itch.io

These are the colours sampled from a snapshot of your game. Your resolution for your UI is much higher than 160x144. Usually we overlook slight fluctuations in the rules, but this one broke too many and had to be disqualified. We hope you join us again next year!

Submission was disqualified for multiple violations of the jam's rules.
* Resolution higher than 160x144
* More than four colours
* Incorrect controls (mouse)

The game was interesting, but felt quite random at times - I found it difficult to know what was happening. The surreal videos were a big plus, it showed a lot of effort had gone in to accumulating assets for the game!

There was a lot of walking through large empty spaces and backtracking which I found frustrating. I found it difficult to navigate the large empty field and I'm pretty sure I missed a few exits. Luckily I accidentally went behind a building in the city otherwise I would've assumed it was a dead end. I managed to get Tanner and Clare.

The key puzzle mechanics were interesting. The first one you interact with has the controls partially covered which makes it difficult to read and thus difficult to understand.

I was a big fan of this character, they had good energy:

All in all, a very interesting game which could use some attention to level design. A very unique addition to GBjam and the first I've seen with FMV.

What a charming and very enticing game. I particularly liked pushing the meaty block with his kicking feet - YEAH YEAH yeah YEAH! The frog was a nice touch too. I really enjoyed seeing him.

There were some real moments of panic. The shaking moon, the chasing block. I thought you managed to reuse the movement mechanics quite well to make some solid gameplay.

If there's anything missing it might be a game over screen for being caught by the moon. I died just as I was going into the tower and it sent me back to the title screen, and I thought that was the game. Luckily I tried it again and found the rest of the gameplay.

What was the importance of the choices at the start?

Thanks for this delightful gem. I hope you come back to it.

That was a blast to play, I really enjoyed the mechanics and the flexibility of the commands. The levels were packed with character and I'm frankly shocked at how much game you managed to include. The sprites felt like a really good use of the space, and the movement and animation drew the eye across the level.

The music and SFX were really well covered from all directions. It felt like everything had something to "say" when it was interacted with.

I found some difficulty where the paths split and wasn't sure where to go - especially with meeting a dead end that wasn't solvable from that position.

Beautiful palette and shading work.

*For clarity, it must be the owner of that game, not an admin of the jam / admin of itch.io.

A charming game. The music slapped hard and I listened through the whole thing on Bandcamp. Loved the graphics and the usage of the palette which really bought it all to life. Exploring was fun and poking down those alleyways to find dead ends and wells! I found it difficult to know which exits were available.

I'm definitely coming back once combat is added. Exciting.

Thanks Mike! Let me know how it works out in D&D.

As long as it's not intentional, it should be fine. Make a note of it in your description.

Disqualified: Game is not an entry for GBJam.

Game does not appear to be an entry for GBJam.

No, the jam started on September the 13th and ends tomorrow at 12pm GMT. The next jam is in September next year.

Yes to both. The jam doesn't specify that it must run on hardware, but a lot of them do.

Hello everyone!

FAQ
Can I edit and reupload a game after I've submitted it?
Yes, right up until the deadline, where the entries will be locked for updates until the rating period has finished.
Will everyone in the team be able to vote in GBJam?
Yes, in theory - though we've had trouble with this before. Please follow the guide for teams above to give yourselves the best chance of success.
Can I exploit the rating process?
Exploiting the voting process will result in a ban of you, your team, and your entry. We are aware that no voting system is 100% fair, but please try to engage in the spirit of the celebration of the GameBoy, creativity, and love for your fellow creatives.
If my game is really broken when submissions are locked, can I reupload it?
No, but you can make another itch.io project and upload a fixed version there. Link to it in the description of your entry. This is to make it clear that it is a post-submission fix.
I'm planning on uploading my game at the very last minute, is this a good idea?
Do not do this. Every year we have about twenty people do this and it does not go well. We do not allow 'special circumstance' fixes for this.
But I'm special, so I can upload everything in four minutes.
You're not special. There is a high chance it will go wrong.
Can I edit my submission's page design after the deadline?
Yes, you can decorate the page and change the text after the submission deadline.
Is it a flex to upload my submission as late as possible?
No, uploading your submission late and risking all your work is really unattractive. Upload a version right now, even if it's not finished.
Can people see my entry before the deadline?
No, only the admin can see your entries, and we see so many that we don't have time to take a look at them before the deadline. Everyone's game is released at the same time.
Someone has uploaded something that breaks the rules / is distasteful / is a virus / is a gif of a cat eating cake and not relevant to the jam. What can I do?
Please report the submission. The moderators will be keeping an eye on the report queue and will take care of it as soon as possible. Reports go directly to us, not to Itch.io. If it is a matter of urgency please ping @moderator on our Discord.
Entries which are in the spirit of GBJam but technically breaking the rules will be given leniency. We much prefer people to try than not try at all.
Should I pull an all-nighter to finish my jam game?
No. Be healthy for your body and your mind. Add those extra features after the jam and put them in the notes of your description for now.
I'm going to upload in the last five minutes of the jam in spite of you giving everyone 12 hours of submission time and hope that my power doesn't go out.
Okay. Good luck.
How long do we have to rate games?
The rating period covers two weeks so as to allow two weekends for playing and rating games. Please try to rate as many games as possible and comment with helpful feedback and nice complements.


This year we've seen so many fresh new developers making their first games, and it makes me really proud. Well done to everyone who finished, or partially finished, a thing this year. Thank you also to the moderation team and our regulars, who have worked tirelessly to answer the many questions that come alongside GBJam.

-Polyducks

Thanks for your kind words :)

We had heard about the door (it was meant to be an illusion) and the rope (was going to be replaced with a telephone) after testing, so I'n glad feedback has been consistent.

