You wake up on a lazy, Sunday morning. Sunlight filters through your window as you roll over and sit up. You fill your lungs with a deep breath and calmly exhale; today's plan is to relax and do nothing in particular.

You stand up and make your way to the kitchen to fix some breakfast, but you get halfway there before you hear an odd sound. It sounds like a light, quick tapping -- faint, yet persistent. After several moments of deliberation you pinpoint the source: someone is very gently knocking on the front door.

You delicately open the door to find...

...a small, gold robot crab, standing on your doorstep. He scuttles about now that the door is open, clacking one of his metal claws wildly. In his other claw, he holds what looks to be an envelope, addressed to you.

You take it from the crab, and give a nod of appreciation to the little machine. With that, the crab leaves, presumably to make his journey home.

The envelope in your hands is a plain-white, standard-sized thing, with two stamps in the corner...and plastered all-over with brightly-colored stickers and doodles. When you tilt it, you can also see that the entire envelope is covered in a thin layer of glittery paint, glinting in the morning sun. Your name is cheerily scribbled across the front in turquoise ink. You don't have many acquaintances who would send you a letter this gaudy...

Well, no use waiting any longer to read it. You carefully rip open the top of the glammed-out envelope, remove the equally-decorated letter from within, and are greeted with the following words:

=========================Hi, there!=========================

My name is Emma!! And by some stroke of luck, I have tricked many people in the Bitsy community into being my friend! Also by a stroke of luck, I'm still alive!!! And I'm celebrating my 24th birthday on October 13th, 2018! So since we can't all party together in an IRL setting, I decided to celebrate by hosting a Bitsy Game Jam Birthday Bash!!

Anybody who likes using Bitsy is welcome to join the party! Old friends, new friends, friends who haven't even used Bitsy before...we're all friends here! 💖

Hold on there, friendo, what is Bitsy??

Bitsy is a cool online program made by this neato Adam guy that lets you make cute narrative games! It's really easy to use and you can make awesome stuff with it! You could check out this collection I have for examples of some of the cool games that have been made with Bitsy!

If you have never done anything in Bitsy before, here's a really good tutorial on how to get started, and of course, if you want to hop into the Bitsy Discord (Bitscord), the people there will be happy to answer any questions you have! 

==================What's the Jam Theme, Wishbone?==================

Anyone who knows me knows that I am constantly blabbing on love to use Twitter!! What a trash site, but it's so fun!! And anyone who knows me will also know I love robot crabs robots! If you put those two ideas together, you get.....Twitter Bots!

Twitter bots are automated Twitter accounts that will regularly tweet/reply to tweets along a certain theme. Some of them post creative prompts/message, others may reply to people with pictures or words when prompted, others may create procedurally-generated art out of text, images, or emojis! They're a really fun and creative part of Twitter, and also may very soon become a dying breed?

So the theme for this jam is to make a Bitsy game based on/inspired by one of your favorite Twitter bots on the internet. You can make a game where the twitter bot is a central theme, or you can make a game where it's a tiny reference! Go crazy! It's anarchy!

If you aren't too familiar with Twitter Bots, here's a list of some of my favorites to send you down the rabbit hole:

• @cavern_caravan by Skeleton Hugs - Updates and tales from a caravan travelling through an underground landscape.
• @deepsushibot by Kate Compton - A menu of weird and fantastic sushi items.
• @FermiPasteladox by William Anderson - PROCEDURALLY-GENERATED PASTEL PIXEL PLANET PALOOZA
• @gamedevselfcare by Ebeth - Periodically tweets out positive reminders and encouragements for people who make games!
• @spacetravelbot by Vin Tanner - Descriptions of the things you see while exploring space.
• @SpritesByBitsy by Sean - Randomized Bitsy sprites!
• @tiny_star_field - Small little snippets of starry-filled skies.
• @thelastdeck by XXVI_XXXVIII - Glitchy three-card tarot spreads to divine your future...
• @WITCHES_WIZARDS by Martial Arts Master - Fantasy clipart images unearthed from the 90's.

=========================FAQ=========================

Does the game have to be made in Bitsy?

Um, yeah. I think that was pretty clear. 💖

Can I use hacks?

Unless your name is Duckling J. "Ducky" Smith Yes yes, you may use any hacks, all hacks!!

I've never used Bitsy before, can I still join?

OMG YES!!! I'D BE HONORED IF YOUR FIRST BITSY GAME WAS MADE FOR MY JAM ✨✨✨

Does the game have to be made within the week, or can we start on it early?

The spirit of the jam is to make it within the given timeframe, but like, I understand if that's Tricky™ because of Life™. So I won't say no if you want to start early! ^^

Does [X] count as a twitter bot?

If it regularly produces automated tweets, that means it's a bot! But also like, I'm not gonna....be a police about it, so like...do what you want...

I'm thinking about maybe making a game that has more mature themes. Is that alright?

Yes! But please be mindful and put the appropriate content warnings on your game!

Hey, I want to be a dick and making something that's racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/something that insults and attacks marginalized groups, is that alright?

NO!!!!! Please keep your evil content to yourself! 🎵It's my party and I'll ban if I want to🎵

Happy Birthday!! 🎉

Thank u, thank u <3

I hope y'all have a fun time jamming!! :slime: