MakeCode Arcade Time Jam

The theme for this jam is "time". In other words, we're looking for games with day-night cycles, countdown clocks, or other time-based mechanics. Here are some examples of how you could use this theme:

1. A cooking game where you need to press a button to remove a cake from an oven at just the right moment
2. A farming game where you plant/harvest crops based on the season
3. A game where you need to arrange all the articles on a cover page before the deadline for tomorrow's newspaper

You can interpret "time" however you want, but someone playing your game should be able to see how it relates to the theme without extra explanation.

Don't run out of time

The game jam will run from May 3, 2021 to May 17, 2021

You will have roughly two weeks to build and submit your games for the competition! For you procrastinators out there, we will accept games up until 11:59pm on May 17th.

First time user?

Never programmed in Microsoft MakeCode Arcade before? No problem! Check out our game maker guide to learn the basics of making a game!

Rules

1. Games should be built in MakeCode Arcade
2. Your game must relate to the jam theme. Someone playing your game should be able to see how it relates to the theme without extra explanation.
3. Keep the games PG: no NSFW, offensive, or excessively violent content.
4. You must be at least 9 years old to participate.
5. All games must be submitted by someone who is at least 13 years old. Younger students are welcome to participate, but it must be in partnership with an adult and with parent permission.

Spend some time with us

This game jam is designed to be an easy introduction to making games, even for folks without prior programming experience! We highly encourage parents and educators to work with interested students to bring their games to life.

Join our forums to chat with other coders, brainstorm ideas, or form a game jam team, and hang out with the MakeCode team as well.

Tips and tricks

• When designing your game, keep in mind that Arcade is restricted to a 160x120 16-color screen and a 4 channel synthesizer for sound.
• See these instructions for information on importing images and color palettes into Arcade.
• Check out the developer documentation for more advanced tips to use in Arcade.
• Also make sure you check out the winners of our past jams!