The project is on ice now, but if we ever come back to it that'll be what we fix :~)

Precisely! I should've been paying attention haha

It's external to the game and assists in accessability, it's fine :~)

Loved using the water as a precussion instrument!

I got stuck here. I left the game running while I dealt with some messages and when I came back I couldn't leave. How odd!

Comfy game. Looking forward to the sequel.

Multiple submission to multiple jams - doesn't qualify for GBJam.

GBVM is a nightmare. Definitely ask in the GBStudio Discord, they have excellent support for this stuff.

haha brilliant! Requalified.

Please let me know when you've updated the page and I'll take another look :~)

This game doesn't meet the four colour requirement for gbjam.

This game uses characters from a third party franchise and has been disqualified from GBJam.

You can use text-to-speech if it's not AI generated. If you're not sure, don't use it and record your own voice lines with a microphone.

No. All assets except font must be created during the jam. If you can't make music, find a musician - there are plenty here on the forums and in the Discord looking for a team.

Thanks, I really appreciate it - it took a good while! Illustrations are by Batfeula, animations by DL laFontaine and the art direction/code/page layout is yours truly.

Characters are often 16x16 or 8x8 with three colours per sprite - while this isn't neccessary for GBJam, it will make your characters seem more authentic :~)

Check the screenshot again - there's a user rated category for "overall" similar to "graphics" and "sound" as well as the computed summary also called "overall". I think that broke the back end where it sorts entries by "overall" score in the parent page listing.

No worries, the forum is a fine place to post about page errors.

The archived jam page has Tim_ ranking above Roguelight. I don't know why it would be different. I'll make the adjustments.

Thanks for your report!

EDIT:
Tim_ had an "overall" score of 4.51 and Roguelight had an "overall" score of 4.47. There seemed to be a separate "overall" score which must have broken the algorithm for sorting the games. You are correct that Roguelight got an actual overall score of first place.

A transparency of 0% opacity does not count as a fifth colour. If a screenshot of your game has only four colours on the screen, it passes the test.

Thanks X-5! :~) Hopefully we see a big boost before the time runs out.

Yes, you can use pico-8

From the FAQ:

What engine or programming language can I use?

Any engine or programming language is allowed. Jam games which are playable on the website are played more often, so you might want to make sure your engine outputs HTML5, but it's not a requirement.

What engine or programming language can I use?

Any engine or programming language is allowed. Jam games which are playable on the website are played more often, so you might want to make sure your engine outputs HTML5, but it's not a requirement.

You may use a smaller resolution if your game engine of choice does not produce 160x144. The play area should fit within a gameboy screen. Black bars or 'super gameboy' frames around the outside of the gameplay area are fine.

Yeah, it was removed for brevity. This exists though:

You can only have four colours on the screen at once. Black is a colour. The four colours include all shades, all tones, all hues. Gameboy does not support semi-opacity. The four colours apply to the whole screen, including sprites. You cannot have one four colour palette for your background and another for sprites. This jam does not allow for a fifth experimental colour like 'default screen background'. Four is the total amount of colours you are allowed. You may use three or two. Five is right out.

The four colours you choose do not have to be the default palette you've found on Wikipedia. Lospec.com has loads of four colour palettes you could try. You can even make your own.

You can change your palette mid-game so long as the new palette is four colours. You cannot change your colours mid-scan-line or any other sneaky trickery. If you have more than four colours on the screen at any one time it is not obeying the rules.

Yes, the gameboy had three colours plus transparency on sprites. No, this is not a restriction you need to obey in your competition entry.

You can change the palette with a light switch or when it's night time so long as there are only four colours on the screen at one time. Are there four colours on the screen? Yes? Congratulations, you abide by the rules. Are there five colours? Do two of the colours blend with opacity to make a new colour? Wow buddy, looks like you're in more than four colour territory!

'Four colours maximum' means 'four unique colours'. A colour is a unit measured by its unique properties such as hue, saturation and value (or whatever other colour system you subscribe to). You could have red, blue, green and yellow on your screen, but 'a slightly darker shade of red' would count as a new colour. You could not have fifty shades of blue and argue that you're only using 'one colour'.

Yes, the illusion of a fifth colour counts as a fifth colour. Do you quickly flip the palettes to make an extra colour? Does it have an extra colour on the screen? Welcome to five coloursville friendo, population: you.

No, dithering does not count as an illusion of a fifth colour, as long as you are sticking to the 160x144 resolution.

If you want to argue how your five colours are special, do it in your game jam submission. I'm sure the reviewers (your fellow game jammers) will understand... 👀

If your next question starts with "but what if" the answer is no. No, you can't do your special idea. It breaks the rules.

"Can I use shaders?"
Does your game have four colours? Is the resolution 160x144? Does your game art adhere to the spirit of the jam - i.e. does it look and feel like it's on a gameboy? Yes? Go ahead.

"But-"
Then no.

No. Four distinct colours only.

Four colours on screen at one time. That means you can have different palettes between the pause screen and the main gameplay, for example.

Please don't take this to mean you can flicker the palettes constantly to make new colours, it looks awful.

You can submit any format. It's recommended that you make it playable on the web for more people to play it, but it is not a requirement. A ROM would be more trustworthy than an exe.

Hi! Yes, that's perfectly fine. If you'd like to see an example, here's my art-only submission from last year.

You can also find other team members on our Discord.

I know you commented three years ago, but I must have opened the comment in another tab to reply and then eventually had to shut down.

Thanks so much for engaging so sincerely with the game.

There is a common magic word used in interactive fiction games that most hardcore players try out. I don't even remember if it does anything.

Thank you for playing. I hope you eventually tried textmode art!