Garden Game Jam - First Edition!

The time has come brave Gardeners, the time to summon your creativity, get together and have fun making video-games!

Our oracles have pondered hard and steady and from the orbs a sentence was revealed, it's magical power is capable of sparking inspiration and creativity in the heart of all garden-folk, use it as you please!

"Leave it better than you found it."

Whether you channel the might of ancient treants, the mischief of pixie gardeners, or the cunning of a hedge-maze architect, let your imagination take root and grow wild.

The Garden Game Jam is upon us. Will you answer it's call? 🌿🧙‍♀️

What is a Game Jam & How to participate!

A Game Jam is an event, a reunion or even a gathering where people of all kinds of fields and expertise get together to put up very simple games, we then do a run playing all of those games and talk about it! It's supposed to be fun!

In order to participate you will need a few things:

• An Itch account so you can submit your game once it's done.
• A Technology that you can build a game with
• Decide if you want to tackle the challenge on your own or get in a group and build it with friends.

Experience in programming or related fields is not necessary, but if this is your actual first time building a game it's heavily recommended that you get in a group just so you don't feel so lost and overwhelmed!

Try to scope the project properly, most unfinished games in a game jam happen because people bite more than they can chew. It's important to remind ourselves that this doesn't need to be the next GOTY, and that expectations are often more harmful than helpful, try to focus on one core mechanic, or one set of objectives and then build new things and mechanics on top of it. Have fun!

Schedule & Rules!

Submissions will be open on the 5th of January and will end on the 5th of February which gives you a whole month to submit your game! You can do it either in a group or solo! We recommend that you try to limit your group up to 4 members tho!

Does that mean I have to spend a whole month building my game?
Absolutely not! The extended length of this jam is just so we allow people to take their sweet time on development, this also allows people to fit development into their schedule more healthily. Just decide how much time you want to spend on your game, let's say for example 48 hours and distribute these hours along the month however you seem fit!

What if I can't finish my game in time?
It's natural to every game jam that some people will not be able to meet the deadline with their submissions, it's completely okay! We actually encourage you to submit your game even if it isn't done. Be proud of what you accomplished!

Does my game need to be made for the web?
It doesn't need to be, but it's heavily recommended that you build it for the web and it would be appreciated too!

Is following the theme mandatory?
By no means! Our oracles, wizards and sages made it very clear that the theme is supposed to inspire people, if you're already inspired then you don't really need it and can just follow your heart!

Can I use premade assets? What about generative AI?
Even though it's usually more fun to just do everything yourself no matter how scuffed it turns out, premade assets are allowed as long as their license allows you to use them for this kind of event and they haven't been made using AI. The use of generative AI is strictly forbidden for both assets and code!

Is it cool if my game has some mature content?
It's recommended that you avoid mature content and heavy subjects but it's not mandatory, just be sure to add all the Trigger Warnings necessary when submitting!

Is it okay if I join as a team with people who are not members of the Garden forum?
This one is a bit tricky. While not mandatory, we recommend that you just get these people to join the forum for the game jam, most of the communication about the jam is going to happen there, after all this is an event made by the community for the community.

Any advice left?
Yes, but read this not as an advice but as a rule that you should follow throughout all of this event: Be Kind and Have Fun!

Streamers & Credits!

*Streamers yet to be announced, proclaim your interest at the forum*

Credits!

Cheryl_Maryl -> Illustration
TanukiFriend -> Design
fufie -> Writing
a_lillian -> Advice & Feedback


Thank you everyone that helped put this up, and the garden for allowing us to share these kinds of events with each other! :3