This jam is now over. It ran from 2023-05-13 22:00:00 to 2023-05-20 22:00:00. View results

Welcome to the Game Boy Showdown 2023!

THE WINNERS ARE:

1st place
"What Friends Are For" by shin
https://shin.itch.io/what-friends-are-for

2nd place
"The Pact" by allalonegamez
https://allalonegamez.itch.io/the-pact

3rd place
"My Friendly Little Island" by playinstinct
https://playinstinct.itch.io/my-friendly-little-island


The Game Boy Showdown is a 7 day long Game Jam, followed by a 7 day voting period.
Only Submitters, Sponsors and Helpers can vote!
Voting criteria will be Game Design, Gameplay, Innovation, Graphics, Sound & Theme!
The winner will be decided by the best score over all categories.
The top 3 games will be listed on the top of this page after the Game Jam is over.
Last years top 3 games can be found here: https://itch.io/jam/game-boy-showdown

We got some sponsors again this year, to make some awesome prizes available for the winners!
• 1st place will receive a modified Game Boy Color, a GBxCart RW and a 2MB Flash Cartridge.
• 2nd place will receive a Game Boy Color, a GBxCart RW and a 2MB Flash Cartridge.
• 3rd place will receive a GBxCart RW and a 2MB Flash Cartridge.
• 4th and 5th place will get a 2MB Flash Cartridge each.
• 6th to 10th place will receive some high quality Game Boy Showdown stickers.
Besides that, the top 3 games will be shown and be playable
at the next NCON event (Nintendo Fan Convention) in Germany. 

There will be an official live-stream of the voting process on twitch.tv/tronimalgb
Starting at May 21st 2023!
If you are also live-streaming or making videos of your dev process, please let us know in the community section.
I'd be happy to watch and share! 


This years theme is FRIENDLY!

Examples:
Let your game play in a hostile environment looking for something friendly.
Construct a friendship simulator or even make an animal-friendly game.
Whatever you make, be creative with this topic, have fun and good luck!


Please read this very carefully, feel free to ask in the community section if anything is unclear!

• You must create a real Game Boy ROM,
only *.gb (Game Boy) and *.gbc (Game Boy Color) files are accepted.
• Uploading a web release additionally is allowed and recommended to increase playability.
• The whole game has to be made within the 7 days - while the jam is running!

• Teaming up is allowed! Make some friends with other game devs!
• It's ok to use assets (pieces of premade music or graphics) and templates (pieces of premade code),
but you have to tell everyone about it on your submission page!
• Only original games allowed, no fan games, no remakes, demakes or romhacks.
It's simple. No copyright violation!
• No NSFW or offensive stuff! Be nice!

Any rule violation will get your game removed from the jam, or get you excluded from winning the prizes at least!


Don't go too big and stick to schedule.
You can use RGBDS, GBDK, ZGB or GB STUDIO to create a Game Boy game,
or anything else which will let you create a valid Game Boy ROM.

If this is your first time making a Game Boy game, GB Studio and GBDK-2020 are recommended for beginners.
If you need help, there are some great tutorials on how to get started by Robert Doman.
GB Studio Central also offers some very useful information!
There are some sound assets available by Beatscribe, Coffee Bat and Tronimal for example.
Plus graphic assets by Gumpy Function, Poloviiinkin, 2bitcrook and many more - on itch.io
If you are developing a "Game Boy Color only" game, make sure to add a lockout screen for the classic Game Boy (DMG)!


Time to celebrate! We got helpers and sponsors! :)

      

DMGpage.com - german blog all about the Nintendo Game Boy!
Ferrante Crafts - a modern Game Boy homebrew publisher!
GB Studio Central - helpful website about GB Studio!
insideGadgets - the maker of the awesome GBxCart and lots of Flash Cartridges!
Space Luchadores - a private sponsor, helping out because he enjoyed last years Showdown so much!
NCON - Nintendo Fan Convention club based in Germany!
Robert Doman - making games and GB Studio related videos!
This is Game Boy - a podcast about the Nintendo Game Boy hosted by Moelleuh and Tony!


There are various good reasons to join and participate in a Game Jam.
For just having fun and making some friends in the Game Boy development scene,
or to see what you can achieve in a short amount of time and learn multiple aspects about working on a game.
Simply get better by testing some new game mechanics
or trying to work with a new team as a test run for future projects.
Even continue development after the jam and publish your own game, d.i.y. or via a publisher,
feasible with the help of projects like insideGagdets or Ferrante Crafts

For anyone interested - a list of modern physical Game Boy homebrew releases can be found at DMGpage.com.


Prepare for more Game Boy related Game Jams!

