Game Off 2024: The Theme Is Secrets

GitHub's annual game jam, Game Off, is back for November. This year's theme is SECRETS, and participants have until December 1 at 13:37 PST to build a game loosely inspired by it. Whether you interpret that as hidden stories, covert missions, or untold mysteries is entirely up to you.

Need a starting point? Some possible directions include a top-down temple explorer with hidden chambers, a stealth platformer focused on infiltrating a secret society, an AR treasure hunt, a hacking simulator, a CLI text adventure, or even a game about the secret lives of NPCs.

New This Year: Wildcards

Game Off 2024 introduces optional wildcards—challenges inspired by Global Game Jam's diversifiers and Godot Wild Jam's wildcards. You can incorporate any, all, or none of them into your game:

  • Small palette: Limit your colors to four, which is great for retro CGA aesthetics or fantasy console experiments.
  • Cheat mode: Let players break the rules with infinite lives or invincibility via codes, key combos, or hex edits.
  • Speed run: Make time the enemy with high scores, leaderboards, and rewards for clever time-saving moves.

How to Participate

You can work alone or on a team, and use whatever programming languages, engines, or libraries you prefer. The process is straightforward:

  1. Sign up. Create a free GitHub account if you don't already have one.
  2. Join the jam. Visit the itch.io Game Off page. If you don't have an itch.io account, you can sign in with your GitHub account.
  3. Create a public repository. Store your source code on GitHub and push your game before December 1 at 13:37 PST.
  4. Submit your game on itch.io. Once submitted, you can play other entries and cast your votes.

Voting and Categories

After the submission period ends, participants vote on each other's games across six categories: Overall, Gameplay, Graphics, Audio, Innovation, and Theme Interpretation.

Voting closes on January 8, 2025, at 13:37 PST. Winners will be announced on GitHub's X account and the GitHub Blog on January 10, 2025, at 13:37 PST.

Getting Started Resources

Game jams are an excellent excuse to build your first game or explore a new engine. The organizers suggest several free, open-source, or source-available options by language:

  • JavaScript: Phaser or Sprig.
  • Python: Pygame or Godot (which uses GDScript, similar to Python).
  • C++ or C#: Godot, Unity, or Unreal Engine.
  • Rust: Bevy.
  • Java: libGDX.
  • Flutter: Flame.
  • Go: Ebitengine.
  • Lua: LÖVE, Defold, or LIKO-12 (especially for retro games).

The Game Off 2024 Community is a good place to ask questions or find teammates, and there's also a community-run Discord server for friendly discussion.

If you're new to Git or GitHub, Game Off is a perfect opportunity to learn. The Git documentation covers version control basics, GitHub Help offers tutorials and FAQs, and the GitHub Community Forum is available for any questions. Good luck—can't wait to test all your games.