Welcome to raylib 9 YEARS gamejam!

This is a unique gamejam to celebrate reaching the 9 YEARS ANNIVERSARY of raylib library!

To celebrate this great event, I decided to host an official raylib 9 YEARS gamejam! :)

Continue reading to know more about this unique event!

Goal

The goal of this gamejam is making a game with raylib in 9 DAYS with some technical constraints.

The main constraint for this gamejam is...

• Game MUST be 256x256 pixels size, that's the 9th bit set to '1' in a binary representation of data (100000000). This is my way to commemorate the 9 years of raylib! :D

Second important  constraint is that game must be compiled to WebAssembly, it must be uploaded to itch.io and must run on the browser. WebAssembly is a new emerging technology that I firmly believe will shape the world in a close future, what a better opportunity to learn it and create something unique?

I know this constraint could seem like a limitation for some users but I really think it is a great opportunity to LEARN something new, GROW your skills and ENJOY videogames programming. And raylib was created for that.

Here it is a detailed documentation about configuring raylib to build for Web platform.

Also, a GitHub raylib game template for this gamejam has been created, everyone is free to use it! The most interesting part about the GitHub template is the automation of the game building using GitHub Actions, every time a commit is sent to the project, it is automatically compiled for Windows, Linux and WebAssembly, you just need to pickup the generated artifacts!

WARNING! raylib is for ADVENTURERS! raylib is a C programming library, no visual editor or high-level engine features, just coding in the most pure spartan-programmers way. It's recommended to have some previous coding experience with raylib.

Constraints

Hard constraints (mandatory requirements):

• Game MUST be 256x256 pixels for screen size
• Game MUST be run on Web with WebAssembly technology
• Game resources package (.data) MUST be under 32MB

Soft constraints (recommended features):

• Game should use provided raylib template
• Game should be playable with Keyboard/Mouse and Touch
• Game should be open source and available in GitHub

REMEMBER: A GitHub raylib game template for this gamejam has been created, everyone is free to use it! 

Theme

The theme has been decided on a twitter poll. 

AND THE THEME IS:

Rules

• An itch.io account is required to join the jam and submit your entry.
• Team submissions are acceptable for teams of 4 members or less. (Prizes are awarded for each submission, not the individual contributors)
• All the content used in the game must be free and public for use. In case of doubt is highly recommended to ask the content creator! Music/Fonts must be royalty/copyright free and properly credited. A list of resources is provided at the end of this file.
• Game must not contain illegal, hateful, derogatory, NSFW or bigoted content. It won't be tolerated any kind of racism, sexism, or any other form of discrimination. If there is any case, the game will be disqualified.
• Game must be created and submitted within the gamejam time frame.
• No late entries will be accepted.

Rating

Games will be rated with a 5-star system in three different categories:

• Theme: How well the theme is used?
• Enjoyment: Is the game enjoyable to play?
• Innovation: Does the game innovate in some way (tech, graphics, controls...)?

Games will be rated and awarded considering an hybrid votes model: public votes and jury votes.

• Public votes:  First round of votes, open to ANY itch.io user, not only the gamejam participants. Everybody can play and rate the web games. The games with higher rating (more overall number of stars in the 3 categories) will be evaluated on a second round by the jury.

• Jury votes: Second round of votes, depend on a panel of judges. They will privately discuss and rate the higher rated games by the public votes and decide the winners. 

NOTE: The jury will also take into account any double or unfair voting in the public voting system to balance the unfair votes.

The jury for the gamejam will be disclosed the same day the gamejam ends. All of them are experienced videogames/software developers.

The rating period will be of 1 WEEK after the gamejam ends, in that time people and jury can play and rate all the submitted games.

For everyone rating the games, it's recommended that you leave some feedback as part of the rating! It's more helpful than just a number!

Prizes

The experience itself is way more valuable than any other prize! Actually, finishing a game under the constraints of this gamejam is a BIG achievement on itself... but, this time, we also have real prizes for the winners! 

The prizes will be given to the 2 games that score more stars overall, pondering the public votes and jury votes at 50%.

Tips

• You can use the provided GitHub raylib game template, it includes automatic game building on every commit for Windows, Linux and WebAssembly! 
• Join raylib Discord server, for any notifications about the jam and to meet other participants and hype yourself up before the event! After the jam starts you can also share your progress in the #raylib-gamejam or #madewithraylib channel or ask the community any issue that could arise.
• Prioritize quality over quantity. It's better to have only one gameplay screen with quality gameplay than many screens with poor gameplay. Same for graphics. A polished game can really make your game stand out!
• Try to make your game easy to understand for new players, avoid complicated game schemes.
• It's recommended that you keep your game difficulty low for the players, too difficult games could frustrate the players.
• A gamejam is a great opportunity to try new game mechanics, new controls, new graphics style... consider that!
• Remember to tag raylib your itch.io game: Edit Game > Metadata > Engines & Tools > raylib
• Feel free to tweet your game progress with the hashtag #raylib9yrgamejam or just #raylib

Resources

Essential resources (mandatory to check):

• raylib webpage - To download raylib Windows Installer for easy setup
• raylib github - To download raylib source code or release packages
• raylib game template - A preconfigured GitHub template to use as the base for your raylib game
• raylib Web Compilation Tutorial - A detailed Wiki tutorial to compile your raylib game for web
• raylib games collection - A collection of games running on web and made with raylib

Additional resources (recommended to check):

• ASSETS: Kenney Assets - An amazing collection of free game assets
• ASSETS: Kay Lousberg free Game Assets - A great collection of free game assets
• ASSETS: Open Game Art - Another collection of art assets (LICENSE)
• TOOL: Piskel - A free online editor for animated sprites & pixel art
• TOOL: Photopea - A free online photo editor
• TOOL: Paletton - A free colour scheme designer
• TOOL: Colormind - A free colour scheme generator
• TOOL: rFXGen - A simple and easy-to-use fx sounds generator
• TOOL: ChipTone - A free tool for generating sound effect
• TOOL: Bosca Ceoil - A free, easy to use tool for creating music!
• TOOL: BeepBox - An online tool for sketching and sharing instrumental music
• TOOL: JummBox - An online tool for sketching and sharing chiptune melodies

FAQ

Does my game have to be a certain format?

Yes, games must be 256x256 pixels screen render size, compiled to WebAsembly, uploaded to the itch.io game page and be playable on web automatically. You are free to also upload releases of the game for other raylib supported platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS...) but they won't be evaluated.

Can I use stuff that I already made?

You can use previous material created by you but the spirit of the jam is to make something new. Also note that game MUST follow the theme proposed for the jam that is disclosed in the moment the jam starts.

Do I have to do everything myself from scratch?

Not really, you can use free/public art/audio assets, some Resources are provided for that. Make sure the assets you use are are free for use or in the public domain. Also note that you can team up with other jammers up to 4 people if desired.

Is there any template to start working on the gamejam game?

YES! There is a GitHub raylib game template available to use as a GitHub template and start working on the gamejam game, everyone is free to use it! The template includes automatic game building for Windows, Linux, WebAssembly on every commit! 

Can I update the game during the voting period?

No, once the gamejam is finished is not possible to update it. If there was any special situation, please contact me on Discord. I will review each case individually. Please, be careful when submitting your game.

Is there a Discord I can join to meetup other jammers?

Yes, you can join raylib Discord, there is a specific #gamejam channel to talk about the gamejam.

Legal

Game creators retain all rights of the gamejam submitted game.

Have fun! :D