My First Game Jam is an online game jam for people of all skill levels to learn something new. Never made a game before but always been curious? Set aside two weeks to join the jam and learn how to make a game along with others. Absolute beginners encouraged to join!
Our goal is to organize resources and make game development more accessible. We hope to foster an online space where you can share your progress with other first-time game makers and get help from experienced devs. By the end of two weeks, you hopefully will have some working game or prototype to share—it’s an exciting first step to making games! Individuals and teams are welcome, and we encourage you to both play to your strengths and try something new.
This is our 13th jam, and we’d like to thank our community for supporting new jammers! You can see some past jams hereandhere. We appreciate you taking the time to spread the word and look forward to seeing your games this summer!
My First Game Jam is an online game jam for people of all skill levels to learn something new. Never made a game before but always been curious? Set aside two weeks to join the jam and learn how to make a game along with others. Absolute beginners encouraged to join!
Our goal is to organize resources and make game development more accessible. We hope to foster an online space where you can share your progress with other first-time game makers and get help from experienced devs. By the end of two weeks, you hopefully will have some working game or prototype to share—it’s an exciting first step to making games! Individuals and teams are welcome, and we encourage you to both play to your strengths and try something new.
This is our 12th jam, and we’d like to thank our community for supporting new jammers! You can see some past jams hereandhere. We appreciate you taking the time to spread the word and look forward to seeing your games this summer!
Jam runs from May 15th, 2021 to June 26th, 2021. You can join before or during those dates!
On the 26th of June this year, our beloved Yume Nikki will be turning 17 years old! Once again, we’re celebrating with a Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!
Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 5, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.
Submission types:
Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!
A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.
An update to a previous submission Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.
Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ5 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Developmentcommunity!
And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!
Here’s a few tips and links to get the most out of the jam.
Make a dev log on the community!
A development blog is a blog in which a game developer or team talks about the process they’ve made over the course of the game’s creation. Maintaining a devblog keeps your audience in the know and helps facilitate productivity so you’ll have something to blog about. It also serves as a record of problems you encounter as well as the solutions you find for those problems.
Development logs are essentially the same thing, except we’ll be using the jam forums rather than a blog. However, you are free to use both the forums and your own blog as you develop your game.
Doing so is not necessary at all, but check out all the logs from last jam! In order to get the most out of your jam experience, it is vital that you interact with your fellow jammers and the community surrounding it. They’ll provide valuable feedback and support to help you along the way. So please, we encourage you to mingle, post in other logs, and of course post your own!
In addition, you are encouraged to add images and gifs. Here’s some programs to help facilitate that:
Take a moment to review our code of conduct. We strive to create a safe, supportive, and productive environment, and we appreciate your efforts to make our community welcoming for everyone!
Post daily updates!
Post screenshots or fun mishaps to your dev log, twitter, tumblr, or your own blog to track your progress and get feedback. Tag your posts as #MyFirstGameJam or #MFGJ10 so other jammers can find your work! To get the most exposure you can also tag #gamedev or #ScreenshotSaturday for Saturdays! Share your work and link back to your devlog to get feedback.
Manage your time and tasks!
Weupdated our list of useful time and task management tools with tips and ideas for staying on top of your project. Set goals early and keep track of how fast it takes you to reach them!
Want to share your work or ask for help? Or even just take a break from dev? Join discord chat here! (Please note you must be at least 14 years old to join!) Feel free to say hi and share your work! If you need help with a specific skill or engine, you can @Unity or @2D Art to notify mentors. If you think you would like to help other people with some part of games–join us as a mentor! You can get notifications when someone has a question about engines or skills you have expertise in!
Game-making can be exhausting as well as rewarding! You are more important than your work, and we compiled a list of helpful tools for getting the most out of you!
Aaaand good luck!
Game dev can be exciting, frustrating, and extremely rewarding. We hope to give you the tools to help you succeed in your goals in the next two weeks!
My First Game Jam is an online game jam for people of all skill levels to learn something new. Never made a game before but always been curious? Set aside two weeks to join the jam and learn how to make a game along with others. Absolute beginners encouraged to join!
Our goal is to organize resources and make game development more accessible. We hope to foster an online space where you can share your progress with other first-time game makers and get help from experienced devs. By the end of two weeks, you hopefully will have some working game or prototype to share—it’s an exciting first step to making games! Individuals and teams are welcome, and we encourage you to both play to your strengths and try something new.
Ourfirstthreejams have had almost 1500 participants and 300 games total! We appreciate you taking the time to spread the word and look forward to seeing your games this summer!
Here’s a few tips and links to get the most out of the jam.
Make a dev log on the community!
A development blog is a blog in which a game developer or team talks about the process they’ve made over the course of the game’s creation. Maintaining a devblog keeps your audience in the know and helps facilitate productivity so you’ll have something to blog about. It also serves as a record of problems you encounter as well as the solutions you find for those problems.
Development logs are essentially the same thing, except we’ll be using the jam forums rather than a blog. However, you are free to use both the forums and your own blog as you develop your game.
Doing so is not necessary at all, but check out all the logs from last jam! In order to get the most out of your jam experience, it is vital that you interact with your fellow jammers and the community surrounding it. They’ll provide valuable feedback and support to help you along the way. So please, we encourage you to mingle, post in other logs, and of course post your own!
