itch.io

thank you! I'm unsure right now as the game is still early in development.

thank you so much!

thank you so much!

thank you!

thank you!

Thank you so much!! I'm a big fan of French Pierrots so I'm glad people like my interpretation of them~

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

yes!

thank you so much!

there aren't any bad endings!

Nope, this is a standalone sequel! The first game introduces you to the characters and setting but this game reintroduces them and is able to be played on its own.

yep, as long as your game fits the rules of the jams, go for it

yeah, that sounds fine. it still has a happy "ending" but the story is told out of chronological order.

Trans Rep Jam might be more your speed, and it should begin in a few months.

Yes.

Thank you so much!

Yes, premade frameworks are fine to use in your games.

If it's intended to be a visual novel and is story-driven with a heavy focus on visual novel elements, then we'll accept it. RPG Maker is a fine engine to use.

Thank you so much! Making the extended version & the artbook was a lot of fun, I'm glad it was enjoyable.

Fan games are accepted, as it's on you to handle any copyright issues.

You can work with people IRL, that's fine.

Submission guidelines:

You can use the jam to complete a project you've already begun working on, so long as it fits with the jam's theme of winter.

Q: Can I submit a previously started game?

A: Yes, but we don't allow previously finished games in the jam- you need to work on your game at least partially (not just a couple of days) during the jam.

Q: What engines can I use?

A: Any engine you'd like, but the final product must be a visual novel. Some engines that are good for visual novels are listed in the Visual Novel Development Resources thread.

Q: Will there be ratings? Is this ranked?

A: No and no. This is meant to be one of the most relaxed and chill (pun intended) VN jams to end off the year. Don't treat this as a competition.

Q: Can I submit gore? Or blood? Or ero content?

A: Treat this jam as if it's PG-13. Outright depictions of sex and gore are not allowed. For everything else, use your best judgement.

Q: Can I use generative AI assets (such as assets made with Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, etc.) in my game?

A: No.

Q: Can I use premade (non-AI) assets?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I submit a demo or WIP game?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I make something that isn't anime-style?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I make something that isn't a dating sim or romance game?

A: Yes.

Q: What is the theme?

A: Winter. Your game must have something to do with that, whether it's set in a winter environment, taking place during a wintery holiday like Christmas, etc.

Q: Why do I have to include screenshots of my game on the itch.io page?

A: We do this because it's the bare minimum for us to see if it's a real game or not and if it's a visual novel. Players are also wary of games that don't have any screenshots as they could be viruses. You've spent a month making an entire game, you can spend 2 minutes taking and uploading screenshots.

Game Jam Advice

• Game Jam Survival Guide - Essential Tips and Tricks
• Your First Jam Guide
• Releasing 8+ games (ft. game jams) and when to take a break
• making game development backup plans
• Advice for Leading VN Game Jam Teams
• How to Make a Visual Novel Solo

Programming

• Ren’Py – free visual novel engine
• Twine – free text-based game engine
• Godot - free open-source game engine
• GameMaker - 2D game engine
• Naninovel – Unity-based tool for making Unity VNs
• tiny tools – collection of various game dev tools
• Ren’Edit Add-On – Ren’Py script editing & feedback tool
• Ren’Py Accessibility Add-On
• Feniks Ren’Py resources – various add-ons and tutorials by Feniks

Visual Novel Design & Writing

• How to Make Visual Novels
• Visual Novel Development Wiki
• Visual Novel Conference Talks
• • Visual Novel Cinematography & Design
  • Art Direction & Execution in Visual Novels
  • Making Impactful, Impressive Character Sprites
  • Post-production Techniques for VNs
• Vimi’s Visual Novel Design
• Writing Interactive – guides for narrative games writers
• Visual Novel Conference Talks
  • Writing Mystery Visual Novels
  • How to Design Interesting Choices in VNs
  • The Intrigue of Ambiguity

Artwork

• Clip Studio Paint
• Krita
• FireAlpaca
• Medibang
• GIMP
• FastStone Photo Resizer – batch photo resizer and editor
• FotoSketcher – various settings to apply artistic filters to photos

