itch.io

Oh that would be great. Good idea. I'll have to look into that next time.

Of course! Sent to your email.

Thank you all for participating in this jam. This should be the final announcement. 

If you did not receive an email then please check spam, then double check which email you provided in your submission, and if you still can't find it, then send us an email (TheNerdyTeachers@gmail.com) and we'll help sort it out.

Feedback Points VS Itch Star Rating

In the feedback documents, you will see that I gave a rating system out of 10 points, while on itch it is a system of 0-5 stars. So I converted over but in a slightly unique way.

As you can see, the 5 star is reserved only for a perfect score of 10 points from the feedback document, which I did not give out easily. I did this to try to emphasize the final results on Itch so that whatever order it turns out to be, there should be clear top 3 rankings at least. I thought this would be important because if I were participating in a jam like this, I'd want to read all the top rated documents to learn from them. 

So congratulations to everyone who put in the work of getting your ideas down on paper and submitting them. And an extra congratulations to those who won a free PICO-8 license! I had so much fun with this jam and I hope you did too! 

Go make those games!

Thank you all for your patience during the judging period. 

Whether or not you are participating to win PICO-8, I wanted to dedicate a decent amount of time to providing feedback to all submissions. I have just completed writing all 15 of them and will deliver yours to your email as PDFs attachments.

 Out of the 15 submissions (14 on itch and 1 late entry delivered via email), 9 were participating for PICO-8 licenses which means all 9 participants will be receiving a free PICO-8 license! Congratulations!

I actually have more licenses available so if any of the 6 submissions who already own PICO-8 would like a free license to give to a friend, you earned it, so just let me know and I'll happily deliver a license key to you as well.

Directions for how to redeem the license will be a part of the feedback emails, and those will all be delivered by the end of the jam's judgement period.

To all Participants:

If you wanted to participate in this jam but for whatever reason missed the submission deadline, I will leave the Game Design Template available on the jam page and I'll still accept late submissions directly to my email at (theNerdyTeachers@gmail.com), where you can hand in the PDF and explain you were a part of the jam but missed the deadline. I probably won't have the time to provide feedback but more PICO-8 licenses are available thanks to our Ko-Fi donators. There will also be more events and giveaways in the future so follow us on our socials or discord to keep an eye out for those announcements.

Congratulations to everyone who submitted. It has been a ton a fun reading and imagining your game ideas and I hope we see them become finished games in the future!

I see you participated just for fun and that's great. If you would like me to read and provide some feedback, you can publish the submission, as I cannot download it right now. If you want to keep it just for yourself, that is fine too. I'm glad you joined and completed the design doc either way.

I would choose "Other"

Hello Participants, we just want to remind you that you should submit your Game Design Documents before the deadline!

If there are any issues or questions about submitting, please ask and we'll happily help.

If you would still like to win a full license to PICO-8, then make sure you submit what you have, even if you've run out of time and haven't finished it. If you haven't even started yet, the 3 days that are left are still plenty of time to start, write and draw your ideas, and submit.

I'm looking forward to reading all the wonderful game ideas and getting PICO-8 into your hands so you can make the games a reality.

Happy jamming across the finish line.

How to Submit PDF to itch.io

To submit the PDF to itch.io, you can follow these steps:

1. Log in to your itch.io account and go to your Dashboard.

2. Click on "Create new project" and fill in the title and other necessary details for your project.

3. Upload your PDF file by clicking on the "Upload Files" button on the project page.

4. You can also add a cover image, screenshots, and other relevant information to your project page, but only the PDF is required.

5. Set the pricing to "No payments".

6. Make sure your project is set to "Public" visibility so that others can find and access it.

7. Submit your project to this jam by going back to the jam home page and click "Submit your project" button, then select your project from the list of your uploaded projects.

On the jam home page you should see this button:

A popup will appear to either select a project you created on your dashboard, or to create a new project right here, so select the PDF if you already made it or click "Upload game" to create a new project:

In this Create New Project page, you'll be able to upload your PDF file:

Thanks for checking.

Short answer: Use a maximum of 16 colors, chosen from the 32 available.

Long answers:

1. To keep things simple, you can use up to 16 colors in your game. The color palette will have 16 colors that you can choose from, but you could limit yourself even more if it fits the style of your game. For example, if you want a 1-bit style, you may choose to only use black and white, or if you want a Gameboy style, you may choose to use only 4 greens. You can get some ideas for limited palettes on Lospec and then try to find the closest matching PICO-8 colors for the visual style you like.

