The 5th Annual Seattle Indies Game Jam is upon us!!!! This year we have the great pleasure of making it another SLOW JAM that will take place from 11/5 - 11/21. Suggestions for this year's theme will be suggested by our Patreon supporters and then voted on by the rest of the community!!! :) 

All communication for the jam will happen on our Discord in the Seattle-Indies-Slow-Jam category join here: https://discord.gg/join-seattle-indies  
Even though the jam is online- we'd love to create an environment that feels more like an in-person game jam. Because of this there will be places to post WIP stuff if you'd like and also have socials scheduled throughout the jam for those that want to socialize a bit/see how other teams are doing! :D Also not from Seattle? - No Problem! We have members from across the world and as long as you follow the community guidelines you are absolutely welcome!!! :D 

Congrats to everyone who participated and to the award winners!

Jam Schedule:

Friday November 5, 2021

• 6PM: Join us in #SIGJ-Voice channel for opening presentations and the theme reveal
• 6:30PM - 7:30PM: Brainstorming and team forming, use the #sigj-looking-for-group channel to advertise your skills and find people to work with
• 7:30PM: Pitches - reconvene in #sigj-voice to give and listen to pitches for your game ideas. Each person who wishes to pitch will have 30 seconds to give an overview of their game, what their skillset is and the types of people they would need to finish their idea
• 8:30PM: Start Jamming!

Saturday November 6, 2021 (Social)

• 1PM - 8PM: Join our usual Saturday Coffee Break meetup in the #coffee-break channel for help with your game or just to meet other developers in the Seattle Indies community and see what they are working on.

Wednesday November 10, 2021 (Social)

• 7PM: Late-Night Coffee Break- Join your fellow jammers for some late night chats/jamming together! 

Saturday November 13, 2021 (Social)

• 1PM - 8PM: Indie Support Group and Milestone feedback - join our usual Saturday Coffee Break meetup for some help with your idea on the #coffee-break channel and we'll have mentors available to give feedback and technical help with your game in the #sigj-ask-a-mentor channel

Wednesday November 17, 2021 (Social)

• 7PM: Late-Night Coffee Break- Join your fellow jammers for some late night chats/jamming together! 
  

Saturday November 20, 2021 (Social)

• 1PM - 8PM: Join our usual Saturday Indie Support Group meetup in the #isg-voice channel for help with your game or just to meet other developers in the Seattle Indies community and see what they are working on. Last night of the jam! 

Sunday November 21, 2021

• 12PM: Submissions due! Upload your game AND a trailer/gameplay video
• 12PM - 6PM: Let's play and judging: Play each other's games and talk about your favorites on Discord. Judges will be playing and ranking their favorites.
• 7PM: Final presentations and awards ceremony

THEME - The theme is COZY!!!!!! :D Time to make some Cozy games, jammers!!!


AWARDS
The awards will be decided by a panel of judges. There are no physical awards- but you do get a cool .png and some nice recognition! :) Note: some awards may be added/changed. 

• Judges Choice
• Community Choice (voted on by the community) 
• Best Use of Audio in a Design
• Outstanding Narrative
• Best Use of Themes
• Amazing Aesthetics 
• Best Audio Mix/Mastering
• Out-of-the-Box Award
• The BIG VIBES Award

DIVERSIFIERS 

Similar to the Global Game Jam's diversifiers, these optional themes can add secondary constraints to your project. These are a fun way to spice up your ideas / brainstorm different things! :D

• Accessibility
  • For All Eyes - Include accessibility options for visual impairments (large font, increased contrast, color blind palettes, etc)
  • Read & Say - Make a game that has the option to turn on subtitles for any voiced over dialogue
  • Soundspace - Create an Audio Game that can be played with sound only. No visuals required! 
  • Tranquil Treasure - Design a game that is low-stress / relaxing 
• Audio/VO
  • Digital Conductor- Make a game where the SFX and Music are tied to the player's actions
  • A Whole Cast - make a game that has 3+ voice actors
  • I Hear You - voice all dialog in your game (at least 8 lines)
  • Future Symphony - Compose a classical score that is played by non-traditional synths and instruments 
  • Cookin' Up Beats - Include a song that features 3+ different kitchen appliances or food as instruments
  • The 90s Seattle Scene - One word: GRUNGE
• Narrative
  • More Than One Right Answer - include multiple endings that respect player choice from earlier in the game
  • Do You Like Me Y/N - give NPC's an opinion on the player and a system by which the player can change that opinion
  • Heard But Not Seen - include a character who talks but the player never meets in person
  • Once Upon a Time... - make a game that is inspired by a fairytale but one (or more) major thing in the story has changed
• Art
  • Unified Palette - Restrict your color palette to no more than 5 colors
  • Player’s Choice - Give players options to change aesthetic aspects of your game (UI style/color, filters, clothing options, etc.)
  • Pumpkin Spice - Give your game a “spooky cute” aesthetic
  • Bottle Episode - Have your entire game take place in a single, beautifully designed and detailed environment
  • Renaissance Ego - Insert a likeness of yourself somewhere in your game
• Gameplay
  • Violence is Never the Answer! - Make a non-violent game inspired by a genre commonly known to feature violence (fps, moba, souls-like, rouguelike) 
  • Infinite Possibilities - Dive into the world of procedural generation. If you’re looking for a sign to try out proc gen this is it!
  • Aquatic Amore - Many people agree that water levels in games are the best levels. Create a game that features a water level or is set completely in an aquatic environment
  • A Smol Hero - Play as a tiny character. Everything looks HUGE!  (Example: Toy, Bug, Fairy, other small things)
  • Frankenstein’s Game - Each team member thinks of one of their past projects. Take elements/concepts from each of the projects and combine them to create a new game. 
• Team
  • Time to Dream - for the entire jam everyone on the team gets a full night’s rest
  • Keeping it All Together - Have at least one producer on your jam team 
  • A Common Goal - Form a team based on common goals you have for the jam / what you’d like to get out of the jam.

• BONUS DIVERSIFIERS
  • Failure is Your Friend - Make a game where failure helps the player.
  • Option 13 - ?????????????

Checkout the entries from our previous jams:

2020, 2019, 2018, 2017