Join us this spring for a game development challenge, the Leaky Bucket Games Spring Game Jam, and stand a chance to win from a prize pool of $900!

Dates: April 14-28, 2024

Prize Pool: $900

Application Deadline: April 13, 2024

About the Game Jam

The Leaky Bucket Games Spring Game Jam is a 2-weeks virtual jam where game developers, artists, musicians, and enthusiasts come together to create games, share experiences, and express our shared love for gaming and African culture this spring.

Theme

For PC: Falling

For Mobile: Cycles 

How to Participate

- Sign up on this itch.io page before the deadline.

- Join our discord here

- Form a team or work solo.

- Create a game within the given time frame.

- Submit your game to itch.io before the deadline (Deadline will not be extended)

Prizes

The prize pool of $900 will be split among the top entries for both categories (mobile and PC)  as judged by our panel. Specific prize distribution details will be announced during the jam.

Evaluation of Submissions

All submissions will be awarded points in the following categories:

• 15 points for Theme
• 15 points for Innovation in Gameplay
• 10 points for Player Engagement
• 10 points for Polish & Player Experience
• (5 bonus points brand new submissions)

A more detailed explanation of the criteria is provided below:

Theme (15 points)

This measures how well has the theme been interpreted and implemented into the core identity of the game. Is the theme more than a surface-level addition to the game? (Tip: This does not evaluate how “good” your game is, but rather the level of consideration you’ve given to the theme to guide the design of your game. If you have a “really good game” but that same game can be submitted to another random game jam and perform just as well, it’s likely that the theme is not yet a central concept in your game.) 

Innovation in Gameplay (15 points)

This measures how creative and innovative the gameplay is. Does it offer a gameplay mechanic or other feature that has not been explored by other games in the same genre.

Player Engagement (10 points)

This measures how fun and engaging the gameplay is. Is the core gameplay loop interesting enough to keep people playing and wanting more?

Polish & Player Experience (10 points) 

 This measures how well the final game has been developed and fine-tuned. Does that game look and feel like an actual game to players? Does it look, sound and play exactly as expected? Ensure there are no major and obvious bugs, glitches, typos, errors etc in the final submission that can water down the experience of someone playing your game. (Tip: We are not expecting a “perfect” game. We understand that, due to the nature of game jams, not everything can be fixed in a relatively short amount of time, but we encourage all entrants to make sure they leave enough time for playtesting and bug-fixing to fix as many issues as possible before submitting.)  

*Bonus (5 points)

A total of 5 bonus points may be awarded to entries that have been completely built from scratch for the purpose of this game jam. While you are free to reuse assets, features and more from previous games and projects you have worked on, we encourage all participants to keep things fresh and we may award points for completely brand new submissions.

Rules

- Games must be created within the time frame.

- Follow the theme.

- Be original and have fun!

Contact

For more information, updates, and questions, follow us @africacomicade on all social media platforms.

We absolutely can’t wait to see what you’ll create!