Welcome to Tazmen Jam #1

This is the first of many monthly Tazmen Jams. I decided to start doing monthly jams because I've had such good experiences with Jams so far and I think they're a great way to learn new game dev skills or even hone the skills you already have.

Just incase you've never joined a game jam before, let me give a brief explanation of what this is. A game jam is a fun event where you compete with other game devs to make a game within the given time limit. At the end of the jam, games are usually ranked by either judges or other devs to see which is best in different categories.

This is my first time hosting a game jam but I hope it will go smoothly so stick around if you're interested in doing this monthly.

Join the community discord server here: https://discord.gg/SbR2zce

Rules:

- All assets must be created from scratch during the allotted dev time. You may also use free publicly available assets from places such as OpenGameArt or the asset store but you may not use paid assets.

- You must start your game once the jam has started. No games from previous jams or premade games/assets will be accepted.

- You can compete solo or with a team but please disclose this information to be judged accordingly. There is no size limit for your team and you may join the discord if you're in need of a partner.

- Any game engine can be used. You may want to use something that takes no coding such as RPG Maker or you may want something less restricting such as Unity, Godot, or Unreal. Either way, you can use whatever engine you want. (Even custom engines)

Prizes:

In order to add some incentive and make the jam a little more interesting, I've decided to add a minimum $5 CAD prize pool for every monthly jam. There is a donate room in the discord where people can donate in order to make the prize pool bigger for these jams. As this is the first one it will most likely only be $5 to the person who comes first place overall but in the future I would like to spread the prize pool across first, second, and third place if we receive some donations. The winner of the Jam will also receive the 'Tazmen Jam Winner' role in the discord which gives them access to an exclusive text chatroom and voice chatroom which is strictly for Jam winners. You also get bragging rights which is obviously the most important prize here.

Theme:

The theme for this jam will be voted on by you guys, the participants! The voting will end and the theme will be announced when the jam starts. If you would like to suggest a theme for the jam and vote on the themes suggested then please join the discord. You can also just avoid the discord and wait until the theme is announced here but that's BORING! The theme does not need to be taken at face value and can usually be interpreted in many ways but you must try to incorporate the theme in some way.

The community chose Medieval as the theme! Good luck everyone!

Submissions:

The theme will be announced and the jam will start Friday May 29th 2020 at 12:00am AST. The submissions close and the jam ends Sunday May 31st 2020 at 11:59pm AST. The voting period will begin as soon as the jam ends and you all are responsible for playing and rating the submitted games. Please try to play and rate as many as possible and give constructive feedback as that's the best part of game jams. Voting will end Wednesday June 3rd 2020 at 11:59pm AST.

Criteria:

The games will be rated on:

Mechanic(s) (Are your game mechanic(s) interesting? Are they fun? Are they well implemented?)

Story (How good is your story? Is it intriguing? Is it emotional?)

Graphics (How does your game look? Is the art style interesting? Is the art style unique?)

Music (Does your game have good music? Does it fit the game? Is it unique?)

Sound Effects (How good are your sound effects? Are they satisfying? Do they fulfill their purpose?)

Atmosphere (How is the atmosphere of your game? Is it noticeable? Is it immersive?)

Theme (How well does your game implement the theme? Does it fit? Is it noticeable?)

Feedback (Does your game have good feedback for the player? Can the player understand what is happening? Do enemies flash when damaged?)

and finally,

Overall. (How good is the game overall? Is the game fun? Is it well made?)

The prizes will be distributed based on the overall rankings and the other categories are mostly for bragging rights.

Conclusion:

As I said, these jams will be monthly along with some possible other little jams sprinkled in between the main ones. I will participate in these jams when I am not working but if I am I will still host them but not participate that month. You must be a member of the discord to accept your prize and there will be lots of information over there regarding these jams. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me via Discord or Itch.io. (Discord will be a much faster reply). Thank you guys very much for participating and have fun. Let's make some games!