Voting ends soon!

The voting period ends at 10 AM PST on Monday, April 19th!  We will make an announcement Monday evening here and on the Games for Love Discord server about the winners, and then open up the results to be viewed by everyone on this itch.io game jam page.

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Jam Kickoff 
 

Video of Jam Kickoff is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZSbyIYxnxLxp-wnbNgurQQJBeodb_MnO/view?usp=shari...

On the Games For Love Discord to join a team here: https://discord.gg/DUrcHGE at #idea-pitches-and-team-forming 

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Welcome to the first Game JAM for Love!  This is a two-week-long game jam as part of Games for Love, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to easing suffering, saving lives, and creating sustainable futures for children.

Theme

For our first Game JAM for Love, the theme is "Pixel Arcade!"  There is a VR arcade in the upcoming Channel Surfing+ game from Games for Love that needs some more arcade games!  The goal of this game jam will be to create a 2D retro arcade game with certain constraints that will enable it to be included in the VR arcade.  If your game is chosen, you will eventually be able to play it in VR!

Eligibility

This particular game jam has the goal of bringing some of the submissions into a Unity-based VR game.  This means there are some unique eligibility requirements involved to be an official submission, though they are fairly straightforward to design around.  Beyond using the "Pixel Arcade" theme, your submission must adhere to the following constraints in order to facilitate your game being added to a 3D arcade machine in the VR Arcade (Channel Surfing+):

• The game must be made in Unity using version 2019.3.12f1, same as what's used for Channel Surfing+ (you can download it here: https://unity3d.com/get-unity/download/archive)
• The game must be completely two-dimensional (no 3D objects or z-index positioning of sprites)
• The game must not rely on scene changes (the VR player will already be inside of a scene)
• The game must not rely on a camera to be playable (the VR player's HMD will be the camera, so the game must be playable wherever it is placed in the arcade scene)
• Objects in the game can go "off-screen," but only a small distance (in lieu of not relying on a camera, the game cannot simply move its game objects' positions indefinitely)
• The game must be playable with either WASD, arrow key, or joystick movement (no mouse input)
• The game must be playable with no more than two action buttons

Tips

• To keep your game flat, use layers in the sprite renderer rather than z-index position values for visually placing one object over another

• To work around not being able to rely on scene changes, changing maps can occur by disabling the current map and enabling another that exists at the same position
• To work around not being able to rely on a camera, the game could take place within a bounded space as with retro arcade games like Pacman and Centipede

Nice-to-Haves

While it's not required for this game jam, the following will help make sure the game is more prepared to be added into The VR Arcade (Channel Surfing+):

• The game must exist as a prefab game object that can be dragged into any scene (e.g. a root game object as a prefab under which all the game's objects are attached)

• The game's prefab object must work as expected when rotated at an angle (the game will be laid at an angle on the 3D arcade machine screen)
  • To make sure your game objects move correctly at whatever angle the prefab game object is at, use transform.localPosition, transform.localRotation, and transform.localScale rather than transform.position, transform.rotation, and transform.scale for adjusting a game object's transform

Rules

• When submitting to this game jam, please also fill out the Games for Love Volunteer Waiver and Release Form so the game can potentially be included in Channel Surfing+
• You can work alone or in a team of any size
• The game you submit has to be created during the jam
• The game must be family-friendly (no NSFW, offensive, gory/overly violent, etc. content)
• The game must follow the provided eligibility requirements
• All assets must be created for this game, be owned by you, or be under the Creative Commons CC0 license
• All code utilities and libraries must be created for this game, be owned by you, or be under the Creative Commons CC0 license

Rating

All games will be rated in the following categories:

• Fun: Was it enjoyable to play?
• Aesthetics: Did the graphics, sound, mood, etc. work well together?
• Arcade Feel: Does this game feel like it belongs in an arcade?

Members of the Games for Love community and the public will be able to judge these games over a two-week period.  Additionally, the Games For Love Game Jam Team will review the games to see which ones should be brought into the VR arcade.  If your game is selected, we would love to have your help getting it production-ready to ship with our VR Arcade as a part of our upcoming game Channel Surfing+!  We also can provide additional team members to help get it to the finish line.

As a 501(c)(3) charity, Games For Love will release Channel Surfing+ publically and all revenues go back into the org as donations to bring impact to children in hospitals and helping create sustainability. Games For Love's mission is Helping Ease Suffering, Save Lives, and Create Sustainable Futures For Children.

How cool is it that you can do what you love, and by doing what you love, could have an opportunity to make a difference in someone else's life. We are honored and privileged to do that every day! More info on Games For Love on our official website: HTTP://gamesforlove.org