You can start brainstorming before. Many people do it on the Discord server, you are allowed to think about it before the start of the jam.

Here are my detailed ratings!

I feel like the quality of the games is increasing with each jam. We had a couple of games with a really good potential, and it is probably the jam that has the most game I'm hyped (phrased a bit weirdly but I hope you understood what I meant). Here are some statistics: MVM 5 had 208 participants for 21 entries, and this one had 173 participants for 19 entries, which I think is excellent, with very good quality entries. Congratulations to everyone who submitted to this edition!

Notice: Since it was an Excel sheet, I could rate a criteria with 0, or a decimal. It happened when a game didn't have a story or I hesitated between two grades. Also, for external assets, I put "External" in the criteria. It affects the overall rating this way: instead of doing an average of the five criterias, it does it for the ones that aren't external and substracts 0,2 from the overall rating. For instance: a game used external audio files. I write "External" in the audio criteria and the average won't count the audio, and at the end, on the overall ranking, it will substract 0,2 from the grade. In case some of the assets were external but some others were made, I rated only for what has been made by the game developer, without a penalty. Finally, note that the overall grade is on the second page of the file because it didn't want to fit in. Hope this helps you in the understanding of your score.

Thanks for telling me, I think it actually only works with a keyboard. Got it first try with it and I didn't succeed once with my controller. Managed to get to the end of the game, and the way it ends is probably the best I've seen so far XD. Great job with this game!

Wow! Alone and in one month? I'm really impressed! The game has a lot of space for improvement, and if you'll continue developing it, I want to be there to see it! Graphics were beautiful, music was great and the game mechanics were interesting. Could beneficit of a story, but the game is already great with what it is. Amazing job!

Really fun! Parkour and a bit of puzzle solving. Took a bit of time before understanding how things work, but I enjoyed it after. Good job!

I can't play it. I tried using the itch app like you suggested, but it says me that it's missing an executable file. I saw there was an index html file and that you used Construct 3. Being familiar with this editor, I presume you exported an html5 version of the game. I tried uploading it on itch.io and set it as an html game, but the zip contains too many files. I'm out of ideas now.

Nice game, the little lore on the game's page gave more context, great job on cinematics and enemies behaviors. Nice music (as I thought it would be). Fast-paced, like I like it, and there wasn't any small problems. It took me a while to figure out that there were jump-thru platforms, a different texture would have helped the player realise it. Great job!

Good start for a game, I think it has a good potential. I liked the graphics, and the gameplay was pretty good, except for the boss that took me 5 minutes to kill with the two bullets upgrade. I also didn't know how to die (lol), I thought that the yellow bar would tell me but you don't die when it's empty, so I guess not. Could beneficit of a story and a good ambient music could make the experience even better. Good job!

The graphics and music fit in really well, I also liked the little lore you put on the game's page. However, the main weapon needed timing to use, and it felt hard attacking those spiders on the ceiling, espacially since you can't aim above you. Some small issues, but the game was good overall. Good job!

Yeah but I can't seem to get up, the character doesn't jump high enough.

Got nothing to say, next game.

Man that was a great experience! Story with dialogues, everyone telling you your role of a forager, amazing graphics joined by a great music creating a relaxing but stressful experience, I simply loved it! Amazing job!

Genuinely fun! The game looked really good, and music created a good environment. The game scaled a bit wrong on my screen, but it wasn't much of a problem. Loved the dialogues. However, gameplay and controls could get a little of an update. On the story point, I actually don't know if a story would add to this game, since it already feels great. Great game!

Cool game! The artstyle didn't interfere with enjoyement, music felt nice and I liked the story! It took me some time until realising I could interact with things, but apart from that, the game felt nice! Good job!

So idk if I missed something, but I think I am stuck?

Anyways, from what I have seen, the graphics are pretty good, and the music feels nice. Lacks a story, but I enjoyed my little time playing it. Good job! (and if you can indicate me a way to continue, please do).

I think that everyone already said it but I will repeat it: the story is so funny! Also the different game over screens made me laugh. Audio and graphics could have been better, and the fact that you can only move using teleportation makes the gameplay a bit harder, but the story compensates for it. Great job!

What a good atmosphere! The blowing wind and the visuals created a feeling of ruins, exactly how you told it on the page! I'm also at a point where I don't know what to do since I can't swim and I don't jump high enough to go back, but I would definitely replay the game and try to find a way! Great job!

Loved the fading music when you change zone! Didn't finish the game because I think I got stuck (haha), but the physics are well made, and even if the graphics are simplistic, they feel great. Also wanted to report that if you put the game on fullscreen when playing online, you're not able to control the player. That's it, great job!

Awesome graphics and sounds (and you were the first one to include voices, great job!). Lack of checkpoints, and I also realised a bit later I could use my controller. It was way better than playing on a keyboard. Controls may need a revision when you're playing with a controller. Apart from that, great game!

Just send me the link to your game's page, will send you a late submission link

Send me the link to your game so I can give you a late submission link.

Today I released the game I have been working on since summer 2017: Village Valley! 

The valley awaits...

Gain experience to choose jobs: fisherman, lumberjack, miner... Each one of them will give you access to a variety of possibilities, from upgrading the village to diving into the dephts of the ocean! Buy and sell things to get money and survive! Along your way, discover all the secrets of the valley and unlock achievements! Depending on the path you choose, you can get one of the four different endings. All of this with a relaxing atmosphere: music depending on the time of the day along with seasons and weather. Enjoy a relaxing experience of a few hours!

