It is always challenging to find an engaging theme. It should provide a solid foundation for game ideas while remaining versatile enough to accommodate diverse concepts. We believe we've discovered that with our theme: 

"UNINVITED GUEST"

Some inspiration: The theme UNINVITED GUEST invites you to explore presence, intrusion, and the unknown. Who or what does not belong, yet finds a way in? It could be a ghostly spirit, a digital invader, a forgotten memory, or even an emotion that refuses to leave.

In horror games, the uninvited guest might stalk, haunt, or corrupt. In mysteries, it could be an unexpected visitor who changes everything. In strategy or management games, maybe it is a disruptive element that enters your system, forcing players to adapt or contain it.

Whether literal or symbolic, the theme is about tension, surprise, and the impact of something or someone that was never meant to be there.

You can always discuss, brainstorm and exchange ideas with your fellow participants @ our Discord Server.

Best of luck and enjoy this Halloween Edition Game Jam! 🎃

This is the 2nd Halloween Edition Game Jam organized by GoedWare. Our goal? To help you Conjure new skills, Creep through creative challenges, and Captivate with your very own game in just 4 days! Whether you’re summoning code, mastering game design, or exploring eerie aesthetics, you’ll gain experience, level up your skills, and have a frightfully fun time. Join us in creating games and playing those crafted by other daring participants!

GoedWare:

Link to previous Jams #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 | ZERO UI | HALLOWEEN #1 | CUTSCENE | LIMITED COLOR | LIMITED SHAPES

Rules & Requirements

• Open to All: Anyone, regardless of experience, is welcome to participate!
• Itch.io Account Required: An itch.io account is needed to join the jam and submit your entry.
• Engine Flexibility: You can use any engine or framework you like! For example: Unity, Godot, Unreal, GameMaker, etc. You’re also welcome to build your own engine if you prefer😉.
• Submission Deadline: You cannot edit your submission after the deadline, so submit your game a few hours early to address any last-minute issues.
  
• Team Participation: Teams are allowed, but we recommend keeping them to 4 members or fewer, as larger teams can be challenging to manage in 4 days. (Prizes are awarded to the team as a whole, not individual members).
• Multiple Entries: If you have the time and can manage it, you are welcome to submit multiple entries.
• Music and Fonts: Any music must be royalty-free or copyright-free and properly credited. Fonts from the internet can be used as long as you have the appropriate licenses.
• Assets: You may use assets you already own, such as those from the Unity Asset Store or Unreal Marketplace. Ensure that all assets are properly licensed and that you have permission to use them. Avoid infringing on copyrights or trademarks. Assets bought in the stores usually (99.9%) have the correct license to use them in our jam.
• No NSFW Content: Games must not contain nudity, hateful language, or offensive visuals.
• Fair Voting: Any attempts to manipulate voting will result in removal from the jam.
• AI Assistance: You may use AI tools to assist with coding and asset creation (such as art, music, or sound effects). However, the majority of the code must be your own work, and any AI-generated content should be used thoughtfully and ethically. If you use AI-generated assets, make sure they respect copyright rules and do not resemble or replicate existing copyrighted content.

Submission & Judging Criteria

All entries will be judged by other participants of the jam (that includes you!).

The categories are:

• Gameplay / Fun / Engagement: The ease of play and overall enjoyment factor. How intuitive and enjoyable is it to play the game, and how well does it keep the player engaged?.
• Art Style / Visuals: How cool, beautiful, or eye-catching the game looks.
• Audio / Sound Design: The impact of the game's audio and sound design. How effectively do sound elements enhance the mood, atmosphere, and immersion of the game?
• Halloween / Theme: How well it fits Halloween and the announced theme. Unique and meaningful integration of the theme into gameplay, story, or design is encouraged.

There will be a Judge/Jury Ranking where our panel will evaluate submissions based on personal preference, artistic quality, and gameplay experience. The jury panel will help balance any unusual voting patterns to ensure a fair outcome.

