Interact-if Is Hosting Two Game Jams On Itch.io

Do you remember that mystery event poll we did a while ago? Welcome to the big reveal!

Interact-if is hosting two game jams on Itch.io

What is a game jam?

A game jam is a challenge to make a game using a specific prompt or theme. Some are ranked, some have time limits, some have neither. If you’re interested in learning more, here’s Itch.io’s Game Jams page so you can take a quick look around!

What is interact-if hosting?

We are hosting two game jams, one that will be ranked and judged, another that will not and will instead focus on introducing authors to interactive fiction instead of competing. Both will have different prompts which will be revealed… later ;)

So what are authors doing, exactly?

Without getting into details, authors will be writing short story IFs that can be done within the month of January. Similar to NaNoWrimo but for IF instead.

IF is already a large beast to tangle with, so we encourage authors to keep it in the short story range, to ask for help if you need it, and to pace yourselves when writing!

When?

January 2022! Based on the results from our poll, that would be the best month for most of our community to participate if they’d like to.

Where?

The jam will be hosted on Itch.io where games will also be submitted and published. Links to the sign-up pages can be found below in the Links section.

Why?

We designed this event to both act as a community builder as well as to encourage new creators in trying out how to code and structure their stories by starting with a smaller project than your standard IF.

We want both new and experienced authors (and readers who want to try their hand!) to participate, to learn Twine, Ren’py, Inky, or any other language they desire to take those first steps into IF, or to try something new and different from their main project!

How will this go?

For the month of October we will be re-blogging advice, tutorials, templates, and other resources for learning to code. We will be focused mostly on Twine since it’s what the mods are most acquainted with, but that doesn’t mean you can’t branch out to other alternatives!

On the last week of December we will release an official announcement going into more details about the jams, judging and ranking, expectations, etc.

January 1st 2022 the game jams begin! We will release the prompts for the jams and will be opening a new channel in our discord to help out new creators, offer advice, or discuss ideas and thoughts.

Links

Download Twine

How to Start w/ Twine, Sugarcube & Harlowe

Twine Grimoire Vol. I, Twine Grimoire Vol. II

Basic Templates to Start With [1] [2] [3]

Writing Resources, Tutorials, Coding Resources

Non-ranked Game Jam Sign-up Page

Ranked Game Jam Sign-up Page

We have also re-opened the inbox for questions! It’s…still not empty but close enough! :D