Firefly Zero Jam #2

Unexpected gamejam!

Oh wait

I almost forgot to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Gram, the creator of Firefly Zero.

What is Firefly Zero?

I'm glad you asked! Firefly Zero is the first in the world WebAssembly-powered handheld game console. Yes, a real physical game console that you will be able to buy and play. We've been working hard for several years to make it amazing. We already have real prototypes and very-very soon you'll be able to get your own.

We put a lot of effort into making the best gamedev experience ever. We support a whole bunch of programming languages and getting started and making your first Firefly Zero game is as easy as it gets. We have a small and cozy Discord community and I always help all of gamedevs we have to do their best. Because I love you ♥️

Ugh, oh... So, what about the gamejam? 

Right, the gamejam! So, we want you to try Firefly Zero (well, not the device just yet but the emulator, CLI, and SDKs) and leave your feedback so that I can make really-really the best developer experience in existence. And to make it fun and beneficial for you, I decided to organize a gamejam. 

This is our second gamejam, actually. The first one was small but cozy. In many ways, it was the birth of our gamedev community. We only have a handful people in there but all of them are absolutely amazing ✨

This time we don't have official prizes but if you make your first game for Firefly Zero, I'll be happy to send you some cool merch.

Alright-alright. How do I participate? 

You ask all the right questions, almost as if I'm writing them myself! To participate, make a fun little  game following the theme below, and submit it here, on itch.io. The gamejam is just 7 days and you've got other things to do in life, so don't overthink it! A very small and simple game can also be a lot of fun

THE THEME 

The theme is "SURPRISE". Nobody expected this gamejam and nobody should expect what your game will do. Add a plot twist, a hidden mechanic, a game inside of a game, a jumpscare. Or something completely different, because how can it be a surprise if I tell you what to do. The more surprising a game is, the higher it will be rated. Show me what you've got!

Any rules? 

You can use any of the languages we support (Go, Rust, C, C++, Zig, MoonBit, AssemblyScript) or our own homegrown Bulb Script (a love-letter to the amazing Bitsy). Also, it must be made for Firefly Zero (d-uh!) and be nice on resources (would be cool to run it on the real device, right?). And that's pretty much it! 

Oh, and don't send us AI-generated slop, please. We're here to embrace human creativity and see what cool stuff YOU can do. 

What if I get stuck? 

Check the docs, we put a lot of love into them. And join our Discord, we'll make sure to be here for you before, during, and after the gamejam. And if you just want to talk with other nerds about gamedev and life, don't be shy. 

BTW, you're fantastic 💖

~ Gram