After the jam, a 7-day rating period allows participants to play and rate each game. Remember to leave constructive feedback. This is more helpful than just a rating and helps other participants discover your game! 😊

Note: To be eligible for prizes, each game needs at least 10 ratings. Playing, commenting and rating others' entries will also increase the chances of your game receiving ratings.

*We reserve the right to remove any entries with clear vote manipulation.
**Minimum rating requirements may be adjusted based on the number of participants.

Prizes

Yes, this Halloween Jam has prizes 🎃. Sponsored and organized by GoedWare.

Let's start by saying that if you press that join button and upload a game before the deadline, you are already a winner! Having fun while creating and finishing your game project is an achievement in itself! That experience is more valuable than money, but we do have some real prizes for the winners also 😉.

We have a public vote with prizes and we also have a jury ranking.

Public Voting

• #Overall winner: $75 gift card + Eternal Glory 😁
• #Runner-up: $50 gift card
• #3rd place: $25 gift card

Jury Ranking

• #1: $100 gift card
• #2: $75 gift card
• #3: $50 gift card

Special jury category:
#Feedback: Awarded to the participant who provides the most helpful, constructive, and insightful feedback on others’ games. This category values those who go above and beyond with thoughtful comments, tips, and encouragement to help fellow developers improve their games. The winner in this category will receive a $25 gift card as a thank-you for fostering a positive, supportive community!

NOTE:

• Participants will receive an Amazon gift card for the Amazon website that applies to their country. No other gift cards or prizes will be distributed or swapped.
  
• For the record for Brazilians, Madagaskar and Indian. Unfortunately, no gift cards are possible for amazon.com.br & amazon.in and we will give out gift cards for amazon.com online shop.
• Jury ranking prizes will stack with the public prizes.
• Because the organizers already know the theme in advance, we will merely be participators. If one of us gets voted to be winner of a category or the overall winner, prizes will be awarded to the next person instead. 
• The prizes may change a little bit before the Game Jam starts, but will mostly contain the content as it is shown now. Once the Game Jam has started the prizes will not change anymore!

Tips

In my experience, here is what you need to do if you want to win one of the top spots:

• Make your game easy to understand for new players. This is a super common trap a lot of game jam games fall into. Start thinking about your tutorial or how you want to teach your mechanics right from the beginning!
• Usually it's a good idea to make your game not too hard to win. People spend roughly five to fifteen minutes on each game. In most cases they won't have enough time to reach a super high level of mastery. Keep that in mind when balancing the difficulty.
• Quality over quantity. Keep your game super simple! This is important in this jam but every bit of extra polish can really make your game stand out in a short jam like this.
• Take risk. The winning games are usually those who were brave enough to try something completely new and crazy (while also following the other three tips above).
• Browser games get more plays. If you want more people to actually try your game (and vote on it), consider submitting a WebGL or HTML5 browser version. Many players prefer not to download files during a jam, so browser games tend to get significantly more attention and feedback.
• Resources. Check out the resources thread "Free gamedev resources (art, music , sfx, vfx, models etc.)" in our itch.io community for useful resources that can help you start and can be used for your game.

Obviously there are exceptions to all rules but still, I hope it helps. 😊

FAQ

Also check the latest updated FAQ in our community

Question: What is the theme?
Answer: The theme will be announced when the jam begins.

Question: Does my game have to be a certain format?
Answer: No, but remember that not all users have Windows/Mac/Linux devices. Browser based is a good idea to get as many people playing your game as possible and try to make at least a Windows version.

Question: What assets can I use?
Answer: The vast majority of code must be written during the jam, but you can use whatever art and audio assets you have the legal right to use.

Question: Can I submit a game that I already started on?
Answer: No, it is required that all participants make the entirety of the game in the time provided.

Question: Is there a Discord I can join?
Answer: Yes, click here to join.

LEGAL

• Anything you make during the GoedWare Game Jam is your property. GoedWare claims no rights or ownership of your game.
• Any game submitted to the GoedWare Game Jam may appear in a GoedWare YouTube video, social media, or website without additional permission.