The 2023 Game Off theme is here: scale

Game Off 2023 has officially kicked off with this year’s theme: SCALE. The jam opened November 1 at 13:37 PT and submissions are due by December 1 at the same time. You can enter solo or as a team, with any stack you like—programming languages, game engines, libraries, and AI tools for code and assets are all fair game. Interpret the theme as loosely as you wish and submit through the itch.io jam page.

Verb
 
  • to climb up something steep, such as a wall, building, or mountain.
  • to change the size of something e.g. make something smaller (scale down) or increase the size, amount, or importance of something (scale up).
  • to progress in a graduated series.
  • to remove the small flat hard pieces of skin from a fish.
  • to remove tartar and plaque from teeth.
Noun
  • a device for weighing people or objects.
  • one of the many very small, flat pieces that cover the skin of fish, snakes, etc.
  • a set of numbers, amounts, etc., used to measure or compare the level of something e.g., Farenheit, Richter scale.
  • the ratio between the real size of something and its size on a visualization.
  • a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave).
  • an indicator having a graduated sequence of marks.
  • any of the small overlapping usually metal pieces forming the outer surface of scale armor.

As in past years, the organizers welcome creative and unconventional takes on the theme. The brainstormed ideas in the accompanying graphic are just starting points; the hope is to see “wonderful, weird, and wacky” interpretations.

How to enter

  1. Build a game around the theme, announced November 1 at 13:37 PT.
  2. If needed, create a free GitHub account.
  3. Join the Game Off 2023 jam on itch.io; you can sign in with GitHub credentials.
  4. Push your source code and shareable assets to a new public GitHub repository before December 1 at 13:37 PT.
  5. Submit the game through itch.io.

Voting opens to all participants shortly after the deadline and runs through January 8, 2024 at 13:37 PT. Peers rate entries on Overall, Gameplay, Graphics, Audio, Innovation, and Theme Interpretation. The organizers will also showcase some favorites on the GitHub Blog afterward.

First-time jammer? Tooling advice

A large open source ecosystem makes entry easier than ever. Depending on your language comfort, reasonable starting points include:

  • JavaScript: Phaser
  • C++ or C#: Godot, Unity, or Unreal Engine
  • Rust: Bevy
  • Python: Pygame, or Godot with its Python-like GDScript
  • Java: libGDX
  • Flutter: Flame
  • Go: Ebitengine
  • Lua: LÖVE, Defold, or LIKO-12 for a retro bent

If retro development appeals to you, there are also paths for roguelike dungeon crawlers in JavaScript or Haskell, interactive fiction in Clojure or Ink, and 8-bit console games via PICO-8, Pixel Vision 8, TIC-80, BASIC8, or Pyxel. For questions and teammate hunting, the community-run Discord server is active.

Version control newcomers

Game Off doubles as a low-pressure way to learn Git and GitHub. The Git documentation site covers version control basics and setup; GitHub Help explains the platform, and the GitHub Community Forum is the place to ask questions. Good luck, and have fun.