8 Bits to Infinity presents Palette Jam 2!

logo by raindrinker

An open challenge to create a game prototype using a limited palette (8 colors) selected from a set of 16.

All skill levels are welcome from beginner to professional. New to this whole thing? Never made a game before? Play some jam-winning games to see where you can be after several jams of practice.

About Us

Hosted by 8 Bits to Infinity: a game development community improving creative and technical skills through rapid iteration and honest, critical feedback. Join us on Discord, check out our website, and take a look at our past jams and challenges.

The man behind 8 Bits to Infinity is Retro Indie Josh (aka Joshua McLean): streamer, musician, and game developer. Check out his game music (free for you to use in jams and commercial projects!) and his other work.

Results

Congratulations to the winners and everyone who participated!

Community (Participants') Choice: Gator Raid (see the complete results)

Judge (PixelProphecy's) Choice: Dino Breakout

Host (RetroIndieJosh's) Choice: Kingdom of Pegaria

Limitation (Required): Rampy16 Palette by ANoob

Choose 8 colors from this 16-color palette to form your own unique palette. See the link above for examples and palette files.

Use only your chosen colors. You may not layer translucent colors or use blending (even for lighting etc.). Only the 8 colors can be displayed while the game runs. You are allowed to use fully transparent pixels (to show pixels within the limitations of the palette).

Theme (Semi-Optional): BREAK

The theme is meant to be an inspiration to kick start your game ideas. Interpret this as you wish! Here's the Wikipedia article for break which has a ton of different interpretations.

The theme is also optional, but Theme/Limitation counts for 20% of your score.

Judging and Prizes

Three "Choice" awards are available: Community Choice, Host Choice, and Judge Choice. These Choice winners will be featured in a jam showcase video on YouTube among other high-ranking games and honorable mentions.

Community Choice

You (contributors to any game entered into this jam) determine the Community Choice by voting on games after the jam concludes. Check out the Ratings Guide for how to interpret categories and tips on good star ratings.

Judge Choice

Our guest judge will determine Judge Choice. For Palette Jam 2, our guest judge is Phil Strahl, a.k.a. Pixel Prophecy, who is known for producing elaborate video documentaries on game jams (most notably on Ludum Dare), and sharing his passion for anything creative you can do with a computer. He’s just as fond of unicorns as he is of coffee.

Check out his videos on YouTube and follow him on Twitter. He also streams live on Twitch.

Host Choice

Host Choice will be determined by the host and founder of 8 Bits to Infinity, Retro Indie Josh. He will stream games live and give feedback on Twitch during the ratings week.

All Choice winners receive:

• The jam-winner role on the 8 Bits to Infinity Discord server
• A place in our list of jam winners
• An additional secret prize

Rules and FAQ

See the Jam Rules and Jam FAQ for more details.

Jam Specific Rules

• No limitations on:
  • 2D, 2.5D, 3D, etc. (but keep in mind the color limitations)
  • Use of audio
  • Engine/library/framework, programming language, and other tools

Challenges/Diversifiers (Optional)

Looking for additional challenge in the jam? You can use any number of diversifiers listed here.

Schedule

• Development (main jam): November 12 to 22 (1pm ET)
• Community Choice voting: November 22 to 29 (1pm ET)
• Winners and ratings announced: December 6 (1pm ET)

Submitting

• WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU UPLOAD AND SUBMIT EARLY.
  • You are allowed to modify your game page, including files, until the deadline.
  • You are allowed to edit answers to your submission questions (through your submission page) until the deadline.
• Step 1: click the Join Jam button at the top of this page.
• Step 2: Make your game.
• Step 3: create a game project page on itch and upload your game files. See this documentation for help.
• Step 4: submit the game to the jam. After uploading your game, return to this page and click "Submit Your Project" at the top.
  • Be prepared to answer a few questions about your entry when submitting. You must answer all of these questions honestly and completely before the deadline.
  • Submission time is a hard deadline. No late submissions will be accepted.
  • Although you cannot modify files after the deadline has passed, you are still free to edit your game page. But note it is a violation of the rules to link to an updated version created after the deadline, and your entry will be removed.