Wraithkal: The Indie Gaming Corner
Remember to update your bookmarks, wraithkal.info is now wraithkal.com.

inkJam 2018 Promises a Weekend of Interactive Fiction Jammin’ Fun

From 80 Days to Sorcery! and beyond, inkle have been quite the active lot, even going so far as to release the driving force of said games as open source (remember?). While they're undeniably busy working on their upcoming project, that hasn't stopped them from announcing... the very first ink jam! That's right: soon, a weekend full of game-making, powered by ink, shall commence - and it is going to be awesome.

Four-Color Craziness Returns With #GBJam2018 (aka. Gameboy jam 2018)… Soon!

Over the years there's been plenty GameBoy-centric jams, and while I only managed to cover some of them, what came to be during these is definitely on the groovy side of things. Obviously few, if any, entries were made to run on the original hardware, but that's not the point of such a jam. No, this is about mimicking the look/sound of Nintendo's classic handheld, and soon we'll have brand new examples of just that, courtesy of #GBJam2018!
Continue reading…

The Museums Jam is Eagerly Awaiting Entries For The Zium Gallery 2018!

Alright, let's get the obvious joke out of the way: "This game jam belongs in a museum!" There. Now onto the task at hand, which is... to construct a museum of some sorts, before the end of April 2018. Or a game that takes place inside one, perhaps. Maybe even... I don't know, one made of slime surrounding a museu-- wait, no, that's Ghostbusters II. Kinda. Uh, ignore that last bit.
Continue reading…

The HEART JAM is a Darn Good Excuse to Try the Temporary Free GameMaker Studio 2

Upon hearing about the HEART Jam, I initially figured it would have some sort of emotional ties - you know, a game jam about making romantic games or some such. Turns out that wasn't the case. It's simply due to the fact that its host calls himself HeartBeast (or so I believe, anyway). Doesn't mean participants shouldn't make games with such content of course! In fact, theme pending, that might be a pretty good idea, ya know?
Continue reading…

Save the Date(s): Get Into a Roguelike Groove With 7DRL 2018 This Spring

As far back as I can remember, which is less and less as I'm getting old (just kidding - 38 is no age), the seven-day long roguelike jam, 7DRL, has been a thing... at some point... during the month of March. Right? Right. Sorry, had to do a quick fact check. Anyway, fortunately, 2018 will be no exception as that lovely crunchiness of soul-destroying permadeath games is to be celebrated yet again during that very month. So darn groovy!
Continue reading…

Indie Game Maker Contest 2017 Is Well Under Way, Powered by RPG Maker

It's been a couple of years since the Indie Game Maker Contest last caught my eye, but something about this year's outing - which is well under way - just... I don't know. Oh wait, I do know: RPG Maker! I like RPG Maker, even if the engine does have a bit of a bad reputation on Steam (too many lazy and/or unintuitive titles made with it). As such, this is my kind of jam! Oh, and there are cash prices.
Continue reading…

Get On the famicase: A Game By Its Cover 2017 Begins In Less Than 24 Hours

You know how some game jams feature overly complex rules, very specific details as to what participants are to create, how to go about it, and so on? Yeah. Not quite how A Game By Its Cover does things - at least, for its 2017 iteration. This time, both the concept and rules are extremely basic... while still ensuring it doesn't simply become a 'create whatever' jam. It's also starting in less than 24 hours at the time of writing, so I'll try to keep it brief (yeah right!).
Continue reading…

Yuri Game Jam 2017: Make Games Focusing on Relationships Between Women

Back for a sec-- wait, this is actually the third Yuri Jam? Crap. Missed one then. Huh. Well, anyway, it's almost time to once more embrace relationships between women - in video game form! And I'm not talking 'besties' here either. No, this is about the romantic aspect, involved parties being - as stated on the official site - "lesbian, bi, trans, non-binary, aro, ace, pan, any female-identified LGBTQIA characters". What's not to like?
Continue reading…

Go Small or Go Home: Make a Game Sized 13kb (or Less!) for Js13kGames

These days, video games tend to take up absolutely ridiculous amounts of precious hard drive space. Take 2016's DOOM, for example: darn thing clocks in at well over fifty gigabytes! Completely bonkers and not really the reason for Js13kGames to be a thing, but the two are still related. Kinda. That said, what sets the two even further aside is that, well, Js13kGames is about making games in HTML, JavaScript, CSS and such. Small games. Incredibly small games. Bite-sized games, some might say? Eh? Eh? Anyway...
Continue reading…

Scale It Down Once More: #LOWREZJAM 2017 Has Begun

64 by 64. That’s the core of #LOWREZJAM 2017, much like last year’s iteration. 64 by 64, as in, the resolution of whatever game you may end up making as part of this particular game jam. Yes, I am referring to the completely bonkers concept of making a game that’s only 64 pixels wide and 64 pixels tall. Not 1920 by 1080, or whatever that 4K nonsense everyone’s spouting these days is. Just plain ol’, super low-res 64×64. Why? Well, why not?
Continue reading…

Back to the 80’s, Back to BASIC(s): ZX Spectrum BASIC Jam Has Begun!

About time we got another ZX Spectrum game jam, ya know? It may not be directly related to the Speccy Jams, but that doesn't matter. What does is, more ZX Spectrum games will be made over the course of the next 12 days. A lot more actually, if all 76 who have signed up at the time of writing end up with something playable. While that would be undeniably great, time will tell who masters the art of BASIC...
Continue reading…

Where Games are Marmelade: Start Prepping For the Blueberry Jam!

Nothing quite like a proper good batch of one's favorite jam. Love that stuff. But... in spite of its name kinda saying otherwise, this particular game jam is not about such. And no, I'm not sorry for misleading anyone with that title. Not one bit. I will however be sad if the Blueberry Jam doesn't result in at least a handful of groovy games, once everything is said and done, ya hear?
Continue reading…

Point ‘n Click, Make Magic Happen: It’s Almost Time For AdventureJam 2017!

As has been the case with two years prior, this year, Cassie Benter and Stacy Davidson will once more be hosting the popular pointy and clicky AdventureJam on GameJolt - and soon, at that! Whether entries be pixelated gloriously, stylized in a super high resolution or a mix, one thing is certain: there will be puzzles, dialogue (perhaps even witty), and all other things one has come to expect from this particular genre. So very groovy.
Continue reading…

From Random to Randomness: Procedural Generation Jam 2016 Is Underway

Ah, procedurally generated content. Or perhaps... entire games? Heck, for this particular jam, it doesn't even have to be a game. Could be art, a sound clip, a piece of software - so long as it has procedural generation at its core. Does that mean it's not a game jam? Probably, but who cares? I mean, games will still come to be during its seven-day run, I'm sure. So there - it's a semi-game jam (because that's a thing)!
Continue reading…

Yuri Game Jam 2: Make Games That Focuses on Relationships Between Women

Remember how, a couple of years back, game developers were asked to spread affection through the creation of games, during The Love Jam? Well, this one's of a similar theme, yet not quite, in that games crafted during Yuri Game Jam 2016 must focus on relationships between women. That's right: it's time to not only feature women in a video game but also... focus on one or more all-female relationships throughout the experience. A nice little challenge, really.

Asylum Jam Goes Fourth In Search of Horror Experiences… Without Stereotypes

This November, not long after Halloween, there's even more horror to be made... in video game form! What am I rambling about now? Oh, just the fact that the Asylum Jam will be returning, once more asking aspiring developers to create horror titles without stereotypes. Not as easy as it sounds, but a little creativity goes a long way towards upping the overall quality of a game. Trust me.
Continue reading…