It’s been almost a year since the last GBJam took place, so needless to say, this fifth iteration is… due! As such, the time is nearly upon aspiring developers to craft a brand new GameBoy-themed game yet again, for this fifth GBJam!
Now, for those not familiar with the GameBoy’s design/specs, it’s pretty simple (limited, some might say): four colours and a resolution of 160×144! Yup. That said, making your creation run at x2 or x3 scaling is something I’d highly recommend, however, so players won’t have a hard time telling objects apart. Most will, after all, be playing at a comfortable distance from their screen, seeing how, you know, the games won’t be played on an actual GameBoy.
You can use a different set of 4 colors when moving to another screen, similar to Pokemon R/B/Y. Alpha transparency, anti-alias, fading and gradients create unwanted colors, and so are not allowed.
While the above quote was taken from the GBJam 3 FAQ, I’m fairly certain it also applies to GBJam 5. I mean, why wouldn’t it? Same concept after all, and the same organizer to boot. No one’s stopping you from going all authentic and only utilising four shades of grey or a greenish pastel-ish palette, though. Also, it is how games looked on the original, albeit rather bulky, hardware. Just saying.
So if you feel like participating, head over to the website for a quick “what’s what” and clear your schedule from October 1st to October 10th. Remember, ain’t no blast like one from the past!