Really stoked for this. Game Jams can be quite daunting.. and draining - but this is a good theme that won't take itself too seriously. I'd certainly encourage all fans of any game making experience to take part.
First and foremost, I find new participants to game jams can be wildly overambitious! Remember, it's only a weekend .. don't aim for the quality and completeness of a game you've paid for and downloaded.
Otherwise, just wanted to keep a running list of recommendations for getting tooled up, inspired by mazhem's overview:
Beginner
- Twine https://twinery.org/ - for text-based adventure
- Ren'Py https://www.renpy.org/ - for dating / visual novel sims
- Construct2 https://www.scirra.com/construct2 - for 2D games, no programming required
- RPGMaker https://www.rpgmakerweb.com - like the title, good for role-playing games
- Game Maker https://www.yoyogames.com/get - for 2D games
Advanced
- Phaser https://phaser.io/ - for 2D games (JavaScript)
- Unity https://unity3d.com/learn - for 3D games, strong tool to produce practically anything (C#)
- PlayCanvas https://playcanvas.com/ - for 3D games, good tool for collaboration and web publishing (JavaScript)