Join the GoedWare Game Jam Halloween Edition 👻. A 72-hour coding challenge full of spook-tacular creativity! Create a Halloween-themed game using any framework, where spine-tingling gameplay and haunting visuals are key.  Dare to submit your creation on itch.io to compete. Games will be rated in categories like gameplay, audio, visual and Halloween/theme fit, by both participants and our ghostly jury panel. Prizes await—including gift cards and spooky surprises! The theme will be revealed at the start, so join us if you dare!

The GoedWare Game Jam Halloween Edition is over. Everyone who was able to make a game within the 3-day deadline submitted it. We had 30 entries! We are hoping to get even a few more at the next GoedWare Game Jam! 

We really enjoyed organizing this event and we will do so again in the future. So watch out for the next GoedWare Game Jam! We hope you will join us again

First, thanks to everyone for participating and forwarding your games! Without you there would be no Game Jam. We hope you had fun creating, testing and playing your games. I know we did. 

And now for the results the winners in the various categories are listed below:

Public
#1

The public winner is: Dark Reach by Florian Castel

#2

Runner-up is: Devourer by EmperorZoldyck

#3

3rd spot is: Who wants to be a Monster by Akt0o & Merulon

Jury
#1

The jury winner is: Dark Reach by Florian Castel

#2

Runner-up is: Devourer by EmperorZoldyck

#3

3rd spot is: Run, Humans! by tofi123 & Merulon

This is the 1st Halloween Edition Game Jam organized by GoedWare ( LinkedIn | Website | Discord ).  Our goal? To help you Conjure new skills, Creep through creative challenges, and Captivate with your very own game in just 3 days! Whether you’re summoning code, mastering game design, or exploring eerie aesthetics, you’ll gain experience, level up your skills, and have a frightfully fun time. Join us in creating games and playing those crafted by other daring participants!

*(Link to previous Jams #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 | ZERO UI)

It is always challenging to find an engaging theme. It should provide a solid foundation for game ideas while remaining versatile enough to accommodate diverse concepts. We believe we've discovered that  with our theme:  

"YOU ARE THE MONSTER"

Some inspiration: The theme YOU ARE THE MONSTER invites you to dive into the unsettling world of monsters, not as the hero, but as the source of fear. Step into the skin (or scales, or claws) of the things that haunt us, exploring not only what makes a monster but how it feels to be the monster—embracing its motivations, instincts, and choices.

Imagine creating a survival horror game where players face the challenge of embodying a creature hunting or protecting its territory, or perhaps a psychological thriller that delves into the gradual transformation of a character into something monstrous. You could craft an adventure where your character grapples with their monstrous nature in a world that fears and rejects them. Alternatively, design a strategy game where you lead a horde of monstrous beings with unique abilities and perspectives, or a puzzle game where players explore the internal struggle of managing a monstrous self in the midst of a world that’s unaware of the terror within. For narrative-driven games, delve into a story where players experience the conflicting emotions of being feared, hated, and misunderstood—or one where they question what it truly means to be “the monster.”

We can’t wait to see how you bring this theme to life with creativity and technical prowess. Embrace the haunting and eerie side of game design this Halloween and discover what it means to be the monster lurking in the shadows 👹🧛‍♂️🧟‍♀️!

Feel free to discuss, brainstorm, and exchange ideas with fellow participants @ our Discord Server.

Best of luck to everyone, and may your games haunt and thrill! Happy Game Jam!!

Here you can find a mindmap that could be of help. Feel free to use it as a starting point, reference, or simply for inspiration as you work on your game concepts. It's just to help get your creative juices flowing. You can also find this one and more on our Discord.

• Anyone, regardless of experience, is welcome to participate!
• An itch.io account to be able to join the jam and submit your entry.
• You can use any engine or framework you like! For example: Unity, Godot, Unreal, Gamemaker etc. You can even make your own if you want. 
• You can not edit your submission after the deadline! So be wise and submit your game a few hours before the deadline to be able to tackle any last minute issues.
• Teams are allowed, but we recommend keeping the teams up to 4 members, after that it becomes hard to manage a team in 3 days for a game. (Prizes are only for the whole team, not the individual members)
• If you have the time and can manage it, multiple entries for the Game Jam are allowed.
• Music must be royalty / copyright free and properly credited. 
• You can use fonts from the internet, as long as you have the correct license for it.
• You can use assets you own. For example assets from the Unity Asset Store or Unreal Marketplace.
• Please only use assets you have permission to use, and avoid infringing upon any copyright or trademark.
• No NSFW games.  Games must not contain nudity, or hateful language or visuals.
• Participants who try to manipulate voting will be removed.
  
