Game Jam runs from Oct. 11 to Oct. 18. Winners announced on Oct. 22.

The first annual Graffiti Jam is a celebration of minimalist pixel art. Inspired by the release of Nira, a sprawling crafting and survival experience built by Baselines games, we partnered with GameMaker Studio 2 & the XP Game Developer Summit to challenge other indies to dream big with small graphics.

The Challenge

Use minimalist pixel art to capture a big idea. For games like Nira that use this style of pixel art, game designers do more with less. With just a few pixels, they are able to build vibrant worlds and explore compelling game mechanics. We challenge you to do the same. Beyond that theme, participants are welcome to use mechanics and genres of their choosing, and the judges are open to bold and experimental ideas.

This game jam features:

• A grand prize of $500 for the winner with $300 and $200 going to second and third place.
• Top 3 places will win a virtual ticket to the 2022 XP Game Developer Summit
• Five 12-month GameMaker 2 licenses for the top five games.
• Free temporary GameMaker 2 licenses for the duration of the jam.
• A panel of industry judges from the teams at Graffiti Games and GameMaker Studio 2.

Graffiti Jam Rules

• Games must be made with GameMaker Studio 2.
• Games have to adhere to the theme and use minimalist pixel art to capture a big idea.
• Games must include their project files for verification.
• Games cannot include themes deemed inappropriate for minors, such as drug use, sexual themes, brutal violence, disturbing visuals, etc.
• Teams are allowed.
• Participants retain all ownership of their IP and give Graffiti Games permission to promote participating games in conjunction with the game jam.
• The top 10 games will be determined by community votes and judges will select the winners from that pool.

Judging Criteria

• Art: How well does minimalist pixel art serve the theme and mechanics of the game?
• Engagement: Was the game fun to play?
• Feel: How intuitive and responsive are the controls?
• Potential: How likely would you want to play a longer game developed from this idea?

About Graffiti Games

Graffiti Games is a North American video game publisher comprised of industry OGs with a powerful, global distribution network encompassing both digital and physical retail partners across the world to maximize reach and sales potential. Graffiti is known for a portfolio of high quality games and recent "Best Sellers" Blue Fire and Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. To find out more about Graffiti and our portfolio please visit www.graffitigames.com.  

About GameMaker Studio 2

GameMaker Studio 2 is the fastest and friendliest cross-platform game development technology out there. GameMaker Studio 2 has been completely redeveloped with usability and efficiency at its core, allowing artists and game creators to make games within a single code base and then publish them to run natively across multiple platforms including Android, iOS, HTML5, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Windows Desktop, OS X, Ubuntu, Windows UWP.

The GameMaker family of products has been downloaded more than 10 million times since 2012. Game Maker is part of the Opera Group. The team behind it is based in Dundee, Scotland and was acquired by Opera in January 2021.

About Nira

Explore procedurally generated islands in this fast-paced, sandbox survival adventure filled with building, crafting, fighting, farming and quests. Build a base, hunt, cook, battle ogres, make friends with a mysterious Totem, ride an alpaca, fly a plane and do whatever you need to survive. Available now on Itch.io (https://graffiti-games.itch.io/nira), Steam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1171120/Nira/), and Nintendo Switch (https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/nira-switch/).