Marketing

• How to Market a Game
• How to Market Visual Novels
• Marketing Visual Novels FAQ
• Marketing Fundamentals for Indie Game Developers
• Marketing your first indie game – What we learned from releasing the same game twice
• The stairstep approach to indie game marketing
• Marketing Visual Novels on TikTok
• TikTok Marketing for Visual Novels
• Visual Novel Press-Kits
• Social Media Field Guides

Audio

• Eric Matyas music & SFX
• Vita-chi SFX & graphics
• Free Music Archive
• Free Sound
• dova-syndrome

Misc.

• Lemmasoft Creative Commons Forum
• itch.io visual novel resources
• Google Fonts – free fonts
• Uncle Mugen backgrounds
• Canva – browser & desktop graphic design tool
• Unsplash – free photos

I've pushed an update on Steam - thanks for letting me know!

Thank you for these notes, I'll check it out and push an update!

glad you enjoyed it, thanks for playing!

thank you very much!

thank you so much!!

thank you so much!!

thank you so much!!

Thank you so much!!!

thank you!

We allow for visual novel hybrids such as the classic stat-raising games the genre is founded on as well as other types like RPGs and such. There should still be a heavy emphasis on delivering the story through text, as this is a romance-focused genre.

Most of these are tailored for visual novels, but we've tried to include general game development resources as well.

Game Jam Advice

• Game Jam Survival Guide - Essential Tips and Tricks
  
• Your First Jam Guide
• Releasing 8+ games (ft. game jams) and when to take a break
• making game development backup plans
• Advice for Leading VN Game Jam Teams
• How to Make a Visual Novel Solo

Programming

• Ren’Py – free visual novel engine
• Twine – free text-based game engine
• Godot - free open-source game engine
• GameMaker - 2D game engine
• Naninovel – Unity-based tool for making Unity VNs
• tiny tools – collection of various game dev tools
• Ren’Edit Add-On – Ren’Py script editing & feedback tool
• Ren’Py Accessibility Add-On
• Feniks Ren’Py resources – various add-ons and tutorials by Feniks

Visual Novel Design & Writing

• How to Make Visual Novels
  
• Visual Novel Development Wiki
• Visual Novel Conference Talks
• • Visual Novel Cinematography & Design
  • Art Direction & Execution in Visual Novels
  • Making Impactful, Impressive Character Sprites
  • Post-production Techniques for VNs
• Vimi’s Visual Novel Design
• Writing Interactive – guides for narrative games writers
• Visual Novel Conference Talks
  • Writing Mystery Visual Novels
  • How to Design Interesting Choices in VNs
  • The Intrigue of Ambiguity

Artwork

• Clip Studio Paint
• Krita
• FireAlpaca
• Medibang
• GIMP
• FastStone Photo Resizer – batch photo resizer and editor
• FotoSketcher – various settings to apply artistic filters to photos

Marketing

• How to Market a Game
• How to Market Visual Novels
• Marketing Visual Novels FAQ
• Marketing Fundamentals for Indie Game Developers
• Marketing your first indie game – What we learned from releasing the same game twice
• The stairstep approach to indie game marketing
• Marketing Visual Novels on TikTok
• TikTok Marketing for Visual Novels
• Visual Novel Press-Kits
• Social Media Field Guides

Audio

• Eric Matyas music & SFX
• Vita-chi SFX & graphics
• Free Music Archive
• Free Sound
• dova-syndrome

Misc.

• Lemmasoft Creative Commons Forum
• itch.io visual novel resources
• Google Fonts – free fonts
• Uncle Mugen backgrounds
• Canva – browser & desktop graphic design tool
• Unsplash – free photos

thank you for playing!

thank you so much for trying it out! I hope things will work out for you and your sister.

thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I'm very happy my game resonated with someone so much—I had been considering not finishing it as it felt a bit too simple, but I forced myself to finish it anyway. if it can mean this much to someone, then I'm glad I finished it. thank you for playing!!

thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!