Utah Indie Game Jam 2024

(Also special thanks goes to the person who brought a literal mountain of Krispy Kreme donuts to our closing ceremony. You are a saint! Greatly appreciated. Thank you!!)

EDIT: Theme Announced - "Double Agent"

Welcome to Utah Indie Game Jam 2024!

Come with your team and make a game in 48 hours, meet people, and learn new stuff. Our eleventh annual game jam will be held on November 22-24th at 7pm. Our kickoff meeting will be held online but we'll be meeting in person on Saturday and Sunday at Game Grid in Lehi. Their address is 400 Millpond Dr #F, Lehi, UT 84043. A big thanks goes out to them for hosting this event!

We will start the opening ceremonies at 7pm on our Discord in the Assembly Hall channel. In that meeting we'll discuss the rules and announce the theme. The judging and presentations will be done at Game Grid, but will be streamed in Discord also for remote participants. If you're not already part of the UtahGameDev Discord, you can sign up for it on this page https://discord.gg/WSQ5nJ3gvH

This is a competitive game jam, but a spirit of community and sportsmanship is encouraged. This is a chance to make what you want and to polish your skills and take them to the next level. Feel free to invite your friends to make a team or go solo if you want!

What's a game jam?

Game Jams are a time-constrained game-making competition. In general, the goal is to come out of it with an awesome game you have made by yourself or with a team. If you want more info, check out these articles / videos.

Here's Last Year's Game Jam Entries. That may help you get an idea of what kind of games can be done in 48 hours.

What does it cost?

Our local game jam is free to participate.

How old do I need to be to participate?

We don't have an age limit to enter, and we've had many young people participate in the past. However if you are a minor, you will need to come with a parent or other adult that can be responsible for you. The same rules of conduct apply to all participants.

What should I bring?

We suggest you bring a laptop computer (for portability), but you can bring in a desktop machine if you like. Note that internet access will be wireless only, so bring a dongle if you need one! Other good items are: food, snacks, headphones, thumb drives, and generally things that you'll need to survive a weekend with a bunch of like-minded geeks. There won't be a fridge available this year to keep anything in, so plan accordingly.

How large can my team be?

We don't have a limit on how many members can comprise a team, however you'll find that larger teams aren't always better as there's more chaos and coordination work. It's also okay to have a team of one person if you want. Teams should be fairly well set by the time the event starts. If you need help finding a team let us know and we may be able to help.

Will there be prizes?

I will be giving out my usual 3D printed trophies. We may have prizes also, so stay tuned.

Here are the following award categories:

Grand Prize
Best Visuals
Best Audio
Best Gameplay
Best Narrative
Best Humor
Best Use of Tech
Most Likely to Succeed
Most Educational
"Left Field" Award
Audience Choice Award

The winners will be determined by a panel of judges, except the Audience Choice Award which will be voted upon by the attendees. All games will need to incorporate the theme which will be announced during the kickoff meeting at the start of the event. At the end all games will be submitted to the website and each team will be able to present their game to the judges and everyone for about 5-10 mins per team. After that the judges will deliberate and the award ceremony will follow. (FYI - These categories could change before the event, but it's unlikely).

What are the rules?

All entrants will have 48 hours (roughly) to develop as much of a game as is possible (preferably fully playable).
The entirety of the game must be conceived, designed, built, and uploaded within the allotted time.
Entrants must be prepared to show their progress at the end of the 48 hours.
Entrants may choose to organize teams with any other entrants they choose.
Entrants must have rights to all presented game assets, including: Art, SFX, and Music.
Entrants may use any freely available programming frameworks, tools, and engines, as well as from their personal library also.
Entrants must incorporate the randomly selected theme of the jam.
Entrants will keep their game reasonably clean and in good taste as minors can participate. (No NSFW content)
Entrants are expected to be respectful to others and the facilities during the jam.

NOTE: Although public domain, creative commons, personal libraries, and other assets you own are allowed to be used in the jam, it's not in keeping with the spirit of the jam if your game is composed entirely from other people's work (meaning it's not really your game). You do have to do some of the work yourself during the jam.