What is the Insect (Adjacent) Jam?
A jam dedicated to story focused works featuring arthropods hosted from June [because I forgot to change the date] to the end of October [so you actually have time to make something]. And since it's insect adjacent, all kinds of arthropods count, though the type mostly associated with bugs is encouraged. Nevertheless, no one would mind if the featured creature was a crustacean instead, for example. Or a snail, they're guests of honour.
Rules
- The work must be a story focused game [visual novels, text adventures and so are encouraged] and feature arthropods in some way, be it text, art, some extras and so on.
- Your game should be free at least for a few weeks after the jam ends so everyone who took part can play it. You're free to make it paid later on, though.
- You can start working before the jam starts or finish older projects, the goal is to have something playable by the time the jam ends.
- Demos are fine, narrative based games are encouraged [please make the story take at least half of the playtime if you want to add some other gameplay elements].
- You're free to make the game 18+ for whatever reason but always add appropriate warnings.
- Projects made using AI are heavily discouraged and its use should be directly mentioned on the page.
- Any project reported to be using stolen assets will be removed from the jam. CC assets with credits are perfectly fine, though.
- There are no prizes nor rankings [seriously, it's not ranked]. Everyone who finished their project is a winner.
- Have fun :D
🐛 I know there's a lot of time but why make something big and crunch when you can create a small game :D Just a suggestion, though. 🐛
How much is 🐛 enough?
As long as your arthropod plays a central part in the story, even a single one is enough. You can go more anthro, make the story take place in a world of insects only, underwater, in space, the future, among dinosaurs or wherever else you wish.
It's all very broad so you're basically limited only by your imagination. Just make sure I don't have to play your game and check its every nook and cranny to find if it's not something completely unrelated to the jam.
What engines to use?
Whichever you want, honestly. Though considering most of the submissions would [I hope] have some kind of story to tell, here are some recommendations:
Ren'Py - Basically the go to program for English language visual novel creators. Moderately simple and very easy to learn if you want a basic game. Just a bit complicated if you want something good looking or fancy and if you know what you're doing, you could honestly even make an RPG there since it's based on python; point&click games are easier, though.
Unity - very versatile, has a big community and if you're stuck, looking for help shouldn't be hard. Can be used for both visual novels, text adventures [there are also way simpler and lighter programs for that, though] and something complicated.
Twine - want to write some interactive fiction instead? Twine is a very intuitive option that also allows its users to insert pictures or music to their stories [that requires easy to find plugins]. No GUI customisation needed, just write your story.
Quest - prefer text adventures? Look no more. Another very simple program, also offers to make your game online and post it on the site. You can also try Squiffy from the same creators [interactive fiction only].
Ink - another simple way to create interactive fiction. The end result is very light-weight since if you want, you honestly can pack the whole story into a single html file.
LÖVE - a bit more complicated since it requires some programming knowledge. Uses Lua and is a framework for 2D games. Quick to learn. The only downside is that you have no basic art assets and need to prepare everything yourself. And if you want to create using both code and a graphic interface, you can always try Defold.
Godot - scripting using C++ or GDScript, Godot supports many platforms and allows for the creation of both 2D and 3D games. Open source with a pretty big community around it and many tutorials to use.
Narrat - want to create narrative rpgs with an inventory, skill checks and maps that still heavily relies on text? That's the one. It's open source and has some handy interface that doesn't require a lot of complicated programming to make your game.
Bitsy - for short, pixel games with a limited palette. Very easy to use, supports HTML5 [the game can be played without downloading], let's you go as simple or detailed as you want. Worth checking out.
RenJS - doesn't require programming, supports HTML5 and different plugins if you felt like adding some more features. Beginner friendly.
Additional info
DevTalk - while not directly related to the creation nor hosting of this jam, it's a helpful community [on Discord] for visual novel creators that also makes finding group members for future jams easier.
Lemmasoft forums - for your renpy and dev needs if you're not a fan of discord.