History

Founded in September 2018, Godot Wild Jam™ (GWJ) is an event in which you create a game from scratch in nine days. GWJ was born out of a desire to see more games made with the Godot Engine. Conceived and lead by Bakenshake aka Kati, it has grown to be the largest monthly Godot game jam.

The goal of Godot Wild Jam is to foster a place of learning while striving to be more inclusive and diverse in the gaming industry. By providing two full weekends to work on a project our jam is more accommodating for people maintaining a job, family, etc.

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Need to contact us?
Direct Message or @mention an Admin on our Discord

Contents

Rules

Refer to the current jam page on Itch.io for the most up-to-date rules.

  1. Use the Godot Engine (we recommend the Latest version).
  2. Make a game within the 9-day jam period — don’t start early!
    • If you miss the deadline or find a critical bug after submitting, see “Help!” below.
  3. The majority of your game’s code and assets must be made by you, but:
    • You can use project templates (for example Maack’s Template).
    • You can use existing assets that you have the rights to (check the license).
    • The spirit of the jam is to make something new!
  4. Do NOT use AI-generated content.
    • No vibe code, no AI-generated art, no AI-composed music, no AI-written dialogue, no AI assets of any kind.
    • This applies to your game and your game’s itch page.
  5. Do NOT discriminate against anyone.
  6. You may work solo, or in a team of up to 5 jammers.
  7. Follow the theme and have fun!

Judging

Participants and any contributors for the current itch.io jam will be judging games on the following:

> Theme: How well does the game adhere to the chosen theme?

> Fun: Was it fun? Enjoyable?

> Controls: How smooth is the game? Are the controls clunky or intuitive?

> Graphics: Does the game look good? Does the art style fit the type of game? Is the pixel art charming?

> Audio: How is the music? Does it fit? What about the sound effects?

> AccessibilityHow well did the game implement features from this list

> Originality: Were you pleasantly surprised by some game mechanic or design in the game?

Tips

Here’s some of the best pieces from the #jam-lessons channel in our Discord server:
  1. Be sure to take breaks when you need it! Go for a walk, stand up and stretch, or go watch something. Our jam lasts 9 days specifically for this reason.
  2. Game jams are a good opportunity to experiment with ideas, so don’t let fear or doubt stop you from trying something new.
  3. Set yourself a goal for the jam and communicate with your team if you have any. This goes for new tools, techniques, ideas, etc.
  4. You don’t have to be an expert in every game dev related role. If you are struggling understanding and producing, consider joining a team!
  5. Don’t let fear of the unknown prevent you from creating something really cool.
  6. By acknowledging your flaws, you are giving yourself space to grow.
Here’s the official Godot Documentation for Exporting Your Project.
Otherwise, we won’t be able to download and play your game!

Accessibility

We believe that accessibility in video games is an important component to creating a great game. Here’s a great article on why accessibility matters. We encourage teams to use the Accessibility Guidelines Basic List and check off features as they develop their game. You can view the full accessibility guidelines here.

The Wildling

The Scrolls of Wilderness tell us this much: it is not so much a creature as a force of nature. We do not know for certain if it was named for GWJ, or if the Wild Jam was named in its honour. It cannot be tamed or leashed, and none can say where it roams, whence it came, or whither it goes... but, for the time being, it calls these halls its home.

The original version of the GWJ mascot was created by Stern Flowers member Krystof.
The Wildling Bot was created by GWJ member and winner John Gabriel.

Fan Art (and inside jokes)

A bug in the Wildling Bot allowed @everyone mentions on Discord.