SA GAME JAM is an annual competition proudly sponsored by Free Lives with the aim of encouraging more South Africans to make games!  The jam will run here on Itch.io from 4-7 November 2022.  We invite game devs of all levels to enter this exciting competition and stand a chance to win a share of over R70 000 cash!

You can enter as an individual or team.  You are allowed to use whatever tools you like and use pre-existing code/sounds/art/assets where it helps you but if you use assets you are required to disclose them.

Whether you're a pro game developer or just starting out, SA GAME JAM is for you. The competition is open to South Africans at any level of experience so enter NOW!

Out of this world art work by: Nanna Venter

Please indicate in your submission what level you're participating in (student, hobbyist or professional), and whether you would like to be considered for the diversity prize.

Overall Winner: R20 000

Student (currently studying in any field): R10 000

Hobbyist (not working in the game development industry): R10 000

Diversity (please contact admins for clarity): R10 000

Best Art: R5 000

Best Audio: R5 000

Technical Excellence: R5 000

Best Narrative: R5 000

Best Physics: R5 000

WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT 12:00PM ON FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER

1. Competition starts on 4 November 2022.

2. Deadline for entries:

6 November 2022, 20:00 SAST for 48 hour entries. 

7 November  2022, 20:00 SAST for 72 hour entries.

(Please note in your entry whether it is a 48 or 72 hour project)

3. You can enter as an individual or as a team.

4. To be eligible to win any of the prizes, your team has to play and give feedback to five other entries by Monday, 14 November 2022.

5. Use whichever language, tool or development system you are comfortable in.

6. Your game must contain all files needed for it to run and should not require other bulky systems to be downloaded or installed, exceptions are browser plugins like Flash and self-contained DLLs distributed with the game.

7. While any fixes post-jam will be taken into account, the version submitted at the time of the deadline will be played and judged, so make sure it is PLAYABLE WITHOUT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT CONTAINED IN THE GAME.

8. Competition is only open to entry for South African residents.

9. You retain all copyright to your work.

10. The illegal use of copyrighted material will not be tolerated. Do not steal!

11. All risk or liability in case of copyright infringement or other legal issue resides with the entrant, Free Lives and MGSA takes no responsibility for entered games.

12. The judges’ decision is final and no negotiation will be entered into.

"So much easier than in real life" 

The great appeal of video games is that they allow you to achieve things easily, even effortlessly, that are difficult, or even impossible, in real life. 

And often the most enjoyable games allow you to achieve more within the same space of time, or the same number of clicks, while the least enjoyable games involve more labor to reach the same goals* 

Generally speaking, evaluating the relative difficulty of achieving in-game-goals (relative to real life as well as competitor games) is a useful lens in game design. And real-life is the ultimate reference point!

Everyone knows how difficult doing taxes, shaving sheep* *, finding true love or being elected president is meant to be. 

The ideal game someone could make for this jam is one where the player gets to achieve something that appears substantial, where the visuals and sound and gameplay come together to deliver that moment, but the experience nevertheless feels relaxing and smooth.

 i.e. A big part of the judging criteria is based on the difference between the tediousness/difficulty to do the thing in real life compared to how satisfying it is to do in the game. 

*Caveat: Obviously there are exceptions (for instance a game like QWOP where running is absurdly difficult), and also obviously some simulations are about throwing players into a detailed and challenging situation. But when it is meant to be a especially realistic simulation, it's usually one where our reference point is real-life (like a game like Raft, or My Summer Car), rather than a more frustrating version of another similar game. 

* *We don't want to sound pretentious, but "sheering" is the correct verb when it comes to extracting wool off of sheep.

BE SURE TO JOIN OUR OFFICIAL TWITTER & DISCORD FOR SA GAME JAM!

Overall Winner : Hacked//Off

Best Student : Game Maker 3000

Best Hobbyist : The Garden Wars

Diversity : Captions

Best Art : Post Party Panic

Best Audio : Highliner

Technical Excellence : Hacked//Off

Best Narrative : Writer's Block Deblock & Silver Platter

Best Physics : Vom Bros

and a surprise category that we felt deserved a prize...

Best Theme Interpretation : Game Maker 3000 & CiviliNaytion