Welcome UNT student game developers!

Scrappy Game Studio hosts a week long game jam each semester that is open to all UNT students and recent UNT alumni who graduated within the last two main semesters. Whether working in teams or as individuals, the goal is to make a game within a week based upon the jam's theme. After submission, students get to vote upon their favorites based upon a few main categories.

To those looking to join in person, we will be hosting a Kickoff and Sendoff at the start and end of the jam, so, if you are interested, find out more details on our Discord server!

This Semester's Theme is...

We hope that you find ample inspiration for your games this week! For future Game Jams, you can share them with us here:

Suggest a Theme Idea

Anyone who submits or contributes to a game submission must be a current UNT student, and no NSFW or offensive/discriminatory content is permitted in this jam. We want the game submissions to be playable by all UNT students. 

We greatly encourage that a majority of gameplay code and assets be made during the jam submission period, but this isn't a hard rule. Apart from the game engine and framework, any additional assets not made by you need to be credited, and you need to make sure you have license to use them.

The theme of the game jam helps focus submissions into a cohesive collection, so following any interpretation of the theme you can think of is a must. If we have not announced the theme at the time you are reading this, this jam page will be updated the moment the jam starts as an announcement of the theme. If you want to submit a theme idea for this jam, go ahead and fill out the submission form linked in our discord.

Because we want to give as many people as possible an opportunity to play your games, please upload either a Windows or WebGL build in your submission. This is not required whatsoever, but it is encouraged. There are resources on campus to test a Windows build on a dedicated gaming computer if needed, such as the Media Library and the Discovery Park Library so long as you get permission. We will not accept any submissions that link to an external site, so make sure that you submission is uploaded directly to itch.io.

Criteria each game will be rated on:

Theme

Does this game follow the jam's chosen theme? How far does the theme inspire the game's design, or is it simply a veneer over a game that doesn't really fit?

Fun

Was the game fun to play? Would you come pack again and again to play it? Even though this is very subjective, a game is only truly successful if it can find an audience that enjoys playing it.

Execution

How well does all the game's elements mesh together? Are there any noticeable bugs that detract from the experience of playing the game? Does it feel like there is more than meets the eyes? Is the game design compelling?

Aesthetic

Does the game have a distinct and cohesive identity to it? Are the audio and visual elements of the game consistent and playing well with each other? How are the vibes?

Everyone is open to rate and comment on games as they please, or you can leave comment, all feedback is valuable. Results will be announced at our meeting immediately following the jam and then posted as announcement in our discord server.

Join our Discord to talk with other UNT game developers about your games, design, and any of your dev projects! Feel free to share your games to receive feedback, get some help or advice, and to get them played. The server is fairly extensive with channels for multiple disciplines and is the main source to get announcements about our club meetings and game nights. Open to all students!

Good luck on your projects, we're excited to see what all of y'all come up will!