Hai!! welcome to dreambyte vol. 01!! :3
i'm cereal, your lovely little host who decided that making games alone wasn't stressful enough, so why not try to host one for fun.
dreambyte is a chill, beginner friendly game jam where anyone can come together and make something cool! whether you're a game dev, artist, writer, musician, or just some random person who woke up one day and thought "damn, i kinda wanna make a game," you're welcome here!!
i'm a game design student myself, and honestly, half the time i'm still fighting for my life trying to figure out why my code isn't working. so trust me, you do NOT need to be some professional developer to join.
the whole point of dreambyte is to try new things, meet other creative people, learn a little, and hopefully walk away with something you're proud of. Your game can be cute, creepy, stupid, emotional, completely unhinged, or held together by three lines of code and a prayer. This isn't a competition either!! no winners, no rankings, no fighting for first place. just a bunch of creative gremlins making games and supporting each other.
alrighttt, here's the schedule so nobody can say cereal didn't tell them anything
November 19 — secret theme reveal
12:00 AM EST
You'll get a little time to brainstorm, find teammates, sketch ideas, and mentally prepare yourself for whatever nonsense you're about to create.
November 20 — THE JAM BEGINS
12:00 PM EST
November 28 — submission deadline
6:00 PM EST
December 1 — community showcase
6:00 PM EST (planned hopfully)
i'll be checking out everyone's creations, playing games, sharing feedback, and giving you guys some love for all your hard work, while also streaming the game play to lovely community on twitch or sum.
and yes, even if your game is two minutes long, i still wanna see it.
all times are in EST (UTC−5)!
hehe, you thought i'd tell you already? :3
NO PEEKING!!
our very first theme will be revealed on november 19th at 12:00 AM EST!!
wanna meet other participants beforehand? join the discord!! you can start chatting, find some teammates, talk about possible game ideas, or just lurk in the discord.
psst... don't stress about having the perfect idea right away and no, you don't have to use the theme in some super literal way. get creative with it!!
okay sooo you wanna join? YIPPEEEE!! (≧◡≦)
it's super simple, i promise.
♡ step 1 — join the jam!
click the Join jam button on this page! completely free, no applications, no secret interviews, no sacrificing your firstborn child.
♡ step 2 — solo or squad up!
you can work alone or make a lil team with other people.Don't have anyone to work with? that's okay!! hop into our discord and check out the team-finding channel.
artists, programmers, writers, musicians, and certified idea havers are all welcome!
♡ step 3 — wait for the theme!
the theme drops november 19 at midnight EST.
use that time to brainstorm and figure out what you wanna make. actual development starts november 20!
♡ step 4 — MAKE YOUR GAME!!
use whatever engine makes your heart happy.
godot? unity? unreal? gamemaker? rpg maker? scratch? twine?
GO CRAZY!!
you can make a platformer, visual novel, horror game, puzzle game, cozy simulator, or something so weird nobody knows what genre it belongs to.
♡ step 5 — submit your lil masterpiece!
upload your playable game to itch.io and submit it to dreambyte before november 28 at 6 PM EST.
your game does NOT have to be perfect!! small prototypes are absolutely welcome.
♡ step 6 — show some love!
after the jam, check out other people's games, leave nice comments, and join us for the december 1 showcase!!
that's it!! you're officially a dreambyte developer. look at you go!! ♡
okay, i'm not trying to be your mom, but we do need a few rules so this doesn't turn into complete chaos. 😭
01. don't be a jerk.
seriously. be respectful to everyone. no bullying, harassment, discrimination, hate speech, or making people feel unwelcome.
02. make your game during the jam!
the main development period is november 20–28.
you're allowed to brainstorm beforehand and use existing tools, templates, libraries, and assets that you have permission to use.
just don't submit a game you finished six months ago and pretend you made the entire thing in eight days PLS.
03. credit your stuff!!
using premade assets? cool! working with a team? awesome! Just give proper credit to the people who made the art, code, music, or anything else you used. Make sure you actually have permission to use those assets too!!
04. any engine, any experience level!
I don't care if you're using the fanciest game engine known to humanity or making a tiny game in scratch.Everyone starts somewhere!
05. keep your game playable.
It doesn't need to be finished or polished, but there should be something people can actually play or interact with.If your game crashes the second someone presses start, maybe give it one more test before submitting.
06. be mindful of your content.
No hateful, exploitative, or discriminatory games.If your game includes horror, flashing lights, disturbing content, or sensitive topics, please include appropriate warnings.
07. no stealing!!
don't take someone else's project and claim it's yours. Pretty self-explanatory, i fear.
08. your game belongs to YOU!
whatever you make is yours. dreambyte doesn't take ownership of anyone's games or artwork.
09. PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!
eat food. drink water. stretch. go outside occasionally.
i promise your game will survive if you take a nap.
10. have fun, you nerds!! ♡
this is a non ranked jam! no first place, no last place, no pressure to be better than anyone else. Just create something and enjoy the process.
if something breaks or you need help, ask in the discord! we're all figuring stuff out together.
wanna come hang out with the other little germlins? :3
we have a discord!! think of it as our lil development headquarters where you can meet people, ask questions, share progress, and collectively lose your minds over bugs.
♡ what can you do there?
find teammates! looking for a programmer, artist, writer, musician, or someone to bounce ideas off of? come say hi!
share your progress! screenshots, concept art, silly animations, cursed bugs, and everything in between.
ask for help! stuck on something? don't be shy! maybe somebody knows the answer.
meet other developers! make friends, talk about games, and connect with creative people.
join community hangouts! we'll have optional voice chats and little check-ins throughout the jam.
show off your finished game! once you've submitted, let everybody know!
you do NOT have to join discord to participate in dreambyte!
it's just an extra space for anyone who wants to socialize or find a team.
come say hai!! i don't bite.
♡ a lil note from cereal
i genuinely just wanted to create something fun where people could get together, make games, and hopefully make a few friends along the way. i'm still learning all this stuff too, so seeing what other people create is probably gonna inspire me just as much as i hope this jam inspires you. thank you for giving my silly little idea a chance.
whether you finish your game, learn something new, or just meet somebody cool, i hope you leave dreambyte feeling like your time here was worth it. and who knows? maybe we'll be back for vol. 02. 👀
until then...
keep creating, keep experimenting, and don't let your silly little dreams die!! ♡
with love,
cereal ♡
