Popular RPG Horror titles like Ib, The Witch's House, and Mad Father are all coming up on their 10th anniversary in 2022. Horror is a timeless genre and something to be celebrated, and so we present to you the first RPG Horror Celebration Jam (RPGHC Jam#1). Shoutout to the Dream Diary Jam for inspiring this one!

Join the community and share live updates on your game in the discord channel here: https://discord.gg/RNGsqVk

You will have 4 weeks to begin and create a Horror game concept from scratch. The end result can be a completely finished game or just the beginning of one! Don't be shy, this game jam is open to game devs and artists of all levels! Your goal is to have fun creating a horror game with like-minded individuals. See the rules below for more details.

RPG Horror games are known for their ANTs! Be sure to incorporate these features into your game: 

•  Atmosphere: pixel-style graphics with mood-setting sounds (or lack of)

•  Narrative: creative story, plot, and/or world that often has multiple or twist endings

•  Tone: surreal, "off", mysterious, or creepy tones are common. Horror takes many forms, use your imagination!

This year's optional theme is:

Include a companion character in your game! Whether this character joins for only a moment or for a significant portion of the game, let them join your Main character on their horror adventure.

• All assets must be created by you or your team or else collected from free to use websites after the start of the jam. Using assets without appropriate permissions or credits will result in your game being removed from the jam and potentially removed from Itch.io itself. Don't let your game work go to waste.

• Planning before the jam in the form of concept sketching, writing, team forming, and getting used to your program is encouraged! However actual work on your project's assets/ game code/ and events is not allowed before the jam starts.

• Though RPG Maker programs are the more popular choice for creating these games, any program can be used as long as you keep your game full of ANTs!(see above for more details on ANTs)

• Be kind to each other; and remember this is a celebration 🥳

In order for your game to be accepted into the jam you'll need to meet a few of these minimum requirements for your demo or completed game.

• Your game should have a minimum of 1 story-based event (an interactable element that ties back into the main plot or theme) or puzzle and a minimum of 3 locations/maps. Draw your player into the world you created. Remember this is the minimum, you have a whole month, go crazy!

• Please include a credits page in your game or game files. Attribution is an important part of any form of art. Credits should include contributors names and/or sites you got free assets from and of course names of the people in your team. Check out this handy thread if you need more info on what to include in a credits page:  https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/2sykzx/what_to_write_in_the_credits/

• Don't forget to make your game's page looking nice, otherwise you may not get many people looking at it. Be sure to include a cover image and description in your game page.

• If you're on Twitter feel free to share your project with the tag #RPGHCJam

Excited to see what you create!