2. Yes, you can use any of the 32 colors that PICO-8 has to offer (16 Default + 16 Hidden). However, you should choose only 16 out of those 32 colors and stick to drawing all game sprites to only those custom 16 colors. It is possible to swap the palette around using code so that your game could even use all 32 colors, but those require advanced techniques and have extra limitations that I wouldn't recommend worrying about here.  Choosing and sticking to your own custom 16 colors is quite simple and straight forward though. PICO-8 Palette Maker is a nice tool for selecting a custom 16 out of all 32 colors.

3. Sticking to the default 16 colors is the easiest path, and I suggest that for anyone who doesn't have a clear idea of what your game will look like. But if you do care about the visuals more and want to create mockups true to your imagination of the final design, then I suggest making a custom palette. The limitations of a custom palette are as I wrote in #2, choose any 16 colors out of the 32 available, and stick to those 16 or less in all of your art.

Custom Palette Example:

Here is an example where I used Palette Maker to choose 16 colors, copied the code to create that custom palette, brought it to PICO-8 Education Edition, and applied the palette to even change the editor colors so I can draw the sprites and map in the custom palette. See Example

Grammarly and other grammar correction tools such as what is built in to Google Docs and Microsoft Word are allowed. That is fine.

The rule is specifically no AI generated text or images, so Grammarly should only be correcting your writing and not writing it for you.

Thanks for asking to clarify that.

I'm not familiar with PICO-8, how should I consider its limitations?

    Start here at the PICO-8 FAQ. If you are brand new to programming and PICO-8, you can follow our introductory course videos to get an idea of how it works and get a head start on learning it. You can follow along with the PICO-8 Education Edition which can run in your browser. However, if you are already familiar with programming, then browsing the official manual could help you understand the software limitations.

If I win, how will I receive my license to PICO-8?

    On submission you will be asked to provide your email address. We will send winners a unique PICO-8 key to that email that can be redeemed at lexaloffle.com/redeem.

What if I already own PICO-8?

    You may choose to participate for fun and check the checkbox on your submission to opt-out of the reward.

What if I don't fill in all the sections of the Document?

    That's fine. Not all the sections apply to all types of games. PICO-8 games are often very simple because of the limitations so don't worry if you need to skip some sections. We suggest you write "Does not apply" at least just to show that you considered it and didn't just skip over it.

Does my game idea have to be completely new?

    No. Your submission can be inspired by existing games or concepts, but should include your own creative elements or innovative twists. We will be judging how unique your ideas are but they could also be unique and creative twists on a simple game format. Be sure to acknowledge any direct inspirations in your design document. Remember, this jam is about creating thoughtful, well-documented game designs rather than proving you have a completely unique concept, which is extremely rare anyway.

Should I be worried about someone stealing my game idea?

    Don't worry, our community is very supportive and collaborative, and blatantly stealing ideas is rare.  Game ideas themselves aren't typically protected by copyright or intellectual property laws - it's the specific implementation that's protected.  Remember that execution is what makes a game special - two developers can start with the same concept and create entirely different experiences based on their unique vision and skills. If someone really likes your idea, they should reach out to you for permission to collaborate.

Why a month-long jam?

    We don't expect you to work on the document for an entire month. You could probably get it done in a single weekend, but we wanted to allow participants to find that free time somewhere within the whole month.  So the jam length is just to provide more freedom to participants.

Can the mockups for the game art be made outside of PICO-8?

Yes. You are free to use any software (except AI) to create images, sprites, map designs, etc. to visualize your design ideas. They don't even have to be pixel art. You can even sketch them using pen and paper. Just make sure whatever medium you choose, you add the digital images all within the single PDF document.

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion! Don't know why I didn't think of that already. I have exported the song and converted it to MP3, and it is now available to download! =D

Actually both because I have hit the compression limit. So if I want to add even one sentence, I need to remove something else.

I'm glad you like it so much you want to have it with you on the go! =) 

Unfortunately I don't have any space left in the cart to add instructions. Early on, I decided to focus on graphics, number of levels, and the variety of items and interactions, instead of adding a tutorial in-game. However, the way I set up each level and the progress of the levels are meant to give you an understanding of the mechanics. For example, the first level is purely just to let you understand the style of movement, no items, no enemies.

Then when each item is introduced, the first couple levels are simple with limited choices so that you focus on learning to use the item instead of trying to solve the puzzle.

