This jam is now over. It ran from 2022-09-30 22:00:00 to 2022-11-03 23:00:00. View 70 entries

⚠ As usual, the Deadline has been extended by a few days ⚠

Just so you can take time to collet your thoughts and write down your post mortem.Congratulations for making it through Devtober! I hope that you learned useful stuff, regardless of if you met your goals or not. 


Hello, and welcome to Devtober 2022!

Devtober                                   Twitter

What is Devtober

It's pretty simple - it's a personal challenge where the focus is finding your own pace, building good habits and work routine.
There's no real rules - it's a commitment to yourself more than a game jam, but if you feel the need for some direction, we've been following these extremely basic rules for the past few years:

  • Work on a game a little every day
  • Post your progress on social media (use the hashtag #devtober!)
  • On the very last day, write a post mortem

That's it!

Most people - probably including you! - want to make games, but struggle to find the time to get started, let alone stay motivated for long periods of time.  So, this challenge focuses on not only honing your skills, but most importantly getting in the routine of working on your game every day. You basically want to avoid relying on motivation, and instead develop good habits and discipline!

You're absolutely free to tweak or ignore our rules. Maybe every day is not healthy for you, or maybe working toward daily goals to share is counter-productive to your project. Just do you! No one is gonna judge you but yourself. So long as you're working at a steady pace, and learning how to keep that rhythm going after October ends, you're definitely winning.

And please, don't skip on the post mortem. It's important, not only so you know what you've learned, but also and mainly so that other people can learn from you, too!

Theme

Devtober doesn't really have a theme! This is definitely not a contest, and instead of trying to come up with a new game idea, consider instead starting that game you've always wanted to make, pick up that project you put on hiatus months ago, or just make something small. What matters is only making something!

If you really want a theme, consider this: make something small - even smaller than you'd think - and focus instead on releasing it by the end of the month. Make something, polish it, debug it, test it, and push it to market. Make it your objective to make at least one dollar by selling whatever you've made, by the end of october. How does that sound?

F.A.Q.

  • Ok so, when is it?

All of october! Hence the name, dev-(oc)tober. Start working on october 1st, you complete the challenge if you work a little every day until october 31st.

  • Why not another month? I think Devuary sounds better. Or Devember. Or even Devarch.

Devarch? Really?  Look, it's arbitrary. October is actually a pretty quiet month - not a lot of game releases, away from both summer and winter vacations... and besides, you're absolutely free to take on the challenge at any time that works best for you. 

  • So, it's not a contest?

Nope! It's a personal challenge. No one is judging you and there is no participation prizes, but the satisfaction of improving yourself and/or achieving whatever goals you set.  I actually highly recommend that you set your own goals.

  • Well, then, what should I do?

Again, it's your choice. I suggest making a very small game from start to finish, so you have something to show for it. But maybe just prototyping something you want to try would be a better fit for you! Or maybe make a vertical slice of that game you really want to make, so maybe you can pitch it to publishers or investors. Or maybe go back to a game you've already released, but fix some bugs, or add content? You set your own goals within your own schedule and free time. Just make sure you set realistic objectives, you don't want it to end up being demoralising! 

That being said, as it turns out, Ludum Dare, an extremely popular game jam, starts on October 1st this year. If you're struggling to find a starting point for Devtober, you could absolutely participate in Ludum Dare, and spend the rest of the month polishing your game for an actual real release!

  • But... so it shouldn't be a new game?

Well, it doesn't have to be!  You can definitely keep working on whatever you're doing right now, if you have something. All that matters is being consistent about progress.

  • What happens if I fail?

I'm going to assume that you're gonna be sad about it. And honestly, that's it. Failure is a very subjective thing. Your goal should just be to work a little every day, it's all about developing good working habits.  For my first devtober, what I wanted was to make a game from start to finish. And boy, did I overscope and went way over my head! In that regard, I totally failed... but at the same time, I worked a little on my game every day. 
Last year, I straight up gave up midway through, due to a lot of personal reasons.

Did I fail? I dunno. I don't feel like I did, even when I gave up. Because either way, I still improved a lot, and learned about myself and how I should approach things. I genuinely believe that's all that matters!

  • Alright, I get it! But I could use some help to make my game...

I know, right? It's so hard to make things by yourself. 
First of all, don't hesitate to team up! Finding likeminded people can do wonders to fill in blank spots or help with motivation, and will definitely be a learning experience. You can pop on our Discord to find a team, or try itch.io's own Community section.

Alternatively, you can (and probably should!) use existing assets! By that I mean, there's a variety of free and paid asset libraries on the internet that probably fill most of your needs, be it visuals, music, sounds, or even helpful code, scripts and whatnot. There's no shame on using these!

