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A game jam is a lot like a hackathon for games. People develop games using any tools that they have,
then submit them by a due date. As with hackathons, people are free to use any resources that are
available to them to develop their game: their game engine of choice, their digital art program of
choice, youtube coding tutorials, books on art, anything. You can even use human resources—you can team
up with others to make your game better.
Most game jams, as does MelonJam, also have a theme. Some jams prefer or require that you stick to the
theme; others don’t, and only intend for the theme to be a tool to kickstart your brainstorming. To make
the jam more challenging and to enforce creativity via restriction, MelonJam requires that you connect
your game to the theme in some way.
You can use the flowchart above. For MelonJam 5, we will have 3 divisions with staggered prizes: Novice,
Intermediate, and Advanced.
If you feel confident enough, feel free to jump to a higher division and get better prizes! On the flip
side - no smurfing.
Yes; to be eligible for a prize, your game must have some aspect that fits the theme in some way. This
is because we want to make the jam more challenging as well as enforce creativity through restriction.
Yes; we do not intend to restrict anyone from participating in MelonJam. While we do target
pre-collegiate students in particular, we believe that there is much to gain from having people from all
sorts of backgrounds share their games and ideas with others.
Yes, you may, for any group of up to 4 people. Just make sure you confirm which division your team falls
under; the definitions were made to prevent piggybacking, where one experienced team member takes care
of the work for others.