Rules

To ensure a fair and competitive environment, it is mandatory that all games incorporate the chosen theme in some way. You are encouraged to use your imagination and think outside the box when interpreting the theme. There's no one right way to do it, so feel free to get creative and come up with something unique!

Remember, when users rate your entry, they'll be considering how well it incorporates the theme. So, keeping the theme in mind throughout the development process can give your game an edge in the competition.

Participants are encouraged to use any and all tools at their availability to extend the functionality and usability of GameMaker, as long as the game is compiled using legally licensed GameMaker.

Any version of GameMaker, GameMaker: Studio, and GameMaker Studio 2 is allowed–including beta versions.

A game is only considered submitted once a playable (without needing compilation to play it) version of it is present on the website.

Only one copy of the game can be submitted to the game jam competition. Duplicates will be removed.

Should it prove impossible to submit the game, e.g. due to technical difficulties, participants should go to gm48.net/help, and include the necessary files and information required for a standard submission in their request for help.

The following list is exempt from this rule provided that 1) the participant created the content or otherwise have sufficient intellectual property rights to use it, and that 2) the participant credit the authors of assets that the participant used to develop their game, wherever it is possible to do so, in the description of the submission or within the game.

1. Works of a derivative nature.
2. Free GML scripts that can be considered widely known, e.g. GMLscripts.com. (GitHub not included.)
3. Content used for the promotion of an submission, e.g. icon and banner.
4. Generators incl. those powered by AI, fonts, logos and brands.
5. Brushes, loops, drums, instrument and other musical samples.
6. Photos and recordings taken or made by you. Taking a photo or making a recording of an otherwise not exempt asset doesn't constitute exemption.
7. Engines, frameworks, templates, plugins, extensions, scripts and assets, including any artistic content, provided that 1) they are available to everyone for free on the official GameMaker: Marketplace or gm48.net/resources, and 2) they were submitted for the benefit of the community. Submitting content to the GameMaker: Marketplace or gm48.net/resources specifically for use in the current game jam may result in disqualification.
8. Built-in assets from creative software, e.g. AssetForge or Clip Studio Paint Pro.
9. Memes. 🦀🐟🦵
10. Assets provided officially by gm(48), e.g. gm48.net Leaderboards for GameMaker Studio 2 and promotional materials.
11. Assets provided officially by GameMaker, such as the official GameMaker: Assets Bundles or the built-in GameMaker tutorials and project examples.

Artistic content includes, but is not limited to, sprites, backgrounds, images, photos, artwork, sounds, music and recordings.

To ensure fairness in the competition and maintain a level playing field, game and artistic content must remain unchanged after the deadline. As a consequence, the files attached to the entry can not be uploaded or otherwise updated past the submission deadline.

Updates to the entry's title, summary, description, genre, engine, icon, banner, and more may be made past the deadline. These updates can help to make the entry more appealing to the developers and players alike, without compromising the fairness and competitiveness of the competition.

Games must contain content that you have the legal right to use.

Blood, violence and gore is not prohibited. We encourage you to include a recommended age rating regardless of the maturity of your content.

The gm(48) welcomes participants of all ages, cultures and religions. Thank you for taking the extra effort in ensuring that our game jam stays open and friendly for everyone.

Hired work, e.g. individuals under contract, is prohibited if compensation is involved.

If you compete as a company, employees are exempt, but you must submit as a team, and this must be apparent of your team's biography.

The participants that do not meet this requirement will have their entries disqualified.

To clear any ambiguity, only written critique (referred throughout as feedback) is counted towards the requirement. Ratings are excluded and do not count.

Note: It is only the owner of a team, that has to fulfill this requirement, as the remaining members of a team is excluded from this rule and their feedback does not count towards the requirement. You can always track the current progress of fulfilling the requirement via the Dashboard.

Why: This rule is in place to encourage community interaction by playing, rating and critiquing the submissions.

You can submit a game to the game jam without entering the competition. This is called a non-competing submission.

Non-competing submissions stay public on the site and can still receive plays, ratings, and feedback. They do not appear in the results of the competition, do not receive placements, and are not eligible for competition prizes.

You choose whether your submission competes when submitting or editing the game. That choice locks when the rating period starts.

Games that contain generative AI output can be submitted as non-competing submissions, but they cannot compete for rankings or prizes.