itch.io

If it's actually important to the plot and not a one-off mention then yeah, that'd be enough.

I'm removing this entry from the jam due to the lack of story focus as you literally just collect trash and then it ends. Leaving the other abyss game for now as it's still in development and seemed to have potential for a story but I'll check it later to see if anything's changed.

Just letting you know I'll be removing your entry for now. Storytelling through music is technically allowed but since there's only one track with no commentary, it does not meet the requirements of being story focused. You can reupload it later if you make it an album and/or add some info on what it's about. I listened to it and you could convince me there's a story there but again, it needs commentary.

Any setting works as long as it's underwater so yes, you could use a beach. But walking on a beach is generally being near water, not under. So unless you add some underwater elements [mermaids, deep ones, kelpies, whatever], let the chara dive a whole lot, have an important traumatic event that happens in water or anything else, really, that would make it a pivotal part of the game, it won't qualify.

Due to the amount of early entries, I am officially establishing some rules about the removal of rule breaking/low quality pages.

I know it wasn't mentioned in the original rules and that's completely on me as such things weren't usually needed [this is literally my biggest jam] but it's bound to become a problem later on so better get it over with now.

Firstly, pages that will be removed immediately:

• Blank pages - literally no info, no screenshots, no files. If you don't have anything right now, upload it again after you do have something.
• Spam entries - added to multiple jams, completely unrelated to underwater jam
• Non-story-focused works - hardest to measure. If the work has obviously no story [eg. flappy bird, minesweeper] it will be removed immediately. If the work has some story but the amount is highly debatable, I am open to being convinced and will let you know of my decision to remove the entry first.
• Paid works - as per the rules, your entry must remain free for a month after the jam ends [so till 5th of october]. You're free to do whatever after that but before - it will be removed.

Pages that will be removed after the jam ends:

• Fully finished works published before the jam has been announced - the rules allow starting early which is something I can't realistically check. However - if your project has been deemed officially finished and published before the jam has been announced [4th of march 2026], it means it wasn't made for the jam at all. As such, I'll wait till the jam ends to see if any new significant content has been added [so no changing the cursor's colour but adding extra scenarios or a complete gui overhaul etc is ok]. If not, the entry will be removed. Older demos that are still being worked on are fine.

Hope that clears things up.

I am removing the entry for now since the page is blank. You can reupload it later after the game is finished, though looking at the description, I'm not sure if this one would be story focused as per the rules.

Other story focused games are allowed.

Half as in demo? Yes.

I'd have to see the finished product to say for sure but as I understand it, right now it's focused on beating the parasite in a more adventure/survival way? With regular fights or without... I'd say if it's more of a puzzle where you actually have to learn the lore to beat the parasite, I wouldn't remove the entry but, like, you have to make it important, no brute forcing the way to win while skipping the whole story allowed.

If you mean stuff like spell check then I guuueeesss. But otherwise no. I'm assuming you mean assistance with code writing which would be a no. Big No, even.

Yeah, sure. The engines listed are simply examples and furries can be underwater, no prob.

The discord link to? If you mean the jam, there's no discord server. Everything else I've mentioned has been linked.

Sure.

Because I can. Didn't count the number of days.

There's no specific limit on projects you submit, just don't spam [like 20 or somethin]. So 3 projects are still fine and can be uploaded separately but maybe upload them as they're done instead of all at once.

Sounds fine, then. Again, don't make the gameplay complicated enough to distract from the story but this kind of storytelling should be okay,

Never played them so I'm answering based on secondhand info but as long as it's not super gameplay heavy [eg. you wouldn't grind/replay to beat the boss way more than enjoy the story] I guuueeesss it should be fine. Like, walking sim - ok. Battle arena-ish - not ok.

Only if you add commentary. Basically, besides naming each track according to your theme, say something about its contents. It doesn't have to be long but enough to show the progression, even a few sentences. The more, the better, of course, but since it's music, you gotta focus on music.

