This is a beginner friendly Playdate game jam with prizes organized by Uncrank'd, the Playdate magazine created by fans for the Playdate community. We're excited to see what you'll craft during this 8-day jam!
Create and submit a unique and interesting game for the Playdate following at least one of the given themes within the jam period.
*- See the Q & A section down below for more details.*
The themes will be announced on May 2nd, 2025 at 6 a.m. US Eastern time.
Themes:
Follow at least one of the three themes given. Judges may give you bonus points for implementing the themes well; however, implementing one theme well is preferred over implementing all three themes hastily.
To win any of the prizes included in this jam:
All devs/teams who submit a game will receive a certificate and a game jam themed drawstring bag. If a participating dev would like to reserve a copy of Uncrank'd #8, reach out to Xania and she will put you on the Uncrank'd issue 8 list.
Prizes include:
1st prize: A brand spanking new Playdate, a signed copy of issue 7, and a choice of a bag (tote or drawstring mini backpack) or a blanket with your game art.
2nd prize: A choice of a Playdate cover (Aqua, Pizza, Purple or Yellow), a tote bag or blanket along with art from your game immortalized as a 3d printed art piece.
3rd, 4th & 5th prize: A copy of Uncrank'd Magazine of your choice (Issues 1 to 7).
All game jam devs will be in issue 8 of Uncrank'd and have the option to be a part of the Uncrank'd Playdate Atelier, Uncrank'd 180, or can submit an article, an interview, or a game devlog.
Winners will be announced on Saturday June 7th.
Our panel of judges will review and rate your submissions (out of 5) based on the following three categories:
Points in the bonus points category, will be given out based on accessibility, great implementation of one or more of the themes and generally being outstanding.
Our judges are:
Dominik Haas - Playdate dev, & organizer of the Playdate Advent Calendar.
Don - Co-host of the Hello Playdate Podcast.
Irish Jiminy - Playdate dev (Crankventure Capitalist, Crank Casino), and Uncrank'd Magazine writer.
PizzaFuelDev - Playdate dev (Dungeons & Doggos, Rocky Stairs, Shellslinger) and Uncrank'd journalist.
Shadow815x -One of the winners of the Uncrank'd Caption This! Contest, Nintendo and JRPG enjoyer, follower of the industry, who has been blown away by what the little yellow machine can do.
Xania Lasagna - Editor of Uncrank'd Magazine, Playdate dev (Reach the Ocean, Shellslinger, Soothsayer, Snatchy Carrots, Sacre Sleuth) and all things Uncrank'd.
Join the Uncrank'd Discord server to stay connected with other participants and discuss everything from theme predictions to development hurdles.
It's a great place to find teammates, share resources, and get inspired.
Got questions? We've got answers! Let us know your questions in the Discord server and we'll post the answers to the most common questions here!
Q: May I use libraries for my game?
A: Most definitely!
Q: How do the prizes get split up amongst the winners?
A: The prize for winning first place is the Playdate Console. There are also a few smaller prizes available for some of the lower ranking games in the jam.
Q: May I use Text to Speech for the game?
A: Absolutely, as long as there's no copyright infringement and you mention the tool used when submitting your game.
Q: Why is AI allowed to help with coding and writing, but not for art?
A: Great Question! We believe that certain tools, such as ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, are great for accessibility and will become normalized as helpers in day to day work. Using these tools will assist you in creating the game and not fully replace your own creative input. Simply asking ChatGPT to code your game, or write the story, will not get you to a winning product with the current state of technology. However, it can be very useful to get you started on a product, which you can then improve with your expertise. We think of text based AI as being similar in spirit to how the use of autocorrect and googling coding questions has been normalized. There's a great article regarding this in Uncrank'd Magazine Issue 3.
As for AI Art: We feel as though using this technology in a game jam can potentially undermine the spirit of creativity and individual talent that are central to these events. We hope to foster a place of collaboration between creative people, and therefore see AI art as a hindrance to this goal.
There are of course deeper ethical questions behind why one should or shouldn't use AI in general, as well as copyright issues depending on the usage, but to simplify our stance:
We believe that using AI for coding and writing is a tool which assists developers and can help a lot with accessibility, while using AI art actively incentivizes not teaming up with artists and could potentially replace them in this jam scenario, which would be against the spirit of what we're going for.
Good luck and remember to have fun!
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