GB Compo 2023 staring June 15th 2023!
A huge Game Boy Game Jam with a lot of different categories and prizes.
Running full 3 months, a perfect fit for slightly larger projects
and also recommended for people that would like to use engines like RGBDS or GBDK.

GB Jam 11 starting September 15th 2023!
The mother of all Game Boy Jams, running 10 days, covering 2 weekends.
Recommend for beginners and people who simply want to try something new.
You need to create a four colour game in the style of a Game Boy game, so really any engine is allowed!


Submissions(82)

All submissions
·
Browser playable (78)
·
Windows (10)
macOS (4)
Linux (3)
Android (4)

No submissions match your filter

A short narrative about a lonely man in the apocalypse.
Survival
Play in browser
Action rpg about making friends with a fantasy town
Adventure
Play in browser
A camping trip with friends for the Gameboy Color
Play in browser
Befriend eldritch horrors to bring your Bestie back from the Void!
Visual Novel
Play in browser
Control a pair of characters who hate each other.
Platformer
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Help Dart the Frog earn money to upgrade his bike!
Adventure
Play in browser
A long lost friend with a secret needs your help.
Adventure
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A cute adventure platformer about friendship and personal growth
Adventure
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A verdict for a final friend
Visual Novel
Play in browser
Game Boy Showdown 2023
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Game Boy puzzle platformer where you befriend your enemies to save the day!
Platformer
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Think you know everything about Retro Culture? Prove it by completing the RETRO QUIZ TOWER TRIAL
Adventure
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A short narrative experience about working in an ice cream shop.
Simulation
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Bee-Comb Best Friends with the Townsfolk
Adventure
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There is only one thing we can do when we can't make new friends!
Platformer
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A Lunar Lander game for the gameboy!
Simulation
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An original release from WLS to Nintendo's Gameboy handheld console.
Puzzle
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Your friendly neighborhood Ferryman
Puzzle
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Get to the end and have a friendly conversation with the boss!
Platformer
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Goose raising simulator
Simulation
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A Game About Friends and Fire
Puzzle
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The world's first social media for the Gameboy
Visual Novel
Play in browser
Game Boy Showdown 2023 submission
Adventure
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Save the hostages, without violence.
Action
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Help grannie cross the street
Action
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Save .files friends from viruses
Platformer
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The exciting story of Sir ant.
Puzzle
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Save your town from the impending threats. And make some friends along the way!
Adventure
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a short, feel-good story
Visual Novel
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Help Ethan to save world friendships !
Platformer
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A puzzle platformer for the original game-boy
Platformer
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a story about friends
Interactive Fiction
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Adventure
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A game that might bug you a little...
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Dragon Quest meets Mega Man meets Zatch Bell
Role Playing
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Help two bunny buddies get through a forest full of rude animals in this Gameboy game made for GBShowdown '23.
Platformer
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Platform GameBoy Homebrew
Platformer
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A short first person game about finding soldiers in the snow.
Adventure
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A very small friendly and cute game
Adventure
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We are saved offline
Interactive Fiction
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The Friendly Witch Town Management Sim!
Simulation
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Cat Petting Game
Rhythm
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A short adventure game. Gather the parts of a song to sing the whole piece and break the curse.
Adventure
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My GameJam Project
Platformer
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A small and incomplete Rhythm Game submition to the Game Boy Showdown 2023.
Rhythm
GB gamecreated for the Game Boy Showdown 2023
Puzzle
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The journey of Bobo and his plushie to find a new home.
Platformer
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A choose-your-own legend for Game Boy with nine different endings!
Visual Novel
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Defeat the great evil!
Adventure
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Submission for the Game Boy Showdown 2023
Adventure
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A young kid is locked inside his house and finds a talking key.
Adventure
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Aliens think all humans are evil. Prove them wrong!
Adventure
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Your apartment is making weird sounds.
Play in browser
A game about friendship between a guy and a winier dog
Simulation
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Two cats. One of them is too friendly.
Puzzle
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Become the caretaker of a small town, listening to their worries before they drift away...
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Can you and your friends perform the most popular music show?
Adventure
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"It's better than fortnite" - My 12 year old brother
Puzzle
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It's Pubby's first day in a new town, time to make some deliveries and make some friends!
Interactive Fiction
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Help Ms. Hazel water her flowers.
Adventure
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my game for the game boy showdown 2023
Puzzle
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A quest for friendship!
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Play as Mr. Oak, the substitute teacher, and seat students next to their friends in this puzzle game!
Puzzle
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A Lotus/Katharou game for Gameboy Showdown 2023
Action
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A short Game Boy Game for the Game Boy Showdown 2023
Simulation
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write what to do to make the game better!
Everyone likes flowers, and Pilot likes to give them out.
Role Playing
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Game Made in 2 Days
Adventure
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