Welcome the the 3nd Annual Preggo Game Jam!
This jam was made to celebrate the month of "Mayternity" as well as help support the creation of more pregnancy themed games in the community. We are starting a little early this year since previous game jams seemed to interfere with college/university exams which happened in May. With this new timeline for the jam, games should be completed by the end of April leading into May to celebrate "Mayternity".

What is a game jam?
A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video games from scratch. You have a limited timed window also to make such games. Most games made via a jam often are incomplete, proof of concepts, or demos.

Rules of the Preggo Game Jam...
You can only start your game project after April 9th (not prior) and you have three weeks to work and submit your project. The final day you can submit your project will be on April 30th at 11:59 p.m.
Also your age must be 18+ to participate in the game jam.

-Pregnancy has to be central to the game in some way. Not everything has to be related to it of course, but it should be featured throughout. This basically means that you can't feature pregnancy in one scene only/just as an ending.

-Showing birth is permitted, though any human (or human-adjacent) children cannot simply be abandoned. It is up to the game's creator how they handle this, an example would be putting in a nursery or similar facility that would take in any children.

-AI created assets (art, music, ect...) will not be permitted.
(Note: This was changed do to community at large request.)

-NSFW content is permitted as well, though a warning must be put in to let the players know.

-Any and all games must comply with itch.io's own rules of content

-Creators are not bound to a specific engine or type of game; Anything from Text Adventure to 3D game is permitted
(Exception: Game cannot connect to an outside server)

-Fetishes besides pregnancy can be included in games, though they shouldn't shift focus away from pregnancy and need to be disclosed in a warning similar to NSFW content

-Engine plugins are allowed but must be credited.

-Any art, music, and writing for the games must be created during the jam period, not prior. 

Contest and Rewards...
At the end of the month, a few select judges will be going over all the submitted games. Winners will have the option of a cash prize or art commission. In order to be eligible for rewards, your project must be playable on a windows platform. You must be age 18+ as well.
The judging will end at the end of the day May 14th

Eligible winners:
3 winners for projects
-All Winners will receive the same prize...

Cash prize:
$90 USD

Or...

Art prize:
1 Full body shaded character drawn by Lunarpix.
https://twitter.com/lunarpix?lang=en
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https://web-cdn.bsky.app/profile/lunarpix.bsky.social
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https://www.patreon.com/c/Lunarpix/posts

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Criteria that the judges will base their scores will be focused in four different areas.
-Pregnancy Content
-Gameplay
-Creativity
-Jam Theme (Pushing the Limits)

With the theme "Pushing the Limits," we plan to evaluate how the concept stretches traditional boundaries; be they physical, emotional, or narrative. 

    • Does it explore the extremes of pregnancy, like endurance through sheer size, labor experience, or possibly societal pressures? 

    • Does the gameplay or story push limits of creatively such as through game mechanics simulating the effects of pregnancy or choices that test acceptable moral edges. 

    • How does the pregnancy aspect fit into the game’s vision, does it amplify the theme’s intensity or does it feel tacked on? 

Overall we will look for entries that daringly reinterpret "limits" with pregnancy as the lens, balancing ambition with execution within the jam’s constraints.

Special Notes:
-If your game is chosen as a winner and you wish to receive a cash reward, you will need to have a paypal account.
-If your game is chosen as a winner and you wish to have character art created, please prepare art references for the character you wish to have made. Restrictions may apply to the character based on artist input.
-If your game is chosen as a winner and I reach out to you but do not get a response within a 1 week period, I will move to the next closest winner to offer them the prize instead.


Final Mentions...
Remember the goal of this jam is to celebrate the month of mayternity and pregnancy. Lets support a community who wants to celebrate pregnancy in all it's aspects and those who have the talent to make video games with such themes.

Also this is the 3rd game pregnancy themed game jam!
Special thanks to the community who has helped make this happen year over year!