MelonJam 5 Rules

  1. Submit during the alloted time slot (Jul 19th 12:00 AM UTC - Jul 21st 11:59 PM UTC) to Itch

  2. In order to be eligible for the novice prize, you must specify that you are new to making games (if this is your first game jam or you have almost never made a game in whatever genre you chose before).

  3. To be eligible for a prize, you must provide an adequate explanation for how your game fits the theme when submitting your game.

  4. Any digital project that is not malware may be submitted. Keep in mind, however, that the judging criteria may limit your success if you do not submit a game that fits the theme announced at the beginning of the jam. 

  5. All submissions must be developed during the alloted time slot mentioned above. However, you are free to use any assets (music, 3d models, etc.) and tools (game engines, graphic design programs, etc.) that you made yourself or are given permission to use by the creators, such as through a creative commons license, an open-source license, or a purchase. 

  6. Participants may work alone, or form teams of up to 4 members in order to work on their submission. Participants can be in multiple teams, but cannot win prizes more than once per jam.

  7. The Cupertino Game Development Club reserves the right to not consider any uploaded games for prizes if the content is offensive or unsuitable. This includes but is not limited to: games with harmful or prejudicial themes related to gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, appearance, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, socioeconomic status, or religion. 

  8. You may use any engines or tools at your disposal except for generative AI. No AI art, code, music, or any other assets is allowed.

  9. Participants who do not adhere to the rules above may have their submission canceled. 

Scoring

For prizes in each category (novice, intermediate, and advanced), each game submitted to the MelonJam game jam will be given a score out of 10 for each judging criterion. These scores will then be summed. The game with the highest score in its category will be the winner of that division's prize. If there are multiple games with the highest score, they will be given a holistic review by the judges, who will then come to a joint decision about which project is the winner in that category out of all of the games with the highest score.