Game devs!
Metroidvania Month Jam and Magical Girl Jam are teaming up to bring you this crossover game jam event, celebrating metroidvanias and magical girl games!
Genres Explanations
What is a Magical Girl?
To put it simply, the Magical Girl genre, or Mahō Shōjo (魔法少女) in Japanese, is a genre about cute girls having cute magical powers -- often associated with anime, manga, and other Japanese works. Traditional interpretations involve Magical Girls being cute, wearing cute battle outfits, having cute powers, innocent vibes, feminine in nature, sometimes having transformation sequence, etc. The TV Tropes page is the reference for the traditional interpretation. However, in recent times, the genre is open for deconstruction. For the purpose of this jam, the definition of a "Magical Girl" is simply a girl having magical power. The definition of "girl" and "magical" are left up to author declaration
Some examples of Magical Girl works (hover/tap):
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The work that made the genre a popular target for deconstruction. It's very cute, and the host of MGGJ recommends watching this one :3
Sailor Moon: A classic from the 1990s.
Pretty Cure: Another standard traditional Magical Girl.
Minky Momo: Probably the original Magical Girl; an ancient anime dating back to the Showa era.
What is a Metroidvania?
Metroidvanias are a sub-genre of adventure games focused on nonlinear exploration. The commonly agreed on founding games of the genre are Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Metroidvanias feature a large interconnected map, although parts of the world will be inaccessible until the player acquires a certain item, allowing them to progress. This often involves retracing your steps in a maze-like world. Traditional interpretations are often side-scrollers with a dark aesthetic involving large gated maps, although recent games subvert the genres. If you don't know where to get started, Yumaikas has written a useful guide on participating into Metroidvania Month!
Here are a few traditional and non-traditional examples (hover/tap):
Hollow Knight: Critically acclaimed modern metroidvania, it has a dark aesthetic and items reminiscent of traditional metroidvanias, while featuring souls-like elements.
Axiom Verge: Aesthetically and thematically reminiscent of the first Metroid games.
Ender Magnolia: Recent metroidvania, with core abilities such as dashes and super jumps. Spins the genre by making the abilities allied characters that you can switch in your party.
Rabi-Ribi: A creative combination of metroidvania and bullet hells. Non-traditional, as you can clear the game without certain abilities, increasing the challenge, and the game is very colorful.
Rules
1. Submissions must fulfill either or both of the genres explained above. (i.e., Magical Girl only, Metroidvania only, or both)
2. Rightfully used third party content and premade audiovisual content should be mentioned in the "Premade content" field when submitting.
3. The use of generative AI, outside of built-in effects and filters in creative software, is strictly forbidden.
4. Playable prototypes are accepted.
5. There is no maximum amount of teammates.
6. Any engine and tools are allowed.
7. Games should have a Teen rating or below.
8. No direct reference to ongoing/recent (~1y, exceptions may apply on certain topics) events and/or living/recently deceased people is allowed.
9. Your game must be available for free.
10. Late entries are accepted for 24 hours after the end of submission period. To proceed, send either of us a link to your published game. Autonomous uploads are allowed during this period.
Themes
Unity
Unreal
Construct
Rust
Python
Pearl
It is mandatory to follow at least one of the themes in order for your submission to be accepted (can also follow more). While the themes are based on tools, simply using the tool in your submission is not a valid interpretation of the theme, and these themes do not mean you need to use the tools either. Take the name of the tool itself and find a creative implementation!
Optional Challenges
These challenges do not affect ratings. They are optional and should be picked just for fun and not under any pressure.
PTSD Moment 1: Put a checkpoint or healing station that has a trap (which can damage or give nasty debuffs to the player)
PTSD Moment 2: Put an enemy character that can capture the player (and send the player to prison, where the player has to retrieve their equipments and escape)
PTSD Moment 3: Put a boss with an ability to self destruct upon getting defeated (which can damage and/or kill unsuspecting player).
Rating & Criterias
Every submitter and contributor can rate. There is a rating queue of 5 games that can be unlocked after voting on 2.
Genre Interpretation
Does the game belong to the metroidvania and/or the magical girls genre? How creative was the implementation of the genres? You can refer to the first section of this jam page.
Enjoyment
Was the game fun? Would you keep playing it? This criteria is highly subjective and mostly based on the feels you got.
Creativity
Was the idea original and creative? If there was worldbuilding and narrative, how well was it implemented? Was the map and level design remarkable? Were the gameplay mechanics innovative?
Sensory
How the game appealed to your eyes and ears, mainly using the visuals and audio. Were those components consistent and did they blend with each other? Atmosphere can also be considered.
Gameplay Polish
How well was the game's concepts put together? Did it have any bugs? Is the difficulty balanced? Does the game give good player feedbacks? Is the user interface intuitive?
Relevance To The Chosen Theme(s)
To what extent did the game follow the theme it settled on? Was it obvious? Was the integration done in a creative or interesting way?
Communities
Special thanks to Falass and Type G4 for the banner and cover, to ShibeyFaceGames for the trailer and to everyone else who submitted artworks for the jam!
The MVM Discord server and the MGGJ Discord server are the all-in-one centrals for the competition and multimedia creativity in general. You should check it out.
Are you a musician ? Check out MVM's homemade virtual music festival.
Previous Metroidvania Month Jam | Super edition
Previous Magical Girl Game Jam
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The Magical Nun vs the evil force: Jacko, Brother Phyton and Lady Succubus
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