This jam would not be possible without the assistance of:
Xalavier Nelson Jr. for concepting Bass Reeves Can't Die and giving me the chance to make the wheel the first time.
Julian "Noodle" Morley for creating his video on the game and getting eyes on our hard work, as well as promoting this jam.
Your jam hosts:
Lars Olson, who created art assets bundled with the templates for this jam.
Shane Scott, who created the Godot versions of the wheel template.
Tavee Villamar, who created template assets and all the graphics you see here.
Aidan Myers, who made sounds for the templates and scored the trailer.
Colin McInerney, who made the Unity and Unreal templates and our jam trailer.
WHEELJAM is a week-long game jam focused around the persuasion minigame mechanic from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and later repurposed for Bass Reeves Can't Die.
The jam runs from Thursday, March 13 to Thursday, March 20 -- the 19th anniversary of Oblivion's initial launch in 2006.
The goal is to make a game that in some way incorporates the Oblivion persuasion mechanic. If the thought of doing so fills you with existential dread, don't fret! Colin has a bsky thread explaining how the wheel works here, the engine templates you'll find below are ready to be fiddled with, and our Discord server is open for discussion where someone is sure to help you smooth over any remaining confusion.
Keep an eye out for announcements on Colin's bsky or in our Discord!
- YOUR GAME MUST HAVE WHEEL
- Feel free to iterate on the original persuasion-puzzle concept or abstract your wheel into something entirely new! If your wheel recognizably derived from the Oblivion wheel in any way shape or form, it is fair game.
- External packages are allowed as long as you follow their licensing rules.
- Don't be a jerk. Racism, transphobia, or bigotry of any form will not be tolerated.
- Game jams are a forum to have fun and learn new things while making games—anyone found to be harming that environment for others will be removed from the jam at the hosts' discretion.
- If you'd like to make a game with both wheel and NSFW elements, please reach out to the mod team ahead of time.
- No AI-generated assets. If your game is found to use AI-generated assets, you will be disqualified from the jam and your game will be removed from it.
- Don't hesitate to reach out to us hosts if you have any questions or concerns—we're here to help!
- that's it :)
Join the jam here on the itch page, and only work on your game during the week-long period of the jam! You can work with as few or as many people as you'd like.
You can (optionally) download one of our templates, which contain a functional Oblivion wheel in 3 major game engines for you to use:
In addition, we have a suite of asset packs that we'll be releasing in the lead-up to the jam, which you can find here:
If you would like to contribute assets to the jam, please let us know! :)
You may join our Discord to post in-progress works, find a team, catch the latest announcements, and more!
YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO USE ANY OF THE JAM ASSETS, OR THE ENGINES THEY WERE BUILT IN! You are free to make interactive fiction about the Wheel, reinvent the Wheel yourself, make your own art packs, or whatever else you please. They are provided for convenience, and because most people have no idea how this mechanic works.
You and your team will receive custom 3D-printed Oblivion Wheels. They spin! And have magnets! Maybe I'll put your names and the categories on the back of the wheel? I dunno! I didn't think that far ahead!
You can ask for different colors or whatnot, it just might take longer due to printing time and ordering filaments.
You must be 18 or older to receive one of these in the mail. The .stl files will be released for free after the jam alongside a list of the hardware used and instructions for assembly, and the files will be license-free and yours to use as you please.
Our current plan is to judge the games ourselves, but that may change.
The prizes will be distributed to the top game in each category:
