Hello everyone!

In just under 24 hours the Haunted Halloween Game Jam will start.

How It Works:

The jam starts on October 2nd at 9am EST, and runs until October 18th at 11:59pm EST. You can see the exact time it starts in your timezone by going to the game jam page.

Tomorrow morning, we will start the jam by telling you the theme for this year. We will announce this theme via email, as well as post it on the game jam page on itch. Once you know the theme, you will be able to start making your game!

You can upload your game at any point during the jam, as well as update your game at any time. But once the submission closes on October 18th at 11:59pm, you cannot upload or update your game. All submissions will be closed–so please make sure you give yourself time to upload your game to itch!

Once the game jam is over, the voting period will begin. As mentioned on the game jam page, voting will look like this:

Judges will be voting on the following criteria to determine winners:

• Gameplay: Are mechanics intuitive and satisfying? Does the game feel balanced and fair? How fun is the game to play?
• Art direction: Is the art creative and of good quality? Is the art direction consistent? How does the art enhance the player's experience?
• Use of sound: Are sound effects and music used appropriately? How clear and polished are the sound effects? Does the music and sound blend with everything else?
• Use of theme: How strongly does the game connect to the theme? Is the theme central to the design? How creative was the interpretation of the theme?
• Innovative: How unique are the gameplay mechanics and narrative elements? Were there any unexpected twists or fresh approaches on a familiar genre, gameplay mechanic, or story element?

Community Voting:

• Participants are encouraged to play and rate other submissions during the voting period. Community ratings are for engagement and recognition only and have no effect on judging, prizes, or the official results. Official winners will be selected independently by our judging panel.

Judges will be given the week of the 18th to play the games and enter their scores and feedback. Once all judges have submitted their scores, the winners will be announced via email and itch. Information on how winners can collect their prize will also be included in that email.

If you have any questions, or are looking for last minute teams, please reach out to us here on itch or via our Discord (which you can access here). 

Look for the email tomorrow announcing the theme! We are excited to see what you all come up with for the game jam!

The Block House Team