Since I can't add tips to the game itself, I can at least share a couple here!

Tip #1:
If you are struggling in later levels, go back to earlier levels and try to get 3 diamonds. Those earlier 3-diamond solutions usually require a trick or mechanic that you need to know just to solve later levels. So going for 3 diamonds is actually a way to learn the game faster and make later levels easier.

Tip #2:
Stuck on a level? Try everything! You'll be surprised with creative ways that items interact with the room, objects, enemies, and even other items!

There are 3 others that I know of, but it's possible I don't know about them all. But I won't spoil it haha, I'll let players discover and share them.

You both are a JOY to watch! Very entertaining and fun times. I hope to catch more of your streams in the future.
I'm sorry you got distracted by the glitch where the player passed through the spikes. I have fixed the bug and updated the game now.

Very impressive solutions to all levels, well done!

Pretty cool seeing a playthrough of the first few levels, thanks!

Thank you that's great to hear!

Awesome! I'm sure we'll hear this in a high-action shmup or two.

I didn't realize you were this good at making music in PICO-8! Looking forward to more streams and albums of songs if that is in the plan. If not, it should be!

I love all of these! The volume changes on the notes really create an amazing feeling, I'll have to try that out. This collection definitely makes me want to play a JRPG.

So good! Smart of you to include the 3 channel no percussion version too. That's definitely appreciated.

Nicely done! I really like Junkyard.

Thank you very much!

I'm glad you enjoy the game that much! Thank you for the kind words. Hope the hints are enough to help you narrow down the mission combinations, but if not and you get frustrated then let me know. =D

Thank you! I loved watching your playthrough. Also, thank you for finding the error! Because I could watch exactly what caused it, I was able to fix and update the game. =D

Always glad to help a fellow PICO-8 dev! =D

Experienced the epic rise and tragic fall of my geneticist's entire career in the matter of 16 cards. Extremely well written and the simple gameplay (no dice, no movement, just card revealing) let me focus on the story and spend more time journaling and sketching. This is my second time experiencing a solo journaling game and it has solidified it as one of my favorite genres of games. I'll have to try out some of your others!

Absolutely loved this! Well done! I played it on stream and got to introduce the concept of solo RPG / Journaling / Sketching games to my friends. So glad to have this alongside my own take on the same famicase. They complement each other really well.

The old book illustrations is a perfect aesthetic for this game. Do you have plans on a video perhaps showing how to play and what to expect? Would love to entice some friends into playing a game like this and a video of a playthrough would help.

This is a ton of fun! I love how the cops collide with each other making for great chain reactions.

The animations are smooth as butter and the computer's turn where it wanders around before it places its piece is brilliant! This will definitely be my go-to othello game. I managed to beat Hard! So I'll definitely be returning to get my butt kicked by Expert. XD

(realized this comment thread is separate from your game page thread so I copied most of it over there)

I really enjoyed this! Well done. Brilliant idea for this famicase too. The animations are silly and fun. The layout with the groups is refreshingly untraditional to sudoku but still makes perfect sense. The abilities really throw a wrench into the plans and turns it into more of an action puzzler; feeling like you are constantly putting out fires in a kindergarten class lol! 

Oh, just noticed you made use of the platformer tutorial! =D Appreciate the code credits.

BTW, I was considering choosing this cart too but I didn't feel like I had any good ideas for it. I'm glad to see you brought it to life and you really did it justice. Well done!

I had a great time with how much I was able to play. Looking forward to returning to it after that midnight bug is fixed. I'll be keeping an eye out for any announcement you make when you feel its ready to play again.

I really enjoyed this! Well done. Brilliant idea for this famicase too. The animations are silly and fun. The layout is refreshingly untraditional to sudoku but still makes perfect sense. The abilities really throw a wrench into the plans and turns it into more of an action puzzler feeling like you are constantly putting out fires in a kindergarten class lol! The one thing I feel it needs is an indicator for which peas are locked in from the start, and which can be adjusted; perhaps a slightly different color shadow?

Awesome! You are right, it is purposefully a bit slow and becomes sort of a grind to test out your theories of which virtues will achieve a mission. The biggest challenge is the RNG of the +s and -s, but if you go in with 2 possible missions in mind, one for positive virtues and one for negatives, then you should be able to achieve one of them by being able to adapt to the +s and -s that you get. Thanks for playing! Good luck on your next attempt, and hopefully I'll have found that lingering bug and update it before you try again.