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Game Jam Basics |
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Teams |
Getting Help |
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Mentors |
A Game Jam is a contest where participants make a video game from scratch within a
prescribed time.
The
brief time span incentivizes the participants to be creative and develop a compact and functional
game.
When the jam starts, a theme is announced and the participants need to come up with game ideas
relevant
to the theme.
All games must be designed, prototyped, developed, and submitted by the end of the jam. Participants
may
work independently or in teams.
A Game Jam’s theme is a simple word or sentence that has to be applied in the jam’s games. A theme can be interpreted and applied in many different and creative ways. Here are some examples of game ideas applying a suggested theme:
- Theme: Up is Down
- A shooter game where your vertical keys are inverted. Up goes down and down goes up.
- A puzzle game where you have to turn your game upside down to solve puzzles.
- Theme: Black Hole
- An arcade game where you control a black hole and have to eat planets.
- A thriller game where aliens appear from a black hole.
The PixelPAD March Break Game Jam will start on March 11th and end on March 25th, 2021.
Participants must be between 13 and 18 years old, and reside in Canada.
Go ahead and register via the My Team page. Registration will open February 1st and close on March 10th.
The theme will be announced on March 11th at 2pm Pacific Time, marking the start of the Game Jam. It will be displayed on the Overview page, and announced in our Discord Server.
Yes. PixelPAD's March Break Game Jam requires that your game is developed in PixelPAD. To learn more about PixelPAD and how to use it, visit PixelPAD’s Documentation.
While you wait for March 11th, you can start getting ready for the jam by joining our Discord Server and checking the Resources channel.
If you have already registered you and your team members, it's time to prepare yourself for the jam:
1) Finish a free PixelPAD
Tutorial
2) Finish some Tidbits
3) Practice what you've learned by creating your own
app
No, you don’t. It’s totally fine to work independently!
You can try finding your team members using our Discord Server. There is a special channel for people who want to find team members for the Game Jam. Keep in mind that a larger team (4+ people) does not connote an easier development process. Sometimes a large team can be harder to manage. Try keeping your team small and efficient.
Yes, you can. However, you can only be the Team Leader for one team. Also, keep in mind that participating in multiple teams means that you will also be competing against yourself.
No. A PixelPAD account is only needed for the Team Leader, who will register the team for the Game Jam and submit the game.
No. To participate in the Game Jam you will need to fill the form on the My Team page to successfully register yourself and your team members (if you have any).
Yes. Your game should be built around the Game Jam’s theme. The theme will only be announced on March 11th, at the jam’s start date.
You are allowed to code any game you wish. However, keep in mind that your game’s rating may be affected if your game does not apply the theme. The more creative you can be with the theme, the better your chances for a high rating.
Games that use original designs and sounds are likely to score higher for Awards!
Here are some free resources to get you started:
freesound.org - Sounds
opengameart.org - Sounds and Sprites
itch.io - Sounds and Sprites
photopea.com - Design in general
There are three ways of resolving any questions you may have during the Game Jam. First,
begin by
searching the Documentation.
If you can’t find an answer to your questions in the documentation, try reaching our community
in
Discord. We have a specific channel
called
#help, where
other
community members can help answer your
questions.
You can also request that one of our volunteer mentors review your code and get back to you with
their
feedback. Please note that it may take 24 to 48 hours for a mentor to get their comments back to
you.
You can request mentor feedback through your Code
Review page.
You can find a list of all admins you can contact in our Discord Server (read the Info channel on the Game Jam’s section). Keep in mind that admins are not meant to help you with your coding/logic questions.
Mentors are industry professionals who have volunteered to lend their support to teams during PixelPAD’s March Break Game Jam. They are not necessarily game developers nor PixelPAD experts. Mentors will do their best to provide teams with helpful feedback on each Code Review.
Teams are not assigned to specific mentors. When requesting help from our mentors, your project will be forwarded to one of our available volunteers.
You can request a mentor’s feedback through your Code Review page.
You are allowed to request a Code Review once every 48 hours.
Our volunteer mentors will get back to you as soon as they can. Typical response times are anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, however this may be affected by the volume of Code Review requests. Consider submitting your request early!
If you would like to request a mentor's feedback on your code, please submit a Code Review request before requests close at 11:59pm Pacific Time on Sunday, March 21st.
Your game's feedback from each Code Review request will be displayed on the Code Review section, available to view once you log in.
Yes, absolutely! Be aware that the mentor doesn’t receive a copy of your project code as it was at the time when you submitted the request: instead, they receive the direct link to your game. Hence, if you keep making changes to your game, the mentor will see your most updated project at the time of their review.
All games must be submitted by March 25th at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
Your team’s game must have been created and developed in the team leader’s account. That's
because the game
must be submitted by the team leader, and it must be listed on his/her My
Apps section within PixelPAD.
To submit your game, go to the Submissions
page and select
the
game you want to submit.
No. Only the Team Leader needs to submit the game.
No. Only one game is allowed per team. However, you are allowed to be in multiple teams at the same time (thereby competing against yourself).
After submitting a game, all team members will receive an email confirming the submission.
The Game Jam’s games will be ranked and awarded in 3 categories:
- Public’s Choice: The highest rated games as voted by the public.
- Mentor’s Choice: The highest rated games as voted by the mentors.
- PixelPAD’s Choice: The highest rated games as voted by the PixelPAD team.
PixelPAD will contact the winners and profile them for media releases after the Game Jam: we’re working on getting you the biggest bragging rights on your win!
The March Break Game Jam ends on March 25th at 11:59pm Pacific Time. The voting phase will then begin on March 26th.
- Public voting will last for 3 days and close on March 28th at 11:59pm Pacific Time. Anyone can vote on the jam’s submissions during this period.
- With public voting closed on March 28th, mentors and the PixelPAD team will then review the winning games for the other categories.
- The winners will be announced on March 31st, 2021.
Yes. The 3 top-ranked games in each category will be awarded prizes! Also, PixelPAD will profile the winners for media releases after the Game Jam: we’re working on getting you the biggest bragging rights on your win!