itch.io

CanDev and the Internet Archive are excited to announce the winners of The DiscMaster Jam! 

Discover the winners on the CanDev blog: https://canberra.games/blog/discmaster-jam-winners-2025 

The Internet Archive will be in touch with the winners to coordinate prize distribution. Thank you, to our industry judges, moderators and everyone who participated

With love,

CanDev <3

Congrats everyone! 

The games submitted all look incredible. Well done everyone who got something done!

We want to say a huge thank you for your questions, enthusiasm and participation -  what we've seen along the way and played today shows how much you resonated and engaged with the theme. We're so glad to have been able to run this jam, and hope you all enjoyed diving into the archive to discover vintage assets and create something new!

What happens next?

In the next few days CanDev will be reviewing all the games submitted and confirming their eligibility for each prize.

After that, the games will be handed over to our judges, who will select our winners!

We'll keep you all updated about how judging is going and what the timeline looks like. At the moment, all we can say is that it should be all done by the end of May.

In the meantime, get in there, play some games, and share your experiences!

Yep, non-digital games are allowed!

Yes, you can use assets you find outside of DiscMaster, but you won't qualify for the 100% DiscMaster assets prize category - and that's totally fine, that's an intentional challenge, and there are still two other categories: 50%+ DiscMaster assets, and using the theme of "media preservation"

You can also check the FAQ stickied at the top of this forum for more information about prize category eligbility. Hope that helps!

Yes, if DiscMaster doesn't have something like animations, then you can make it yourself or find it from some other resource, and qualify for Spelunker. We've now updated the FAQ to mention animations. Thanks for the question!

Thanks, that's good to know!

OK, good luck in the morning. Let us know how you go!

I'm taking a look at the links in #01 and they all seem to work for me. For example, here's Artville: Industrial World: https://discmaster.textfiles.com/search?family=image&itemid=2320&widthMin=200&he...

Are you able to browse DiscMaster normally, without using the care package links?

And here's a different care package, if you want to test if that makes a difference: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RAemM15_q76qvimgC3d9hKbqndIJ3UcJVB9xeWCKv0I/...

Oh wait, sorry, did you mean inside the care package? What care package number were you assigned?

Thanks for letting us know! The link is still working for us, is anyone else having issues?

The link should show a Redirecting you to your DiscMaster Jam care package message, then load a page in Google Docs.

Joining the jam after it starts is fine - we're glad to have you onboard!

Here's what you need to know.*

Care package

We’ve prepared a collection of assets for you, to get you started using the DiscMaster search engine. You are not limited to only using these assets – you are strongly encouraged to go explore DiscMaster yourself! Your care package is simply meant to spark your imagination.

GET MY CARE PACKAGE

Please only click the above link once and bookmark the resulting page. That page is your care package. Clicking on the link again may send you to a different care package.

Don’t forget…

• …the jam ends in seven days, on 29 April 4:59PM AEST / 28 April 11:59PM PDT. Your game needs to be submitted on itch.io before the jam ends. The submission process will ask questions about the game and its award eligibility, so please allow some time to upload your game and fill out the form!
• …you’ll need to keep track of all the assets that your game uses (from DiscMaster and elsewhere), to submit alongside your game.
• …there are five prizes for games that implement the theme of media preservation, as well as prizes in the “50%+ DiscMaster assets” and “100% DiscMaster” categories.
• …to check out the official FAQ, which is constantly updating with questions and answers from the Discord and elsewhere. In particular there have been lots of questions about eligibility for the 100% DiscMaster prize category – please check it out if that is relevant to you! 
• …to join the DiscMaster Game Jam Discord, which has 200+ jammers! You can find a team to join, share your WIPs and find useful tools for making use of the DiscMaster assets.
• …to use the tag #DiscMasterJam when posting about your game and the jam on socials!

Are you in Oakland, California?

There will be a co-working session at the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment in Oakland, California, on Saturday April 26 1-9 PM PDT. Eat pizza, work on your game and get feedback. Book your ticket now!

How can you keep up-to-date on the jam?

All important jam news/updates will be shared via email, the official jam Discord and on the itch.io jam community page, so please make sure you’re keeping an eye on at least one of those places.

Good luck with the jam folks – we’re excited to see what you make!

* This information was emailed out at the start of the jam to all participants. If you got that email, you don't need to read this post!

Using the vintage assets found on DiscMaster is the main hook, but there is another prize category for games using the optional theme of "media preservation". Like any game jam theme, interpret that however you'd like and use it to spark your creativity.