Canada!

No, assets should also be made during the jam.

I personally prefer browser playable, but if you have a downloadable Windows version it will be fine. I can't play Linux and MacOS games tho. 

No, it doesn't. Feel free to use it :)

Construct 2 or 3 are pretty easy to learn, since it's visual scripting. They both have a free version and they make exclusively 2D games

"The jam doesn't have a theme in particular, as long as the game is a metroidvania-style game, is playable, and follows all of these rules, your submission will be accepted." The only theme is metroidvania. As long as the game is a metroidvania, it will be accepted.

Since everyone was able to rate and that I decided to not erase the ratings, the results here aren't the ones coming from me. So here are the leaderboard I gave coming from my ratings:

1st: Elengrad by Xiris (4.6)
Story: 5
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 5
Music: 5
Engagement: 5

2nd: Spacevania by BlunT76 (4.2)
Story: 3
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 4
Music: 4
Engagement: 3

2nd: The tale of Yu-Jin by Rud156 (4.2)
Story: 5
Gameplay: 2
Graphics: 5
Music: 4
Engagement: 5

3rd: Fallen Cube by JUSTCAMH (4)
Story: 4
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Music: 5
Engagement: 4

4th: Transmission Incoming by Tomkai (3.8)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 3
Music: 5
Engagement: 5

4th: Blue Moon by ChaosComposer (3.8)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 5
Music: 5
Engagement: 4

5th: Asphodel Meadows by Merly23 and their team (3.6)

Story: 4
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Music: 4
Engagement: 3

5th: Oasis by Zonmob Games (3.6)
Story: 3
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Music: 4
Engagement: 4

6th: CHUCK by l3uckwheat, codyloyd (3.4)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 3
Music: 4
Engagement: 4

6th: The Pact by Kur0mega (3.4)
Story: 3
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Music: 4
Engagement: 4

7th: Dog Girl by Galo (3.2)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 5
Music: 4
Engagement: 3

7th: Lost in the woods by Guessy (3.2)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 5
Music: 4
Engagement: 3

7th: Forestchild by DarbyAnderson (3.2)
Story: 3
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Music: 3
Engagement: 3

8th: Emily's Journey by Moisés Peláez (3.1)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 4
Music: 3.5
Engagement: 4

8th: Sblorbkiller by nealith (3.1)
Story: 3.5
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 3
Music: 2
Engagement: 3

9th: Infinity mind by Vollaro (2.6)
Story: 3
Gameplay: 2
Graphics: 4
Music: 2
Engagement: 2

9th: Pepeg by Mekyi (2.6)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 4
Music: 1
Engagement: 3

10th: Metroidvania Wizards by Cschlaefli (1.8)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 1
Music: 1
Engagement: 3

11th: Miau by KingRustyOfXlan (1.4)
Story: 1
Gameplay: 3
Graphics: 1
Music: 1
Engagement: 1

For the community choice winners, refer yourself to the results.

Hey everyone!

There's been a bug with the rating system on itch. So I needed to rate the games separately. But this led me to a new concept: from now on, submitters and contributors will be able to rate the games and choose their own winner, the "Community choice". This means that there will be two winners, one chosen by me, considered as the winner of the jam, and one chosen by the community. This applies right now, so I added two days to the rating period. Feel free to go and rate the games to choose your winner!

I'll post the detailed ratings that I gave when we'll know the winner of community choice. It'll be the complete leaderboard of all the entries rated by me + the rating for the community choice winner.

Have fun playing and rating the games!

I liked the hitting animation, I don't know why I found it funny. But anyways, the way you were telling the story was original. Everything was pretty good. Good job!

Good start. With some polishing, it could turn out to be very fun. I liked how it is easy to play, and the art is pretty good. I hope to see updates!

Castlevania feels. The art that has been made was pretty good. The music was amazing, filling the atmosphere of the game. The game is easy to play and simple. I look forward to updates!

That game felt complete. Great music, great art, good atmosphere. It is an easy to play game, but it can get difficult if you don't manage your health points. I enjoyed it. Great game!

Clearly inspired by Super Metroid, I loved pretty much everything! I got stuck after getting the blue weapon, and I feel like there's only a story missing. But the music, the graphics and the gameplay! It was awesome! Great game!

Wow. Simply, wow. The artsyle is amazing and fits perfectly the game. Music is relaxing and creates a calm atmosphere. Everything is great, except the controls. We can shoot with the mouse, so a hand there, move with the arrow keys, another hand, but we would need a third one for dash and jumping. It's the only bad point. I loved everything else. It would be more than fun to come back once controls are improved. Amazing game!

The green creatures sounds are disgusting but they perfectly fit with the atmosphere the game creates! We need to read the page to understand how to play it, and a kind of mysterious/creepy music could have helped with creating a fitting atmosphere. I really liked the game overall, good job!

There is still work to do, but I really liked how the green mana was just "occupying" your mana bar, and how it was decreasing. The game has a good speed. I really liked the overall concept. Good job!

Graphics are so nice! Everything is well animated. I like how the sounds fit with the environment. One thing that annoyed me is how many times you need to slide the mouse to get the camera to move. But I like the game overall, good job!