![](https://img.itch.zone/aW1nLzEwNDI1MzU1LnBuZw==/original/DJu3jf.png)
This year’s Game Off theme was cliché!
Cli-ché |
noun |
a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. |
If you've heard a phrase a million times, chances are it's a cliché. For example, “a blast from the past,” “play your cards right,” “it’s an uphill battle,” “avoid it like the plague,” and “don’t deploy on a Friday." You catch my drift?
Take one (or more) of your favorite clichés and use them to inspire your game.
Need some ideas? Here are a few that spring to mind:
- A shoot ‘em up involving a loose cannon.
- A dating simulator focused on how opposites attract.
- A clicker game prompting you to pluck low-hanging fruit.
- A racing game where you’re skating on thin ice.
- A football game where you frustrate the opposition by moving the goalposts.
- A beat em’ up where you have to throw in the towel.
- Maybe even some clichés from the movies—ammo that never runs out, deceptively fast zombies, exploding cars.
- Or clichés from video games—conveniently-placed exploding barrels, food healing critical injuries.
The sky’s the limit! I’ve created a list of clichés (almost 4,000) that you might find helpful if you’re really stuck.
Join the jam on itch.io and submit your entry before December 1 13:37 PT. Questions? Ask in the community forum on the Discord server.
What is Game Off?
Game Off is our annual game jam challenging folks to build a game based on a theme.
How to participate
- Create a game based on the theme (some cliché).
- Sign up for a free GitHub account if you don't already have one. It's free and I assure you I’m not on any sort of commission!
- Join the Game Off on itch.io. If you don’t already have an itch.io account, you can sign in with your GitHub account.
- Create a new public GitHub repository to store the source code and any assets you’re able to share for your entry and push your changes before December 1 13:37 PT.
- Submit your game through itch.io.
Voting
Voting will open shortly after the jam ends and is open to everyone who’s submitted a game. Entries will be rated on the following categories: Overall, Gameplay, Graphics, Audio, Innovation and Theme Interpretation. Voting will end on Jan 5th at 13:37 PT.
As always, we'll highlight some of our favorites games on the GitHub Blog, and the world will get to enjoy (and maybe even contribute to or learn from) your creations.
Help—I’ve never created a game before!
With so many free, open source game engines and tutorials available online, there’s never been an easier (or more exciting!) time to try out game development.
Are you…
- Into JavaScript? You might be interested in Phaser, or Sprig.
- Comfortable with C++ or C#? Look at Godot, Unity and Unreal Engine.
- Raving about Rust? You might like Bevy.
- Proficient with Python? Check out Pygame or Godot (Godot uses GDScript, which is similar to Python).
- Dangerous with Java? Take a look at libGDX.
- In love with Lua? Check out LÖVE or Defold. Like retro games too? Drop everything and check out LIKO-12!
- Fond of Flutter? Take a peek at Flame.
- Gearing up with Go? You might want to look at Ebitengine.
- Do you really like retro games? Maybe you can…
- Crank out a text adventure in or some interactive fiction with Clojure or Ink (similar to Markdown).
Help—I’ve never used version control, Git, or GitHub before!