• AI tools may assist with coding, but the majority of the code must be your own work.
• The game has to be Halloween themed (Halloween itself or horror/spooky/creepy/scary etc.) 

All entries will be judged by other participants of the jam, so that includes you (hopefully)!
The categories the games are rated in are:

• Gameplay / Fun: Basically, how easy and how much fun it is to play the game.
• Art Style / Visuals: How cool, beautiful, or eye-catching the game looks.
• Audio / Sound Design: How good the music and sound effects are, and if they make the game feel even better. Do they enhance the theme.
• Halloween / Theme: Does the game fit into Halloween and the theme.

There will also be a Judge/Jury Ranking: a rating by our own panel of judges. They will make a separate ranking from the participating games based on their own tastes, preferences and gaming enjoyment as to who will receive a prize. They will take into account any double or unfair voting in the normal rating. To balance uneven or unfair votes.

After the jam ends, a 5 day rating period starts, in which people can play and rate all of the submitted games.

Don't forget to leave feedback on any game you rate! It's more helpful than just a number, and it helps them find your game 😊.

Note: You need at least 10 ratings to be considered for winning in any of the categories. So make sure you play a lot of games so your game will have a higher chance of getting rated!

*The voting is open, but we reserve the right to take any submissions down that are clearly vote brigaded.
** The number of needed ratings to be considered a winning will be adjusted according to the number of participants.

Yes, this Game Jam will have prizes for the winners 😊. These prizes are made available by our sponsor and organizer GoedWare.

Let's start by saying that if you press that join button and upload a game before the deadline, you are already a winner!  Having fun while creating and finishing your game project is an achievement in itself!  That experience is more valuable than money, but we do have some real prizes for the winners also 😉.

We have a public vote with prizes and we also have a jury ranking (see these prizes under the public vote) with prizes.

#Overall winner

The overall winner will receive a $75 gift card!* + Eternal Glory of winning the Game Jam😁! 

* Participants will receive an Amazon gift card for the Amazon website that applies to their country. No other gift cards or prizes will be distributed or swapped.
*** For the record for Brazilians and Indian. Unfortunately, no gift cards are possible for amazon.com.br & amazon.in and we will give out gift cards for amazon.com online shop.

#Runner-up 

The runner-up will get a $50 gift card.

#3rd place 

The 3rd place will get a $25 gift card.

#Jury ranking

#1:  The winner will get a $100 gift card!!

#2:  The runner-up will get a $75 gift card.

#3:  Third place will get a $50 gift card.

*Jury ranking prizes will stack with the public prizes.

In my experience, here is what you need to do if you want to win one of the top spots:

• Make your game easy to understand for new players. This is a super common trap a lot of game jam games fall into.  Start thinking about your tutorial or how you want to teach your mechanics right from the beginning!
• Usually it's a good idea to make your game not too hard to win. People spend roughly five to fifteen minutes on each game. In most cases they won't have enough time to reach a super high level of mastery. Keep that in mind when balancing the difficulty.
• Quality over quantity. Keep your game super simple! This is important in this jam but every bit of extra polish can really make your game stand out in a short jam like this.
• Take risk. The winning games are usually those who were brave enough to try something completely new and crazy (while also following the other three tips above). 
• Resources. Check out the resources thread "Free gamedev resources (art, music , sfx, vfx, models etc.)" in our itch.io community for useful resources that can help you start and can be used for your game. 
  

Obviously there are exceptions to all rules but still, I hope it helps. 😊

Question: What is the theme? 
Answer: The theme will be announced when the jam begins.

Question: Does my game have to be a certain format?
Answer: No, but remember that not all users have Windows/Mac/Linux devices. Browser based is a good idea to get as many people playing your game as possible and try to make at least a Windows version.

Question: What assets can I use? 
Answer: The vast majority of code must be written during the jam, but you can use whatever art and audio assets you have the legal right to use.

Question: Can I submit a game that I already started on?  
Answer: No, it is required that all participants make the entirety of the game in the time provided.

Question: Is there a Discord I can join? 
Answer: Yes, click here to join. There is also an FAQ channel there.

• Anything you make during the GoedWare Game Jam is your property. GoedWare claims no rights or ownership of your game. 
• Any game submitted to the GoedWare  Game Jam may show up in a GoedWare YouTube video, Social Media or website without your express permission.