Here you will find important updates by the BR team.

#1 

We're very excited to jam together with you! For all participants based in Munich, we now have a special offer: 

Our partner, Games/Bavaria, invites all jammers from Bavaria to work on-site at Die Gamerei in Munich during the following days and times: 

• Friday, March 14, 2025: 5:00 PM – 12:00 AM 

• Saturday, March 15, 2025: 8:00 AM – 12:00 AM 

• Sunday, March 16, 2025: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM 

Die Gamerei (Hohenlindener Straße 4, München, 81677) will provide the space and high-speed Wi-Fi. However, participants are responsible for bringing their own equipment, food, and drinks. 

If you'd like to join in person, please send your registration to: die-gamerei@games-bavaria.com. Spots are limited to 70 participants and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please make sure to register by March 11, 2025 to secure your place. 

Looking forward to an amazing jam with you! 

#2

The time is almost here! The theme for our upcoming Game Jam will be announced on Friday, March 14, at 7:00 PM, marking the official start of the jam. You're receiving this reminder because you signed up for the PULS Game Jam. If you've changed your mind about participating, you can leave the jam from its official page.

For our German-speaking participants, we have a special tip: Tune in to the ARD Twitch channel! Fridl Achten (PULS and Levels & Soundtracks on BR) and AndiDev will be kicking off the Game Jam. Plus, René from Dome Keeper will join us to discuss Game Jams and possible jam strategies—a fantastic opportunity to pick up valuable tips and inspiration for the weekend!

💡 A few helpful tips for first-time Game Jam participants: 

✅ Team or Solo? Decide whether you want to participate alone or in a team. If you're looking for teammates, connect with the community early! 
✅ Tools & Engine Ready? Make sure your development environment is set up and all necessary programs are installed. 
✅ Rules & Guidelines: Take another look at the jam rules - are you familiar with everything? 
✅ Scope Matters! Plan your project realistically—it's better to create a small, polished game than to aim too big and not finish. There is a sharp and non negotiable Deadline for submissions on Sunday, March 16, at 7:00 PM
✅ Energy & Snacks: Game Jams are intense—keep water, coffee, and snacks on hand to stay motivated & healthy. 
✅ Have Fun! The most important tip: Enjoy your creative process!

We’re excited to see your ideas and can't wait to discover together with you the amazing games this community will create.

See you on Friday—happy jamming! 🚀🎮

Hi hi, 

before we start today another Update for you:

Submission Deadline

🚨 The submission deadline is Sunday, March 16, at 7:00 PM sharp— is non-negotiable!

Make sure you're familiar with the jam rules and discuss who in your team will submit your game.

 3. FAQ – Your Questions Answered

How does game submission work?

As with all game jams on itch, a submission button will appear once the jam has started. You’ll find it on the  Overview page where the  timer is displayed.

To submit your game, follow these steps:  1️⃣ Publish your project page – Your game must be publicly visible on itch.io.  2️⃣ Go back to the jam page – Navigate back to the PULS Game Jam page.  3️⃣ Use the "Submit" button – A dialog will open where you can select your project from your itch.io library.  4️⃣ Confirm and submit – Once selected, your game is officially submitted!

 How does the Community Vote work?

Community voting is done in a single category: Overall (Shortlist).  Voting is only open to submitters, which—according to experienced Game Jam hosts and itch.io’s recommendations—is the safest voting method.

If you're in a team, we recommend playing the submitted games together, discussing your opinions, and casting one vote via your game’s submitter.

Once the shortlist is determined, our jury will evaluate the  finalists and award  prizes in various categories.

 Are the voting categories for Round 1: Visual & Audio Design, Gameplay, Story, and Interpretation of the theme?

No, for the  first community voting round, there is only one criterion: Overall (Shortlist).  Ask yourself: Which games do you think are truly outstanding overall? Which games does the jury absolutely have to play?

The prize categories Overall (Jury), Visual & Audio Design, Gameplay, Story, and Interpretation of the theme will be used later in the judging process.

 When and how do we need to provide an email, a German bank account, and proof of residence in Germany?

• We only ask for an email address at submission to contact teams if they make the shortlist or win a prize. Otherwise, we won’t use it.
• A German bank account and official residence in Germany are only required if you win a prize. In this case, we’ll contact the submitters directly via email.

If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

So, as I understand, <span data-bm="146" <the<="" span="">participation</span> is free for anyone, but to win one must be from Germany?

Hi Miguel, 

Yes, that's correct! Since we are a public service media organization in Germany, we have to follow certain regulations. The rule is:

Eligibility: To be eligible for cash prizes, at least one team member must be a German resident.