Hmm, depends. If you mean something like dark souls, then no. If you mean something more like a walking simulator with a main storyline and additional environmental storytelling elements then sure. I don't require dialogue per se but the fact there is a story there and it must be obvious it's there is important. Using images, body language etc also works.

I wouldn't know of having a team months ago but a lot of recruitment happens through discord or gamedev sites like lemmasoft and such. The jam forum isn't all that busy in that aspect. I think most posters do find a team, though. 

If you really wanna find a team, might be better also try different places or add more info than 'let's hope for the best' since people tend to like specifics, even if it's just a premise.

Idk what the rules for derivative works are for spongebob specifically, like, legally but as far as the jam is concerned , it's fine. I don't think they'd throw a cease and desist at you but do check your stuff. Besides that, sure, make it. Just don't use the official art.

You mean the setting? If you add talking fishes, sponges or whatever then sure. Just don't make it a 'it's totally underwater, trust me, bro' but it's a normal city but blue.

No other themes. I change my main jam theme every year and felt additional themes were unnecessary. But purely for me, I'd love some horrors or science fiction/space elements, haha.

I planned to make a server for my jams, starting from this year, but I don't have enough time to moderate properly and completely unmoderated servers wouldn't work very well...

At the moment, you can use either the jam community forum or try recruiting people through devtalk. I know it's not ideal but I really didn't want to risk having an almost completely unsupervised server.

At the moment we have no plans to translate the game as it's not finished, though a spanish - or any other - translation is quite unlikely.

Having a lot of important dialogue is enough even if it's not a visual novel. That includes exploration, RPG and so on. So your idea is completely fine.

I just wanted to avoid a situation where people added games with basically zero narrative focus.

Feel free to ask more questions, they'll be added here.

Is this a ranked jam?

Not at all. There are no rankings nor prizes, though it is encouraged to play each other's entries.

Can I start working on my entry before the jam begins?

Of course. Since older works are also allowed, you can not only start working on the outline but also actual development, final assets and such. Technically you could make the whole thing before the jam even starts and submit it during the first day but it's encouraged to work on your entry during the jam's timeframe.

Does my story have to take place in the sea/ocean/etc?

Not at all. Even a puddle or a bowl of soup count. The scale of your body of water doesn't really matter as long as a significant part of the story happens there.

What if I don't want to write about underwater places but prefer to use sea monsters and such instead?

Well, that's a hard question. Ideally, the story should take place in some kind of body of water but! if underwater creatures are important to the whole project, that's also allowed even if the characters spend time mostly on land. Or in space. Or anywhere else, really.

Some examples include but are not limited to: a scientist taking care of and researching a fish colony. Kraken sightings where the narrative focuses on the kraken itself. Flying whales as a pivotal part of the narrative. A war between sirens and mermaids. And so on. Basically, the link to the jam's theme should be obvious.

Are late entries allowed?

I know accidents can happen, maybe you lost internet at the very last moment or anything else. That's why the jam is a bit longer than two months. But - just in case you really were barely a few seconds late, you can notify me of that and I'll add the entry manually. Just note that I won't add anything you notify me about after 24 hours since the jam ended have passed.

Can I make something other than a game?

Sure. While I expect mostly to see visual novels, any kind of story focused work, be it a game guide, ttrpg, novel, comic, picture book etc is still allowed.

Does my work have to be in English?

Not at all. While it would be nice, it's not a requirement.

Don't know which engine to use?

Whichever you want, honestly. Though considering most of the submissions would [I hope] have some kind of story to tell, here are some recommendations:

Ren'Py -   basically the go to program for English language visual novel creators. Moderately simple and very easy to learn if you want a basic game. Just a bit complicated if you want something good looking or fancy and if you know what you're doing, you could honestly even make an RPG there since it's based on python; point&click games are easier, though. 

