Frequently Asked Questions

A game jam is a competition, in which game developers, by themselves solo or in teams, must develop a game within a time limit.

Game jams are an opportunity to learn, share ideas and gain inspiration. The restrictions and limited time force developers to think outside of their comfort zone, which results in unique and interesting games.

Game jams often give awards and prizes to the games that win.

Read our quick guide to game jams.

To participate in the game jam, you will need to create a game in GameMaker within 48 hours, starting from the event's beginning and ending at its conclusion. You should submit your game before the deadline, along with instructions on how to play, artist and programmer credits, and a list of any known issues.

The game jam is open to GameMaker Studio 2 developers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds, with the aim of creating a diverse and inclusive community that values all contributions equally. Whether participants are beginners or experts, young or old, artists or programmers, they are welcome to join in the event.

To help you succeed in the game jam, an comprehensive guide has been created that contains all the information you need. This guide includes instructions on how to participate and submit your game, as well as tips and tricks for maximizing your success.

→ gm48.net/how-to-participate

Is the theme not enough motivation? Challenges are a way to push your skills to new extremes!

Challenges are optional restrictions that your submission may follow that do not influence the results of the competition, but may affect how you approach your game. It could be that every element (UI + gameplay) in your game must be voiced by synthesized speech or a narrator, or that all the graphics in the game must be represented by ASCII.

The challenges will be shown on the gm48.net Dashboard when the theme is revealed. Completing challenges awards gm48.net XP and are displayed on your game's page.

You can find the full schedule at https://gm48.net/schedules

To a certain extent, you are allowed to prepare for the game jam before it officially begins. This includes what can be referred to as pre-production, which involves brainstorming ideas, storyboarding, and creating a game design document. However, you are not allowed to begin actual production of any assets or start coding until the game jam officially begins.

It's important to note that even creating art sketches in advance could be considered cheating and is therefore prohibited. The purpose of a game jam is to challenge participants to create something new and innovative within a set time frame, and pre-production is allowed only to a certain extent to help participants plan and organize their ideas, not to give them an unfair advantage over other participants. So while you can start planning and ideating before the game jam starts, you cannot start creating any tangible assets or start coding until the official start time.

Yes, you can. We even have built-in functionality on the website specifically for that purpose.

Create an account or log in, then create your team, invite all of your team members and it will be available to select when you submit your game.

Yes. You can submit your game entry to the Ludum Dare as well as any other game jam, as long as your game entry adheres to the gm(48) rules. This includes only starting production after the gm(48) starts.

No. You must export and submit your game to the website before the deadline.

If your entry is disqualified, you can find the reason why and the entry's score on the Dashboard under Results.

We handle disqualifications on a case-by-case basis. Should we consider the violation or act that led to the disqualification to be severe, your entry may be removed from the game jam.

In all cases, a disqualified entry is withdrawn from the public results, and are not eligible to win any prizes.

Sure! We encourage you to share your entry with as many as possible.

We realise that it can be difficult to keep ratings from friends and family unbiased, but please do your best to ensure that your games are judged fairly by them.

We take the issue of rating manipulation serious, and we have systems in place to prevent it. We will take the necessary actions to prevent the competition from being unfair.

While uploading your project files is not strictly mandatory, it is strongly encouraged as it can be a valuable resource for other developers with an educational opportunity to examine and learn from your code, assets, and other relevant files, however "gross" it might be. Let's face it, after 48 hours, everyone's code is a bit of a mess, but this is a valuable opportunity to showcase your skills and give back to the community.

By sharing your code, assets, and other relevant files, you can help others understand your game-making process and potentially inspire them to create their games. Moreover, it's an excellent way to build your reputation as a knowledgeable and helpful developer in the game development community.

As a token of appreciation, you are rewarded with an achievement for uploading your project. So, if you're interested in giving back to the community and helping others learn, consider uploading your project files. It's a win-win situation that benefits both you and the game development community.

→ gm48.net/open-source-gamemaker-projects

Drafts are perfect for when you're not finished with your game, but still want to get in an early submission without having the game appear in the listing.

There are two types of drafts.

Unlisted Draft: The entry page is restricted to anyone with a direct link to the entry page.

Private Draft: The entry page is restricted to you or your team.

Once you're finally ready to "submit your game," you can upload a copy of your games executable via the Dashboard, but only while submissions are open.

When submission ends, all playable entries will automatically become public, while non-playable entries will be deleted forever.

What is considered playable?

A game is playable when it can be downloaded and played without compiling the source. The project file does not count as a playable version of the game, as that would require compilation, which can't be expected from players.

For the game jam, the game score is determined by using a statistical technique called the Bayesian average. This means that when calculating a game's score, the number of ratings it has received is taken into consideration. For instance, a game with a single 100% rating will not necessarily get a higher score than a game with multiple 80% ratings.

Basically, the Bayesian average method ensures that a game's score reflects the collective opinion of a larger number of people who have played and rated the game. So, even if a game has high ratings in one category, like graphics or sound, it may not necessarily have a high overall score if it has not received enough ratings.

This is why you may notice that the rating averages in specific categories do not always align with the game's final score. The final score is influenced by both the average rating and the number of ratings received across all categories.

Your game is your intellectual property, and rest assured that you own the rights to your creation. You have put in a lot of hard work, creativity, and dedication to bring your game to life. Your exclusive right to use, sell, and distribute your game as you see fit is acknowledged by the terms and conditions.

In recognizing the value of promoting your game and the game jam to reach a wider audience, gm48.net reserve the right to use your game for promotional purposes. This means that your game may be showcased on the website, social media platforms, or in other marketing materials to help promote your work and share it with the community.

→ gm48.net/terms-and-conditions

Submit your post-jam game to GX Corner (GXC). GXC is a collaboration between YoYo Games and Opera to bring together a brand new platform for Opera GX users to play, share and discover games made by independent GameMaker developers, such as yourself. → Learn more