We'll have a text field in the game submission form for you to list the assets you used and whether you found them via DiscMaster. Some people are planning to list them by saving the URLs of each asset. Hope that helps clarify this for you.

Good clarification! Having your own logo on a splash screen still counts as 100% - we do want to know who made the game!

OK, I can't start early, but can I start exploring DiscMaster early?

Yes, get in there! We're excited that you're keen to explore the tool and find some assets!

How do I register for the jam?

All you need to do is have one account register for the jam on itch.io and submit the game before the end of the jam. You don't need to register your team name or team members anywhere (except in the credits of your game and on the game's itch.io page, of course!).

How will the care packages be distributed?

When the jam starts, everyone who has joined the jam on itch.io will receive an email with a link to their care package.

Do I have to use the files in my care package?

No, you don't need to use the care package. It's just to help you get started with DiscMaster (if you need help).

Am I allowed to modify/sample/play with/remix/edit DiscMaster assets? Does that still count as using DiscMaster assets in terms of eligibility?

Yes, for sure! The purpose of this jam is to encourage people to explore and make use of the DiscMaster database—transformative use is very much encouraged!

Are non-digital games allowed?

Yep!

How do I submit my list of used assets?

When you submit your game to the jam on itch.io, the submission form has a text field for you to list the assets you used and whether you found them via DiscMaster. Some people are planning to list them by saving the URLs of each asset.

How do prize categories overlap? Is it possible for a game to win more than one prize?

The Tourist and Spelunker prize categories are mutually exclusive: if your game uses 100% DiscMaster assets it is only eligible for the Spelunker prize category and if your game uses 50-99.99% DiscMaster assets it is only eligible for the Tourist prize category.

The Save Our Discs prize category for implementation of the media preservation theme spans both categories, so it would be possible for the same game to win in the Save our Discs and Spelunker category, for example.

If I use modern tools (like engines, level editors, or other programs) to make my game, is it still eligible for the 100% DiscMaster assets category?

Yes, using modern tools is fine. We don't consider these sorts of tools to count as "assets".

Am I allowed to use generative AI in my game?

To stay within the spirit of the jam, do not use generative AI to create new assets. You may use AI for simple subtractive processes like background removal.

If I use a combination of DiscMaster assets and assets I've created, does my game still qualify as using 100% DiscMaster assets?

If the DiscMaster database has assets you can use, you must use them to qualify for the 100% DiscMaster assets category. For example, all fonts, textures, images, audio, and 3D models should be from the DiscMaster database. 

Assets such as writing, animations or chunks of code are not available in the DiscMaster database, and so you are allowed (and expected!) to create your own.

I love the idea of this jam, but I'm not a game developer—can I join and make something else?

You're welcome to join the jam, but at present only games are eligible for prizes. Knowing that, if you still want to make art, an album or anything else, we'd love to see it!

You can also join the Discord to find a team or other projects that you can contribute to, even if you can't make a full game yourself.

Can I submit multiple entries?

You're welcome to submit multiple entries, but the same developer/team can't win multiple prizes in the same category.

Can I use DiscMaster's NSFW content in my game?

Yes, if you want! When you submit your game, you'll be asked whether your game is NSFW. Please use your own judgment—SFW games can be made using NSFW assets, and vice versa.

What's the copyright situation with the DiscMaster resources? Can I sell games made with these resources?

The DiscMaster resources are in a grey area license-wise. The resources include lots of commercial stock image CDs, and it's hard to isolate non-copyrighted images... but they're also twenty to thirty years old. The Internet Archive's advice is that you're best off not creating commercial games using these resources.

Who's "CanDev"?

CanDev is the Canberra Game Developer Community. We're a group of game developers on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra, Australia, running community and online events. But you don't need to be in Canberra or Australia to get involved in this jam! One of our organisers visited the Internet Archive during GDC and the idea of this jam came together!

Hi! When the jam starts, everyone who has joined the jam on itch.io will get an email with their asset pack. It is not mandatory to use the care package - it's just a collection of files to help you get started with DiscMaster (if you need help).

The only requirement is that at least one member of the team has joined the jam on itch.io - no other registration or joining the Discord is required.

This is a great question, thanks!

If the DiscMaster database has assets you can use, you must use them to qualify for the 100% DiscMaster assets category. Since the DiscMaster database contains 3D models, any 3D models you use need to be from the DiscMaster database to qualify for the 100% category.

We've added this clarification to the FAQ at the bottom of the jam page.