It's June July August in the District of Columbia, and that means it's time for the fifth District Jam! We're hosting this thing online again, so whether you live in the DC area or anywhere else, come on in! Just like previous years, this jam's going to be a chill one, and we've given you a longer window than usual to find time to work on your game - two weekends and the week between for a total of 9 days. Spend an hour, a day, or even all 9 days - we just hope you have a good time doing it!

The Theme For This Year's Jam is

* Sizzle *

During the jam, we'll be chatting on the IGDA DC Discord in the #june-jam channel. Need an invite? https://discord.gg/42pjCXB Afterwards, we'll be showcasing and discussing the submissions during a future IGDA DC meetup, most likely Tuesday September 10th or September 24th.

Schedule:

• Friday August 23rd at 8pm - Theme announcement & jam starts
• Sunday Sept 1st at 8pm - Jam ends & submission window closes, voting begins!
• Sunday Sept 8th at 8pm - Results are tallied and released!

Diversifiers: (Totally optional, add one or more to your game for extra challenge & inspiration)

• 5-5-GOJIRA - Tokyo is a major location.
• Tüns of Fünf - There are one (or more!) games somewhere inside your game.
• Go U It’s Your Birthday - A language other than your native language is used prominently.
• Big Bowl of Gohan - Only use the following colors: Black, Yellow, Silver, and White.
• Pięć(e) of Cake - Allow players to choose the difficulty level.
• Go Big or Go Home - One of the characters/elements continues to increase in size over time.
• Gotta Go Back, Back To The Past - In addition to this year’s theme, also incorporate one of the themes from a past District Jam: Going Global (2020), Emergence (2021), Echoes (2022), Formation (2023).
• Five Spice - Incorporate ALL of the following elements: Scary, Ginger, Sporty, Posh, and Baby.

FAQ & General Guidelines

1. Do I need to live in Washington DC to participate? No, but the jam will be hosted and organized by game developers in and around the general mid-Atlantic area. (DC, Baltimore, Frederick, etc.) So you'll have an easier time if yourworking hours are closer to those in the Eastern time zone. 
2. I don't have a team yet, is that ok? Yes! If you want to find a team, check the #june-jam channel in the IGDA DC Discord or in the Community tab of this jam. You can work solo too!
3. Do I have to work on my game all day every day for the entire jam? Nope, and I would definitely recommend good quality sleep during the jam if you're planning on working over multiple days.
   
4. But what if I only have a few hours free to participate!? No worries, that's cool too. Just submit what crazy experimental thing you're able to make in that time!
5. Do I need to wait until the end of the jam to submit? You can submit anytime after the jam has started, just make sure you publish your game on itch.io and submit it to the jam before the clock hits 8pm here in DC on Sunday Sept 1st.
6. What kind of rules are there for using pre-existing assets? We're generally following the more relaxed "Jam" guidelines used by Ludum Dare. This means if you use pre-existing assets, please credit those on your game page. You'll be excluded from being voted on in the relevant category. (See the Ludum Dare rules here, under "The Jam": http://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/rules)
7. Can I use assets made by other people? You must have rights to all of the assets in your game; unlicensed use of resources is not allowed.
8. What tool/engine do I have to use to make the game? Anything you want. Bitsy, Twine, Unity, Ren'py, Construct, RPGMaker, GameMaker, Game Builder Garage, construction paper, dice, poker chips, etc. As long as the game can be submitted and played, you should be good.
9. Can I make a non-digital game, like maybe a board game or a pen-and-paper RPG? Totally! You can make any type of game, as long as you have a way of uploading rules, board layouts, field marking guides, equipment lists, character sheets, etc. to an itch.io project page so that others can play and rate your game.
10. Do I need to submit code or assets with my game? No, you do not need to post your work, just the final product. Also, rights to the game are yours as the creator(s).