Light.vn - a mostly visual novel engine with a more graphic interface than ren'py. The english community is significantly smaller than the japanese one but it's worth checking out due to its various non-vn supports, like side scrollers or various gameplay elements.

Unity - very versatile, has a big community and if you're stuck, looking for help shouldn't be hard. Can be used for both visual novels, text adventures [there are also way simpler and lighter programs for that, though] and something complicated.

Twine - want to write some interactive fiction instead? Twine is a very intuitive option that also allows its users to insert pictures or music to their stories [that requires easy to find plugins]. No GUI customisation needed, just write your story.

 Quest - prefer text adventures? Look no more. Another very simple program, also offers to make your game online and post it on the site. You can also try Squiffy from the same creators [interactive fiction only].

 Ink - another simple way to create interactive fiction. The end result is very light-weight since if you want, you honestly can pack the whole story into a single html file.

LÖVE - a bit more complicated  since it requires some programming knowledge. Uses Lua and is a framework for 2D games. Quick to learn. The only downside is that you have no basic art assets and need to prepare everything yourself. And if you want to create using both code and a graphic interface, you can always try Defold.

Godot - scripting using C++ or GDScript, Godot supports many platforms and allows for the creation of both 2D and 3D games. Open source with a pretty big community around it and many tutorials to use.

Narrat - want to create narrative rpgs with an inventory, skill checks and maps that still heavily relies on text? That's the one. It's open source and has some handy interface that doesn't require a lot of complicated programming to make your game.

Bitsy - for short, pixel games with a limited palette. Very easy to use, supports HTML5 [the game can be played without downloading], let's you go as simple or detailed as you want. Worth checking out.

RenJS - doesn't require programming, supports HTML5 and different plugins if you felt like adding some more features. Beginner friendly.

Thanks for your good wishes :)

We're working on it, albeit slowly 💪 

If you're playing on pc and use a mouse, you can use the wheel to scroll the text back which leads you to the previous screen and lets you save.

Though it's a demo so it doesn't have any endings at the moment. That message was left there since we planned to let people use old saves instead of replaying the common route but the full version won't be compatible with it anyway due to the new content.

So you can ignore the message and there are no actual endings.

It's been extended already so I'd rather not do that again but since you let me know early - if you really can't make it, contact me after the jam ends [discord or tumblr is best as it involves sending links]. Your game can be added late, after it's released.

Any chances you plan to make a sequel of sorts? I'll be interested in finding out more.

The rpg maker assets.

But it doesn't matter now, the dev told me to just remove the submission instead of modifying the page.

Hello. The jam with a strong preference not to include AI assets was omegaverse jam, not the werewolf one. Right now the information about your usage of AI generated assets isn't plainly stated in a visible place on the page which goes against the rules. I'll leave it for now but if you don't add that information [the more specific, the better] before the jam ends, I'll be forced to remove your submission.

As far as the rules go, it's technically allowed because it seems the author used it only for some of the images and nothing else but it should be clearly stated on the game's page - which it isn't - so I'll remove it only if the author doesn't add that information.

Thanks for letting me know.

That's some high praise (⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)ﾃﾚｯ

Thank you.

Of course, as long as you add trigger warnings.

As long as it's story focused, it's fine so comics and literature are allowed, though I have to admit I 'marketed' mostly in gamedev spaces so that's surprising. 

I'll edit the main page and FAQ so it's clearer it doesn't have to be a game.

Still in progress. We're just busy so it's going slowly and I'm personally not a fan of updates that don't feel significant, though of course I wouldn't stop the team if they wanted to post one. And we will make a devlog once it's fully released.

As for donations - they weren't the goal. As you can see, they're turned off at the moment and will remain that way for the time being. But thanks for your interest.

Glad you liked it.

That's a good point. We'll definitely do something about the transitions in the full version.

Any chance you'd add omegaverse to the tags to make it easier to search for your games [because people often search by tags]? I see you didn't put all 10 tags so there's space to add some.