In addition, you are encouraged to add images and gifs. Here’s some programs to help facilitate that:
Take a moment to review our code of conduct. We strive to create a safe, supportive, and productive environment, and we appreciate your efforts to make our community welcoming for everyone!
Post daily updates!
Post screenshots or fun mishaps to your dev log, twitter, tumblr, or your own blog to track your progress and get feedback. Tag your posts as #MyFirstGameJam or #MFGJ10 so other jammers can find your work! To get the most exposure you can also tag #gamedev or #ScreenshotSaturday for Saturdays! Share your work and link back to your devlog to get feedback.
Manage your time and tasks!
Weupdated our list of useful time and task management tools with tips and ideas for staying on top of your project. Set goals early and keep track of how fast it takes you to reach them!
Want to share your work or ask for help? Or even just take a break from dev? Join discord chat here! (Please note you must be at least 14 years old to join!) Feel free to say hi and share your work! If you need help with a specific skill or engine, you can @Unity or @2D Art to notify mentors. If you think you would like to help other people with some part of games–join us as a mentor! You can get notifications when someone has a question about engines or skills you have expertise in!
Game-making can be exhausting as well as rewarding! You are more important than your work, and we compiled a list of helpful tools for getting the most out of you!
Aaaand good luck!
Game dev can be exciting, frustrating, and extremely rewarding. We hope to give you the tools to help you succeed in your goals in the next two weeks!
My First Game Jam is an online game jam for people of all skill levels to learn something new. Never made a game before but always been curious? Set aside two weeks to join the jam and learn how to make a game along with others. Absolute beginners encouraged to join!
Our goal is to organize resources and make game development more accessible. We hope to foster an online space where you can share your progress with other first-time game makers and get help from experienced devs. By the end of two weeks, you hopefully will have some working game or prototype to share—it’s an exciting first step to making games! Individuals and teams are welcome, and we encourage you to both play to your strengths and try something new.
This is our 13th jam, and we’d like to thank our community for supporting new jammers! You can see some past jams hereandhere. We appreciate you taking the time to spread the word and look forward to seeing your games this summer!
I’ve been working hard on the NaNoReNo game jam this past month, and I’m excited to announce that our game Monster Café is OUT!!
When you suddenly lose your job under mysterious circumstances, you’re relieved to find that a local coffee shop is hiring—although, you don’t remember seeing this particular café before today… ️
But Mosspoint is a weird little town where the strange is a part of life.
Take orders from some of the cafe’s strange regulars, learn about their (surprisingly mundane) lives, and maybe brew up a little friendship in the process.
Jam runs from May 15th, 2021 to June 26th, 2021. You can join before or during those dates!
On the 26th of June this year, our beloved Yume Nikki will be turning 17 years old! Once again, we’re celebrating with a Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!
Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 5, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.
Submission types:
Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!
A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.
An update to a previous submission Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.
Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ5 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Developmentcommunity!
And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!
Jam runs from May 15th, 2021 to June 26th, 2021. You can join before or during those dates!
On the 26th of June this year, our beloved Yume Nikki will be turning 17 years old! Once again, we’re celebrating with a Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!
Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 5, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.
Submission types:
Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!
A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.
An update to a previous submission Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.
Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ5 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Developmentcommunity!
And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!
Jam runs from May 15th, 2022 to June 26th, 2022. You can join before or during those dates!
Our beloved Yume Nikki is turning 18 years old this June 26th… And to celebrate, it’s time for our annual Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!
Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 6, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.
Submission types:
Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!
A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.
An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.
Want to participate?Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our ourDDJ6 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-roundDream Diary Developmentcommunity!
And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!
For the past couple weeks, I have been working on a game for the Pixel Horror Game Jam with@mittyschalkboardand@miamelly! They’re handling graphics while I do the scenario and eventing. We are also looking for people experienced in RGSS3 (RPG Maker VX ACE Script) to join the team and help out with some programming.
It is currently untitled but it is a survival horror game with a focus on combat, like that of Resident Evil and Silent Hill combined. Here are some screenshots!
NaNoRenO 2022 has come to a close, and there were a total of 185 entries submitted! Congrats everyone!
There were several otome / adjacent submissions (including one I worked on ); the ones I could find are listed below in alphabetical order. If you know of more / see your game isn’t here, please feel free to let me know.
NaNoRenO is an annual month-long game jam in which developers are challenged to make a visual novel from start to finish. It was originally inspired by the more famous NaNoWriMo (National Novelist Writer’s Month, which takes place in November). There’re no restrictions on content or genre*. All visual novels submitted for NaNoRenO must have been made exclusively in the month of March.
Final visual novel must be finished on or before April first. The jam deadline is slightly longer to allow for internet outages or other emergencies that prevent you from uploading your finished visual novel.
You can only begin actual production of your game in March.
Allowed before NaNoRenO begins:
Brainstorming
Plot Outlining
Sketches that do not lead to direct production of assets
Team Building
Not Allowed until NaNoRenO begins:
Sketches of sprites, CGs, backgrounds, or anything else that leads to production of assets
Writing or coding any portion of the game
Production of assets to be used in the game
Use of Creative Commons material is okay.
There are no “winners” here. Everyone who manages to release their game has completed NaNoRenO!
You may release a buggy version of your game by the deadline and fix it up later or release a demo for NaNoRenO.
While other game elements may be present, the final piece should be largely identified as a “visual novel.”
