Welcome to OpenGameArt.org's Winter Game Jam 2022

 This game jam is about creating games using assets from OpenGameArt.org.

 Since 2009 the community at OGA have been creating assets and submitting them for developers to download at no cost. The site has a huge database of artwork, music, and sound effects for 2D and 3D games, from sprites to tile sets, textures, backgrounds, and everything between, all for free!

 Lets see what great games you can make with these great assets!  

*** SPECIAL RULE FOR WINTER 2022 ***

As an extra spice to keep folks warm this winter, this Jam will be accepting updates to any game submitted to a previous OGA or other itch.io Game Jam as well as new games.  See details under Rule #1 below.

Voting Criteria

 Gameplay  *  Graphics  *  Music   *  Sound   *  Story/Narrative   *  Overall  *  Freshness

 The Rules:

 1) Game must be made from the start of the jam (with one exception)

Planning ahead is ok.   Sketches, design documents, paper level designs, and other general 'Pre-Production' steps are allowed before the jam starts.   Searching for and collecting assets from OpenGameArt.org beforehand is also allowed.  You may even work on expanding existing OGA art assets, or creating new ones as needed before the jam starts.  

You can use ANY game engine/software you desire, as long has you have the license/permissions to do so. Gamemaker, Unity, Java, HTML, scratch etc, or even you own created engine if you like.

However, any game-specific coding, protoyping, gameplay testing etc. in advance is not allowed.  

*** SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR WINTER 2022 ***

As a special exception to this rule, ANY updated version of ANY game submitted to a previous OpenGameArt.org Game Jam or other itch.io game jam will be accepted, regardless of when the work on the update was done.

An update can consist of expanded content, improved gameplay, graphics, sound, or music, bug fixes, etc. etc.  Whatever!  So long as a game has been improved upon the game since it was last submitted to an OGA Game Jam (or other itch.io game jam) it will be accepted for this jam. 

The goal of this exception is to encourage participants to revist and expand or continue working on projects from previous jams.

In order to balance the extra development time 'update' submissions may have received, an admin set 'Freshness' rating has been added.  All new games will receive 5 stars for 'Freshness' while 'update' submissions will receive 4 stars for 'Freshness'.

If possible, when submitting an updated game, please keep a copy of the version from the previous jam available for download, so folks can see how far the game has come.

2) You MUST use art from a minimum of 6 different works on OpenGameArt.org .   You can use other assets as well, so long as you have the rights/permissions to use.   If you are unable to find anything suitable for your project on OGA, you can create your own assets, but you must upload them to OGA website BEFORE the end of the jam for them to be considered as part of the 6 asset rule. By doing so you are also contributing to a great community, and we would love to see it.

 3) You must credit the Author of the assets used, even if it's not required by the license.   

You must do this via a 'Credits' menu on your title screen where you show a list.

You must also do this by including a list of credits int the 'Description' section of the itch.io page for your submission.

Credits must include: 

• The Author's name or OpenGameArt.org handle
• The name of the work as given on OpenGameArt.org
• A URL pointing to the asset on OpenGameArt.org
• The license for the work

You must include a credit even if the asset is your own creation.  This is necessary to show that the work is available on OpenGameArt.org.

You must also indicate if you have made modifications to the work.  

Here's an example:

The following work was used in the creation of this game.  Modifications were made.

Title:

    Seasonal Platformer Tiles

Author:     GrafxKid

URL:     https://opengameart.org/content/seasonal-platformer-tiles

License(s):     * CC0 ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode )

If you have an account with OGA, OGA's 'Collections' feature can be used to create a 'Credits File' that includes this information for you.

If you distribute the game as a downloadable file collection (Zip archive or Installer EXE, etc.), please include a README or CREDITS text file that also includes a list of the assets used with the above information. 

When modifying existing art, please consider sharing your derivatives back on OpenGameArt.org!  Trivial derivatives (scaling, re-coloring, outlining) do not need to be shared back to OpenGameArt.org.

4) Game must not promote any sort of discrimination (such as racism, sexism etc) or political agendas.

5) Entries must be playable on a Windows 10 computer, either via a native executable (EXE file) or a web browser (HTML5, Unity Web plugin, etc).   Builds for other platforms are welcome but not required.  Entries requiring an account or sign-up for a third-party or other service(s) will be refused.

6) Have Fun!

Theme

The strictly optional theme of the Jam is :

Old things being uncovered by thawing ice.

Maybe it's a game about what might be lurking in our melting polar ice caps, or maybe it's that thrilling video game adaptation of 1984's Iceman film we've all been waiting for, or maybe it's a game about finding a fly in your ice cubes.  The possibilities are endless.
Many thanks to YuriNikolai for providing this Jam's theme!  
Again, the theme is strictly optional, use it for inspiration, or ignore it completely and forge your own path, there is no fate but what you make!

Entries aren't ranked on the theme so it's provided for inspirational purposes only and is entirely optional.

 There are no prizes for the winner, just the thrill of taking part! It's worth mentioning that this Game Jam has no affiliation with OpenGameArt itself, and has been put together as some of its members thought it would be good to have a Game Jam.

If you have questions about licensing or using works hosted on OpenGameArt.org please consult the OpenGameArt.org FAQ ( https://opengameart.org/content/faq ).

And if you still have questions or concerns, don't by shy about asking for help on the OpenGameArt.org forums ( https://opengameart.org/forums/art-discussion ). 

You can also join the OpenGameArt.org discord channel at: https://discord.gg/yDaQ4NcCux

Good luck everyone who participates! The OGA community is excited to see what you create with the all the great assets available! :)

Banner image uses art from the following OGA submissions, changes were made.

Title: Frozen Lake

Author:  Christian DeTamble

URL: https://opengameart.org/content/frozen-lake-0

License: CC-BY-3.0