You can find all the details in our Rules & Guidelines. 😊

Are international students studying in Germany eligible for the prizes?

Hi MohibDev, the game jam is open to everyone. Due to our status as a German public broadcaster, to be eligible for ranking by the jury and to win one of the cash prizes, a German bank account (IBAN starting with DE) and an official residence in Germany are required. Additionally, we need an email address to contact you. Only one person per team needs to meet these requirements. Greets!

@qwaxa, please write an email to our colleagues matthias.leitner@br.de & tim.pfeilschifter@br.de

Hello everyone, 

Thank you for your enthusiastic participation in the Game Jam! We’ve noticed some questions regarding the community voting and the selection of the top 20 games for the jury, so here are a few key points: 

How Does Community Voting Work? 

As we understand it, Itch.io’s rating system tries to balance fairness by using the median number of ratings across the jam to prevent a few highly rated or widely rated games from skewing results. It also applies a Bayesian average, meaning games with very few ratings don’t automatically rank at the top, even if they have perfect scores. Instead, their score is weighted towards the jam’s overall average until they receive enough ratings to stabilize. This ensures rankings reflect both quality and rating volume fairly.     

How Is the Top-20 List for the Jury Determined? 

We take the Top 20 games from the community vote with the highest overall score. 

• Games that are marked as ineligible (e.g., because they opted out of prize eligibility or are participating outside of the competition) will not be included in the list sent to the jury. 
• The final list consists of the 20 highest-rated, prize-eligible games. 

How Does the Jury Work? 

The jury will evaluate the top 20 games in the following categories: 

✅ Best Visual & Audio Design 

✅ Best Gameplay 

✅ Best Story 

✅ Best Overall 

✅ Best Interpretation of the Theme 

The jury’s decisions are made independently of the community vote. This means that the highest-rated game in the community vote will not automatically win—each game will be judged based on the jury’s criteria. 

Why Was the Randomized Rating Queue Not Used? 

Some of you asked why the randomized rating queue was not enforced. In the default settings for our jam, we specified a voting queue with 8 games per participant. However, it seems that this feature did not work as expected. We are currently reaching out to Itch.io support to clarify what happened and how we can ensure that this feature functions correctly in future jams. 

Encouraging Fair and Constructive Feedback 

We've seen discussions about the quality of comments and feedback, and we understand that reviewing many games in a short time can be challenging. However, we encourage everyone to provide constructive and specific feedback whenever possible, as meaningful reviews help developers learn and grow. In future editions, we may introduce a best practices guide to support participants in giving helpful feedback. 

At the same time, we strongly believe in the openness and honesty of our Jam community. We trust that everyone is voting fairly and not engaging in strategic voting—a kind of gentlemen’s agreement among all participants. Game Jams are about creativity, learning, and mutual support, and we appreciate the positive and collaborative spirit you bring to this event. 

The Jury Shortlist for the PULS Game Jam 2025 

We are excited to announce the 20 games - that have made it to the jury round. And we can say the jury list here is identical to the community list, which makes us especially happy. You can find the games here: 

https://itch.io/jam/puls-game-jam/results/shortlist-jury 

Award Ceremony Details 

🏆 When: Friday, March 21st at 6 PM (CET) 

📺 Where: Live on the ARD Twitch channel

Good luck to everyone, and thank you all for being part of this jam!  

And thank you for your questions and feedback – both here and in the community!  This is our first Game Jam, and we’re still learning a lot.  

We truly appreciate your patience and support. 

Your Organizing Team

Dear PULS Game Jam Community, An eventful week full of creating, playing, rating and now even awarding games has come to an end. Thank you all for having been a part of it and making it happen! 

You can watch the VOD of the awards ceremony here should you have missed it earlier.

The awarded games are as follows:

🎮 Best Gameplay: I hate this F@%$^ car 

📀 Best Visual & Audio: Potion Punch 

✒️ Best Story: I met her for coffee 

💔 Best Interpretation of the Theme: Undertable 

✨ Best Overall: I hate this F@%$^ car 

Check out the entire Top 10 of each category here! 

As this was our first Game Jam it was also quite a steep learning curve for us. While we believe a lot of it worked out quite well, there is of course still room for improvement.

We would love to hear your feedback on the experience, what worked well and which changes could elevate the Jam to an even higher level in the future via this survery. 

Also keep an eye on your inbox as this was only the beginning. We will keep you posted on any future PULS Game Jams in the future!  

  See you next time and keep on Jamming! 🕹️✨ 

— The PULS Game Jam Team 

Will the whole Top 20 Overall (Jury) rating be revealed this week? (Not only Top 10)