"Wolves Den" is a show where a panel of experts will playtest prototypes of games made in Unity and Published to Spatial.io, the first C# based UGC (User-Generated Content) gaming platform for Unity developers, offering social features, monetization, and hosting for free.
These "Wolves" will greenlight the ones they like the best to enter into a month-long sprint powered by Spatial's development team to see who is the Pack Leader.
The "Wolves Den" panel of judges will be made up of online gaming/lifestyle creators, independent game development creators, celebrity gamers and legendary game designers.
Welyn
Welyn is a YouTube sensation renowned for gripping storytelling and immersive survival gaming content that captivates millions. With a knack for transforming survival gameplay into cinematic adventures, Welyn's channel is a treasure trove of high-stakes narratives and heartwarming camaraderie. Beyond the gaming realm, Welyn delights his audience with his sharp rapping skills.
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Hello Gamers!! I am taking part in a HUGE game dev showdown called Wolves Den.
— welyn 🎃 (@welyn) March 11, 2024
I will be alongside legends @therealcliffyb (Cliff Blezinski) , @FINALLEVEL (Ice-T), @BarjiYT ! 🐺 We're looking for the best Unity creations - survival games (my love) with a twist. I will be making… pic.twitter.com/h8LZt511SB
Ice-T
Rapper, actor, gamer and cultural icon. Ice-T is a multi-Grammy winner who is also the longest running actor on a prime time drama. Ice is currently filming his 25th season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and recording a new Body Count LP
Career Highlights:
- Platinum Recording Artist
- 2-time Grammy Winner
- Longest running male actor in a TV series
- 2.5B hours watched on NBC/Universal platforms
Cliff Bleszinski
Cliff Bleszinski made video games for 25 years, games such as the Jazz Jackrabbit series, the Unreal series, Gears of War, and Fortnite. He had his own studio, Boss Key, that existed for 3.5 years making the titles LawBreakers and Radical Heights. He then wrote a memoir called “Control Freak” and became a successful restaurateur in Raleigh, NC, and then became a Broadway producer. He co-produced the 8 Tony award winning show Hadestown, the revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune, as well as Once Upon A One More Time – a musical powered by the hits of Britney Spears. Cliff is also a lifelong comic book fan and is utterly thrilled to bring his new comic Scrapper into this world. Who knows what’s next? Stand up comedy.
Barji
Barji is an Indie Game Developer and YouTuber with over 190,000 subscribers. My Games have been played by over 1 million people including "Barji Kart", "Burg" and "Grapple".
The theme for this program is “Survival Revival” - Survival games with a twist. Create a new game that blends survival with another genre of your choice. Your only other limit is your imagination.
Maybe you stick with what works and make a Horror Survival game, but place it in a unique or unusual environment like an amusement park, old school video store, or an ordinary office call center (except spooky!). Or maybe you’re inspired to create a hardcore Fallout-inspired Post-Apocalyptic Resource Management Survival Sim.
Maybe you combine any OTHER genre with Survival… Survival Puzzle Game! Survival Action Brawler! Survival FPS (I think this is just a Battle Royale actually, but you get the idea), Survival Rhythm Action! Survival Dating Sim!
To submit to Wolves Den, you'll need two things:
- A playable game prototype
- It can’t violate itch.io TOS.
- It must fit the theme
- It must be built in Unity and published to Spatial.io using the Spatial Creator Toolkit Unity SDK.
- It must be embedded using your Spatial link to your itch.io submission - Learn how here
- Tag the published game with the tag "WolvesDen" so we can confirm your submission
- You must have a license to use any assets outside of the Creator Toolkit
- A video link (90 seconds max) of you or your team spokesperson telling us about your game and why you deserve the chance to enter the Wolves Den
- There must be a direct-to-camera section, VO alone won't cut it, VTuber rigs are allowed as long as they don't violate itch.io or any livestreaming or video streaming TOS
- Remember to show off your personality! How you pitch is just as important as the prototype
We want to keep voting as simple as possible, so we've got three key categories:
- How it Plays - Simple gameplay experience. If it’s fun to play and looks great, we’re in
- How you Pitch - A 90 second pitch to show off your prototype and tell us why YOU should enter the Wolves Den
- How you Revive Survival - The closer you get to reviving the Survival genre in your game, the better
There will be three rounds of voting. Here's how it will all go down:
Round 1: Community Voting - Top 25
The community will vote and the top 25 pitches will go to our internal panel of experts
Round 2: Spatial Selection - Top 8
Our panel will select the 8 prototypes and 4 alternates based on the pitch, the game, and the theme to enter the Wolves Den. In the event of a close decision, the panel will weigh the game's rank in the top 25.
Round 3: Wolves pick their pack - Top 4
The Wolves see the top 8 prototypes and decide who to invite to a 30-day sprint to build their game with the help of Spatial.io
Top 8
- Discord Badge & Private Channel
- A chance to enter the Wolves Den and pitch your prototype on the first episode and have it played by the Wolves
- Weekly feedback from game designers and enhanced engineering support via slack/email
Top 4
- $2,500 per team
- Advance to the Final Playtest, where you have 30 days to finish your game and wow the Wolves. Your experience building your game and revealing it to the Wolves will be prominently featured in the second episode.
- Weekly Personal Design, Engineering and QA support for their sprint
Winner
- $5,000 for your team
- The Wolves will play your game on their streams and shout it out on their social channels
- Featured at the top of the front page on Spatial.io
- Awarded as a "Best of Spatial"
Discord | Developer Documentation | Contest Terms & Conditions
Where can I find the official contest rules?
You can read the full contest terms & conditions here. By submitting a game, you agree to abide by these rules.
What are the submission deadlines for the game jam?
The submission deadline for the game jam is March 22nd at 11:59PM ET. Make sure to submit your game by this date for it to be considered in the competition.
Are there any specific software or tools we need to use?
Yes, you need to build your game in Unity. You also need a Spatial account and to publish your game using the Spatial Creator Toolkit, which is a Unity SDK that allows you to quickly publish to Spatial from Unity. You can find more information and documentation at https://Docs.Spatial.io.
Can we work in teams, or is this an individual competition?
Both individual and team submissions are welcome. If working as a team, please designate one member as the spokesperson for the Wolves. They must be the person to record the video
Are there any themes or genres that are off-limits?
While we encourage creativity, please avoid themes that are offensive, inappropriate, or violate itch TOS. If you're unsure, feel free to reach out to us for clarification.
How will the games be judged, and what are the criteria?
Games will be judged based on adherence to the theme, the overall game experience, and your team's pitch. Community voting will help us determine the top 25 and be used as a tiebreaker in the event that there are multiple strong candidates for the top 8.
Can I or my team use parts of a pre-existing game or code?
Yes, so long as you own the rights.