github / game-off-2013

The 2013 GitHub Game Off is Over!

See the winners, runners up and honorable mentions.

---

The Challenge

You have the entire month of November to create a web-based game loosely based on the theme "change".

What do we mean by loosely based on "change"? We literally mean, loosely based. Some examples might be a FPS where you throw the loose change in your pockets at the enemy or perhaps a puzzle game where you have to change form to overcome obstacles.

Your game. Your rules. You can participate either as an individual or as a team. You're encouraged to use open source libraries, frameworks, graphics, and sounds in your game.

The Prizes

We're giving away shiny new iPad Airs (16GB models) to our 5 lucky winners. Runners-up will receive a $100 credit for the GitHub Shop, where they can grab some of our shirts, hoodies, stickers, and more!

All winners and runners-up will be showcased on our blog.

Judging

We have a handful of judges who are eager to play your games!

• Adam 'Atomic' Saltsman - Game maker and dad, creator of Canabalt and Flixel.
• Aleissia Laidacker - Team Lead AI at Ubisoft.
• David Czarnecki, Lead Engineer at Agora Games.
• Matt Hackett, Co-founder of Lost Decade Games.
• Kyros Starr, Gaymer and Tech Writer at GitHub.
• Lee Reilly, Gamer Dad and Software Developer at GitHub.
• Romana Ramzan, Denki's Player Champion, Global Game Jam Director.

The Rules

• To qualify for entry, you must fork the github/game-off-2013 repository to your individual or organization account. Not sure which account type would be best for you? Check out this handy help article, which explains the differences between the two types of accounts.
• All entries must be web-based, i.e. playable in a browser. HTML5, WebGL, Unity, Torque 3D, and Flash are all possible - just be sure the source is made available on your fork.
• You must be over the age of 13.

Instructions

• If you don't already have a GitHub account, sign up for a personal account now - it's free!
• Fork the github/game-off-2013 repository to your individual account (or to a free organization account).
• Be sure to follow @github on Twitter for updates.
• Make sure your code is pushed to the master branch of your forked repository before Dec 1st!
• Make sure you have a README file that includes a brief description of your game, what open source projects (if any) you used, and a screenshot.
• Your repository should have a brief description and the playable URL entered into the fields shown below (this will make our judging process easier):

Comments / Questions / Help

• New to Git, GitHub, and/or version control? Check out our help documentation to get started!
• Questions about Git/GitHub? Please email [email protected] and be sure to include 'GitHub Game Off' in the subject.
• Questions specific to the GitHub Game Off? Please create an issue. This will be the official FAQ.
• The official Twitter hashtag is #ggo13.

game-off-2013's Issues

Change repository name?

I've changed my repository's name, and Github still lists it as a fork of this repo, but I wanted to make sure that didn't disqualify me or anything.

Thanks!

Private repository at start, public at the end

Hello,

Is it allowed to fork the github/game-off-2013 repository into a private one, and make it public it just before the end of the contest?

It's just that I would like to test and idea before exposing it and if it's good enough, submit it to the contest.

Thanks.
Damien

Node js?

The rules say

All entries must be web-based, i.e. playable in a browser. HTML5, WebGL, Unity, Torque 3D, Node JS, and Flash are all possible - just be sure the source is made available on your fork.

What does Node JS have to do with browsers? If it is an online game (with a backend), can't its backend be written in any language as long as the client itself runs in the browser?

generate jar for roomforchange

hi! I want to create a jar file of the game roomforchange. Can you explain how to do it? I am using a macAIR with java 1.7. I am using roomforchange desktop version for this. thx!

Java?

Can I to write a java applet?

Submission timezone

Knowing I'll polish till the deadline, and so will many others, what's the exact end time for submissions, 1st of December, in what timezone?

Thanks

Node js?

The rules say

All entries must be web-based, i.e. playable in a browser. HTML5, WebGL, Unity, Torque 3D, Node JS, and Flash are all possible - just be sure the source is made available on your fork.

What does Node JS have to do with browsers? If it is an online game (with a backend), can't its backend be written in any language as long as the client itself runs in the browser?

How's the judging coming along?

Hi, first of all, I'm really sorry for asking and I want to say that I'm in no way "demanding judging to be sped up" or anything along those lines.

I've just been looking at the tweets related to the #ggo13 and noticed how people are getting impatient, some even thinking that "it's now ok to keep pushing updates to their projects since the contest is over" or something like that.

I'm well aware of the amount of games submitted and the limited amount of times the judges have between their jobs and the holyday season, but I think a small tweet from @github saying something similar to "Happy Holydays! Our judges are still working on #ggo13 so thanks for standing by for the results" would greatly improve the mood at twitterland.

That's all I came to say, sorry for going all the way and -literally- "making an issue out of this".

Have a happy new year and may the winners be able to rejoice soon!

Assets (graphics, audio, etc)

What are the rules for assets in the game (graphics, audio, etc). Do I need to create them myself or can they be something from someone else or another source (public domain, for example)?

Thanks :)

Cutoff date for entry + gh-pages

1. By when do we have to fork the repo to enter? I only learned about this yesterday (and ran a concept in my head last night), and if I can find time from college work I want to join. I just don't know by when I must enter.
2. Can the game be hosted on GitHub Pages, and is at a requirement to push the the master branch? Can I push to gh-pages instead, or do I need to simply sync a gh-pages branch with the changes from master?

List of all 2013 entries

I forked @pkukielka's project from last year at http://petarov.github.io/ggo13-viewer/

This should contain a list of all 2013 entries/repos that have their Website URL set. Hopefully everyone's included!

Cheers :)

Are multiple entries allowed?

Entry from another jam

Hello! My team and I are currently competing in the GBJAM http://www.gbjam.net/ which started on the 1st of this month.

Our game's theme just happens to be loosely based on change. Would we be allowed to enter our game in both the gbjam and GitHub Game Off?

The next Game Off?

Hello. This might be the wrong place to ask this, but will there be a Game Off 2015? I couldn't seem to find anything on Game Off 2014, which leads me to believe no such event happened.

Rules on modifications after submission

Hi,

I'm wondering what exactly the rules are for modifications post-submission. Can we not change anything at all or are some modifications allowed? Eg fixing bugs, major or minor changes, code cleanup/commenting, adding credits, anything of the sort?

Use of commercial game engine?

I own a license for ImpactJS and was wondering if I could submit a game (sans the engine) as the source code entry but offer a game.min.js (which includes a playable minified version of the engine) as a playable version?

Unity Web Builds

Hello,

I am using Unity to build the game for web.
So, i am uplodaing the build files and linking to it so that it can be downloaded as a zip file and played by opening the html file.
Is this allowed?.

Thanks

Teams

Are games developed as a team accepted? (In particular I'm thinking about only 2 people). Should we do it on an organisation account, or is it the same?

Thanks!

Limits and restrictions

Hello.
A couple of questions.
Can a game which i started like 2 weeks ago be submitted?
The code and the project of the game must be "Libre" (Open Source) ?

Can I use Unity Pro features in this contest?

The source will be available, but whoever downloads it won't be able to use it unless he pays for Unity Pro plugin, or gets a free trial.

Foreign entries

Is the competition open to non-US based coders?