Game Off 2019 theme announcement

Game Off  is our annual month-long game jam (hackathon for building games). This year’s theme is LEAPS AND BOUNDS.

You’re welcome to interpret the theme however you wish, but if you need some ideas to kickstart your creativity, maybe your game could:

• Make your character evolve to overcome challenges
• Add obstacles to test your hero’s ability to leap into action
• Deduct points for anything going out of bounds
• Duck, dip, dive, and dodge an enemy that’s changing or moving rapidly
• Take place in the year 2020, the next leap year

Maybe the year 2020 will lead you to think about hindsight being 20/20, and that’ll inspire even more ideas around time travel, decision-making, or something else. Let your imagination run wild and create a game loosely-based or inspired by that theme using whatever game engines, libraries or languages you prefer before December 1st, 13:37 PT. Work alone or as a team. Most importantly, have fun!

Join Game Off now

How to participate

• Sign up for a free GitHub account if you don’t already have one.
• Join the Game Off on itch.io. If you don’t already have an itch.io account, log in with your GitHub account.
• Create a game based on the theme over the next month. You have from November 1, 13:37 PT to December 1, 13:37 PT.
• Create a new public GitHub repository to store the source code and any assets you’re able to share for your entry. Then push your changes before December 1, 13:37 PT.
• Submit your game through the Game Off page on itch.io. The form will be viewable once the jam starts and you’ve joined.

Voting

Shortly after the jam ends, voting will be open to everyone who has submitted a game. Don’t worry—there will be plenty of time to play and vote on the entries. As always, we’ll highlight some of our favorites on the GitHub Blog, and the world will get to enjoy (and maybe even contribute to or learn from) your creations.

It’s dangerous to go alone

If you’re new to Git, GitHub, or version control

Never fear, we have several resources for you, from how to use Git to all things GitHub. You’ll “Git” it in no time.

• Git Documentation: everything you need to know about version control and how to get started with Git
• GitHub Help: everything you need to know about GitHub
• Any questions about GitHub? Visit the GitHub Community Forum.

Did you know? You don’t have to use Git on the command line. There’s a Desktop client for Windows and macOS, A GitHub extension for Visual Studio, a GitHub for Unity plugin, and a client for Atom!

If you’re new to itch.io or game development

The itch.io community feature is enabled for this jam—it’s a great place to share tips, ask Game Off and game development questions, and more.

With so many tutorials, open source game engines, and the source for thousands of other game jam games available online, there’s never been an easier (or more exciting) time to jump into game development.

Are you:

• Into JavaScript? You might be interested in Phaser.
• Comfortable with C++ or C#? Unity, Unreal Engine, or Godot might be a good match for you.
• Proficient with Python? Check out Pygame or Godot.
• Dangerous with Java? Take a look at libGDX.
• In love with Lua? Check out LÖVE, Defold, and fantasy consoles like LIKO-12, PICO-8, Pixel Vision 8, and TIC-80.

The official Twitter hashtag for the Game Off is #GitHubGameOff. We can’t wait to see what you build. GLHF!

Written by

Lee Reilly

@leereilly

Senior Program Manager, GitHub Developer Relations. Open source hype man, AI whisperer, hackathon and game jam wrangler. I write && manage programs, support dev communities, and occasionally ship something weird just for the vibes.