Welcome to Winter MelonJam 2025!

In this game jam, we are inviting both beginners who have little to no major game development experience and more advanced developers.  The game jam will start December 26th 5:00 PM UTC, and end December 29th 4:59 PM UTC for a total of 72 hours. All participants will have to follow a theme which will be revealed at the start date.

Note: the jam is ranked just for fun and increased engagement, the top 3 in each category will be determined by our judges!

Why join MelonJam? 

• Prizes including cash and licenses to useful softwares, courses, and more! 
• Feedback for every game from professionals and college students in the fields of game development and design 
• Welcoming community of game development enthusiasts on Discord (plus on demand cat pictures ^_^) 
• Short time frame helps maintain focus and motivation

We will also be posting most of our updates on our Discord server, so join here: discord.gg/uYmNuZymJ2

We have three divisions, Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Don't know which division you're in? Check out the flowchart below!

(Creator of the Tier Selector - Alimad Co) 

For any inquires (including sponsorship or judging), contact us at: melonjamgdc@gmail.com

Please read the rules before the jam and ask in the Discord if you have any questions!

1. To be eligible for a prize, you must provide an adequate explanation for how your game fits the theme when submitting your game. You must also fulfill the requirements for your division OR lower. No smurfing.
2. Any digital project that is not malware may be submitted. Keep in mind, however, that the judging criteria may limit your success if you do not submit a game that fits the theme announced at the beginning of the jam. 
3. All submissions must be developed during the allotted time slot. However, you are free to use any assets (music, 3d models, etc.) and tools (game engines, graphic design programs, etc.) that you made yourself or are given permission to use by the creators, such as through a creative commons license, an open-source license, or a purchase. If you choose to do so, you must mention this in your submission. Judges may take points off or award points based on pre-made assets.
4. Participants may work alone, or form teams of up to 4 members in order to work on their submission. Participants can unofficially be in multiple teams, but cannot win prizes more than once per jam-- participants must choose one team to sign on with. 
5. The Cupertino Game Development Club reserves the right to not consider any uploaded games for prizes if the content does not follow the theme or is offensive or unsuitable. This includes but is not limited to: games with harmful or prejudicial themes related to gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, appearance, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, or religion.
6. You may use any engines or tools at your disposal except for generative AI. No AI art, code, music, or any other assets is allowed.
7. Participants who do not adhere to the rules above may have their submission canceled, or even banned from all future game jams hosted by the Cupertino Game Development Club.

TBA

NOVICE DIVISION

1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher 1x PyxelEdit Key  1x ArmorPaint Key 1x Aseprite Key	Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher 1x PyxelEdit Key 1x Aseprite Key	Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher 1x PyxelEdit Key 1x Aseprite Key

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION

1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
2x XYZ domains (1 year) Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher $25 AoPS coupon 1x ArmorPaint Key 1x Aseprite Key	2x XYZ domains (1 year) Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher $25 AoPS coupon 1x PyxelEdit Key 1x Aseprite Key	2x XYZ domains (1 year) Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher 1x PyxelEdit Key 1x Aseprite Key

ADVANCED DIVISION

1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place
2x XYZ domains (1 year) Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher $25 AoPS coupon 1x ArmorPaint Key 2x Aseprite Key Photon Engine 500 CCU a month with Circle Starter for a year ($7.5k value)	2x XYZ domains (1 year) Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher $25 AoPS coupon 1x ArmorPaint Key 1x Aseprite Key Photon Engine 500 CCU a month for a year ($1.5k value)	2x XYZ domains (1 year) Up to 4x Craftpix 1 year memberships (1 per team member) Up to 4x $50 Synty Store voucher (1 per team member) 100€ WeLoveIndies voucher 1x ArmorPaint Key 1x Aseprite Key Photon Engine 100 CCU a month for a year ($100 value)

PARTICIPANT PRIZES -- guaranteed* as long as you participate in the jam!

TBA

RAFFLE PRIZES -- anyone who participates in the jam & fills out the feedback form is eligible to win any of these!

TBA

Your game will be judged by professionals under the following criteria:

• Gameplay, or how well the game squeezes out value from its mechanics/how appropriate and appealing the controls feel (snappy platforming, impactful heavy attacks, or the like). This may differ depending on the genre of game.
• Graphics, or how impressive the project looks, sounds, etc. 
• Innovation, or how “new” a concept in the game is (new graphics, new gameplay, new interpretations of old concepts, etc.)
• Theme, or how interesting the game's interpretation of the game jam's theme is. (The theme will be revealed at the start of the jam)
• Polish, or overall polish/how complete the game feels.

Community rankings on Itch are just for fun!

All games are judged by as many judges as possible to ensure fairness.

Hosts: Matthew Xu, Alex Li, Lindsey Li, Qinzhao Li,  Grace Lin, Calvin Chang, Sharvil Phadke

Powered by:

Gold Tier:

Silver Tier:

Bronze Tier:

  

For any inquires regarding sponsorship or judging, contact us at: melonjamgdc@gmail.com