Posts
Wan
Congratulations everyone for joining the jam :) We have beaten the record of the first event, with already 69 games to play!
Submissions are still open for unranked submissions: while those won't be officially ranked, they can expect as many people to play & comment on them. So, if you haven't finished your game in time, it's not too late to complete something! Game submissions will completely close Monday at 10pm UTC.
We will post more details about the voting phase tomorrow evening, but you can already go play & review games right now!
3D environments are hard! We're using Unity, and especially discovering ProBuilder for environments. Additional models are done with Blender.
We're also super late on schedule :D
If you're interested in finding people to enter the jam with, now is the time to check our Crowdforge page! You can ask for help in either art, code or music aspects of game making.
Go there and create a team, or check the existing ones:
Find a team on ![]()
Hi everyone,
I've been crazy enough to join the 1st Alakajam AND all three of the month-long Kajams that followed… And I won't end my streak now! (hopefully…)
The team:
We'll be using Unity, with normally Reason (music) & Photoshop. If we go down the 3D route I'll consider using the ProBuilder plugin for Unity as a replacement for Blender.
EDIT: some people have suggested we start the event a little earlier, to squeeze in one more weekend—so now the event is now going to start on March 29th. Sorry for the confusion!
Kajam competitions are month-long events in which people make a video game from scratch, focusing each time on a specific aspect of game making, as chosen by its host. They are perfect to learn, experiment and improve your gamedev skills! More details here.
The topic of the 4th Kajam will be announced by its host, in complete non-jokey seriousness, on April 1st March 29th.
Follow us on Twitter to stay updated!
Congrats to the entrants of this small Storytelling-themed event!
The jam results are out, making me realize in the process that I shoud have advertised the voting phase more: due to a lack of ratings, only 2 of the games ended in the final rankings ( @bradur 's only had 1 vote).
Anyway, if you want to join a bigger, more competitive event, now is the right time to book the 23-25 week-end, on which the 2nd Alakajam will take place at last! More details to be announced tomorrow…
The 3rd Kajam focused on storytelling just reached its end, yielding 4 new games for all to discover!
For the next week, everyone will be able to rate the games, so that everyone can get enough ratings for interesting results. Go explore them, and please leave feedback on the games you play!
Note: since this is a relaxed competition, we're leaving the game submissions open for any late entrant (I'm looking at you @toasty!)
Because games don't always have to be about shooting things, the first 2018 Kajam is about telling Stories! Explore how to tell a nice and engaging story to your players, maybe by focusing on developing interesting choices, or on the attachment to the characters, or simply use this excuse to finally try and tell a story for your first time!
While every single type of video game can be greatly affected by its storytelling, here are cheap ways you could exercise your talents:
- Interactive fictions, with an engine like Twine or even from scratch (web or console) ;
- Role-playing games based on RPG Maker or its free clone RPG Boss ;
- Walking simulators, either in 2D or 3D.
Schedule
- Jan. 1st - Jan. 28th: The jam. Make a small game while focusing on its story elements. Either over an evening or spanning the whole 3/4 weeks, either solo or as a team, there's little to no rules, just a chance to practice. If you're curious though, feel free to check the event rules.
- Jan. 28th - Feb. 4th: The rating phase. For one week, all entrants will rate the storytelling of the other games. Like on the first event: no Overall ratings, it's all about how much you liked the stories.
- Feb. 4th: Results are released!
Don't forget to share tips & progress reports with the community throughout the month. Have fun!
Resources
- Story - What is it good for? by Thomas Grip
- Telling tales: The art of narrative in games by Craig Chapple
- Developing Meaningful Player Character Arcs in Branching Narrative by Alexander M. Freed
- Storytelling Tips: How To Plan Big Plot Twists in 4 Steps by Guy Hasson
- Play me a story: How video game storytelling has evolved by Seamus Byrne
- A brief history of the “walking simulator,” gaming’s most detested genre by Nicole Clark
- Exploring Telltale Games’ master plan to evolve modern storytelling by Adam Rosenberg
- The Future of Video Game storytelling by Neil Druckmann
If you have a link to add, please share it in the comments.
The 24 days of the 2nd Kajam, focusing on Sound Effects, have passed by. Congrats to the entrants!
Due to the low entry count, we have decided to bypass the voting phase and just end the jam as is. Everyone is a winner! We're leaving entry submissions open throughout the end of the month for any late entrant.
Until the next jam, go check the submitted games and make sure to leave a comment on them!
See you next year and… Happy holidays to all! :)