Welcome to the first (hopefully) Annual Fairview Game Jam! For the entirety of spring semester, you will be able to make and submit a game to this jam. Even if you cannot submit it via itch.io, you could contact mjshapiro01@bvsd.org to make sure its included. If you don't want to make a game, you can also contact the same email to be put on the list of judges. After the submissions close, the final games will be judged and the ratings for each will be released. The top three winners of the Game Jam will be announced by the Game Dev Club in early April

IMPORTANT: This Jam is not just for the Game Dev Club, and the game you make does not have to be good. A Game Jam is an event for the purpose of getting people to go ahead and make a game. This is for people who have never done Game Design but want to try, people who want to try their hand at designing sprites or making a soundtrack. Everyone is invited to participate. And frankly, the Game Dev Club is small enough that doing better than one of its members wouldn't be an exceptional hurdle. If you want help, you can just work with a friend or even speak with some of our members. We're more than happy to use our experience in service of your vision.

How To Submit (And What Qualifies): This Jam will be using Itch.io for most submissions. You can publish a game to itch.io here, and then return to the jam page to hit submit. However, some games that theoretically won't work for. Game Design isn't just video games but also card games and board games and the like. Itch.io has ways to submit those as well, but if you cannot figure that out you can send as much stuff as you think is necessary for a submission to the email above. It will be included. While Itch.io does allow you to add a cost to a game, for this jam (in order for other people to be able to play and judge your game) requiring a purchase to play your game is banned. Generally the games should be appropriate within the confines of common-sense. We won't scream or shout about the inclusion of *gasp* guns! But things like cyber bullying via the means of making a game are against club policy and would likely result in disqualification

Collaboration: Game Design is very much not a solo sport. It is highly suggested that every submission have not only a programmer behind it but an artist behind the visuals and even a musician to make the soundtrack. These will vastly improve the game and if it wins, the whole team will get to celebrate. However, there is the slightest catch. Every participant of a game must be credited. A game that can be proven to not credit someone who worked on it in any substantial way will be disqualified. There is a forum in the community section for people who are looking for a team; either looking to join a team or looking for someone to join theirs.

AI: The Game Dev Club's official stance on AI is that it is incredibly useful, as a programming tool. AI Art is not the same thing as human art, and Game Design is very much an art. Use of AI in Writing, Music, Visuals, Design, or pretty much anything other than as a programming assist or asking how to use the tools you are using (such as a game engine) is grounds of disqualification. AI is still useful in programming, especially if you don't know a language and wish to convert psuedocode into compilable code. You technically can use AI to generate an entire piece of code, with input only as complicated as "Create a movement system in Unity". But we do not suggest giving that much responsibility to the AI as its method of doing something may not match the experience you are trying to design. And Game Design is an art.