And this year the kind folks at GameDevHQ have offered their help to all Devtober participants with access to their library of Unity3D assets!
You can just go to their website, subscribe, and use the coupon FREEMONTHONFILEBASE  at check out for, well, a free month! Make sure to cancel your subscription within said month if you don't want to be billed - or don't, if you're satisfied with their services feel free to keep it rolling~
I am told you will be to keep the assets - even for commercial use! - even after your free month runs out.

  • I'd like to know more, how was Devtober last year? 

You can check it out here! We've had a whopping 1,636 people joining the jam on itch.io alone, and I can't imagine how many more participated in their own ways. We got hundreds of people joining the Discord, too - honestly it was overwhelming! 
Lots of people shared their progress on twitter or the Discord, and you should be able to see people's Post Mortem on last year's itch page, along with the in built community forums that some of us used as a devlog. 

  • So... I need to write a post mortem, right? How do I even do that?

I've written some thoughts and guidelines a couple years ago on our twitter account. Check it out right here!





Submissions(65)

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Browser playable (28)
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Windows (28)
macOS (6)
Linux (6)
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Strategy + Action. Make Aliya's shots bounce and dance.
Strategy
Play in browser
Meet a cast of weirdoes as you deliver them spooky food and rocketjump through a cute, fall-themed town.​
Adventure
Beat-em-up based on the first fight of the series
Action
Play in browser
Top-down-something-shooter
Action
Play in browser
Retro inspired Brooding Dark fantasy adventure
Adventure
Metroidvania PreAlpha Playtesting. A small hero with a magical spear.
Adventure
2D stealth game
Action
Play in browser
Noroi E - The Origin of Nightmares a Psychological Horror Game
Survival
Ayaka’s sister has gone missing inside the infamous haunted mansion on Cherry Hill.
Visual Novel
Hong Kong themed 3-axis bullet hell bossfight shooting game
Shooter
Scare away teens from your haunted house in this deckbuilder tower defense game.
Play in browser
Isometric Arcade Racing - Demo
Racing
Play in browser
Music for writers
Run in browser
FREE DEMO AVAILABLE
Role Playing
Summoned is puzzle style game with a young Necromancer who lost her memories.
Puzzle
Play in browser
Dress up, explore, and get candy!
Adventure
Play in browser
Brief story with a silent hill gameplay style
Adventure
Play in browser
A visual novel where you find out the future isn't as grim as you thought it would be.
Visual Novel
A card-based word game with area-control mechanics.
Card Game
Play in browser
Can you escape the Under before your torch burns out?
Adventure
Explore the maze. Don't get lost.
Puzzle
Play in browser
A Roguelike Shmup experience
Play in browser
An evening on the World Wide Web of 200X
Action
Play in browser
Metroidvania-Game
Adventure
Play in browser
A relaxing infinite platformer. Cultivate the landscape for magic to restore your companion.
Platformer
Deckbuilding roguelike, slay the spire style
Card Game
Try to escape the maze and make your way to freedom
Puzzle
Dangerous walk through the woods
Action
Help out and earn your way to the top in Hyrax village!
A 2D platformer
Platformer
Play in browser
A short 2D platformer for Devtober.
Platformer
At the rescue of Gensokyo
Shooter
Your mom is coming home and your friends already left clean your home fast!
Action
tree people extinction
Shooter
A puzzle strategy about animals.
Puzzle
Play in browser
Platformer remake from a first year project at school
Action
a plane game where you airdrop coffee to the frontline
Shooter
Getting back into the swing of game development
Action
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The clues are in the dialog. Choose your replies wisely and find the thief!
Visual Novel
Play in browser
Math Adventure Game
Educational
Play in browser
A little tower defense project made all through October for the devtober
Strategy
You need To Help John to Escape From a Haunted House.
Adventure
Play in browser
Shooter
Play in browser
Sci-fi Platformer Assets - With Game Preview
Play in browser
woosh
Simulation
Play in browser
Joe Is Coming Back and better than ever..
Survival
Play in browser
A Cyberpunk TTRPG set in a neglected city of the future
A proof of concept about a turn-based grid tactical game
Card Game
A forge-themed RPG-esc game made for Devtober 2021 Through 2023 game jam
Action
A Monster themed endless runner. Defeat monsters and collect coins to get as a high a score as possible.
Platformer
Go on an adventure with your ex-classmates!
Adventure
Moody dungeon crawl with a partner and flexible combat
Adventure
Play in browser
Exorcise the demons from the mansion
Adventure