interns. If yes, provide their names and/or Discord handles. 
• Whether you intend for this project to be eligible for inclusion in the Game Design Compilation.
• (optional) What game engine, platform, or format you intend to make your game in.
• (optional) What countries or cities your team members are joining from.

One member of your team should do the following to prepare for submitting:

1. Login to your account on itch.io and create a new project.
2. For Sprint 1 make sure to select these options:
   1. Classification: Other
   2. Kind of project: Downloadable
   3. Release status: In Development
   4. Pricing: No Payments
3. Go to Dashboard->Projects->and hit “Edit” for your Ideation project. Then, at the bottom of the page under Visibility & Access, select Public.
4. In the project navbar go to More->Admins. Then add the rest of your team as admins, this will make it so that they are listed as Contributors on your jam submission.
5. Finally, go to this jam page and submit your entry.

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Sprint 1 Criteria for Ranking

During the voting period for Sprint 1, submitters and contributors will rank the submitted materials on the following:

• Promising Idea - How interesting is the concept? In a perfect world where all development goes as planned, would you want to play this concept?
• Reasonable Scope - How reasonable is the scope for the timeline of the jam? Does this project seem larger than the Climate Jam timeline
• Aesthetic / Art / Sound - How cohesive is the aesthetic? Is there a clear theme? Is there concept art and does it help portray the game's intent?
• Well Planned Production - Is there a clear production plan? Does the developer clearly show a plan to make this, with an understanding of potential risks and unknowns?
• Use of Themes - How effectively or uniquely does this concept engage in the jam's themes?
• Call to Action - Does the game have a reasonable call to action that aligns with the purpose of the jam?

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(Keep in mind!) Climate Jam 2025 Overall Rubric
Our rubric for successful games. Judges will rank the final end-of-jam submissions using these metrics, in addition to overall game quality releasability:

• What real scientific evidence is it based on?
• What positive climate action strategies are included?
• How engaging, experiential, and immersive is it? How does it use the capabilities of games media technology and design to its advantage?  
• Does it have a realistic and accessible target audience?
• What is the solution-based call to action? And is this clear?
• How does the game inspire social connections and collaboration? In what ways does it listen to and involve the community?

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(Keep in mind!) Climate Solutions Compilation Requirements
Note: making a game that is eligible for the Compilation project is entirely optional and not a requirement of Climate Jam 2025!

Our judges will select a number of games for inclusion in the Climate Solutions Compilation, a project into which multiple jam submissions will be imported and ultimately released on Steam as a single product. Additional details and paperwork will be provided for the invited teams.

Although any kind of game can be submitted for Climate Jam 2025, only games that fit these specific parameters will be considered eligible for inclusion:

• Project must be created in Unity, Version 6.1
• Project must use unique file names. Designate a short identifier that you can add to each of your project files.
• Use the default render settings.
• Use no or minimal plugins.
• Must be in English
• Must own rights to all materials used
• Cannot contain inappropriate content

Ask questions and discuss plugin use, etc., in the #compilation channel on Discord.