FanJam is a Fancade event that happens usually every 1 to 3 months. It is hosted in the Discord Server formerly by Sounak9434, but now by Spolarium since FanJam 13.

Spolarium made a playlist of games that were submitted in Fanjam..

Mechanics

The organizers announce an upcoming FanJam including the set of rules about a week prior to the event.

FanJam consists of 3 phases:

  1. Development Phase
  2. Voting Phase
  3. Announcing of Winners

There are also 3 categories:

  • Overall - The best games overall
  • Art - Games with the most beautiful art
  • Innovation - The most innovative games

There was a Kit category for games made with kits, but it is now eligible for the 3 categories.

Development Phase

On the start of the event, a selected theme will be announced, then all the participants can finally start to build their own games depending on their depiction of the theme. This phase usually lasts for 3 days. Creators can publish and update games during this period.

When submitting games for FanJam, creators must send it in #showcase, with "#fanjam" on its message. Only one submission is accepted.

After the time period is done, there is an extension for games that need updating due to a critical bug, haven't passed Moderation yet, or for any other reason the participant will give.

Voting Phase

During this time, all people in the Discord server can see all submissions, and it will be posted with their direct links for easy access. People can vote on games by sending ".vote". Creators cannot update games in this period or they will be penalized.

Announcing of Winners

This marks the end of the current FanJam. Participants ranked Top 3 in each category are announced. Additionally, participants will also get a reward depending on their position of each category:

A. Best Overall
Overall is further divided into two brackets.

Bracket Red: Consists of all the previous winners of FanJam.

Bracket Blue: Everyone else.

Prizes will be separately handed out for both brackets.

  • 1st: (Forever ad-free + 1500 gems) or (3000 gems)
  • 2nd: (One year ad-free + 1000 gems) or (2000 gems)

B. Best Art

  • 1st: (One year ad-free + 1000 gems) or (2000 gems)

C. Most Innovative

  • 1st: (One year ad-free + 1000 gems) or (2000 gems)

Alongside these, winner of Overall - Bracket Blue will receive the @Fanjam role.

Winning multiple categories only gives the reward with the highest prize.

History

Note: Dates are in M/D/YYYY format

2020

FanJam I

  • Event Period: 3/3/2020 - 3/11/2020
  • Theme: You Only Get One

FanJam II

  • Event Period: 4/1/2020 - 4/9/2020
  • Theme: The More, The Worse

FanJam III

  • Event Period: 5/3/2020 - 5/13/2020
  • Theme: Control More than One

FanJam IV

  • Event Period: 6/9/2020 - 6/17/2020
  • Theme: Control the Environment

FanJam V

  • Event Period: 7/31/2020 - 8/14/2020
  • Theme: Gap

FanJam VI

  • Event Period: 10/5/2020 - 10/16/2020
  • Theme: Bad is Good

Annual FanJam 2020 / Fanjam VII

  • Event Period: 12/18/2020 - 1/6/2021
  • Theme: Secret Santa
  • Development Phase lasts for 7 days

Special Mechanics:

  • Special phase (6 days): 12/18/2020 - 12/24/2020, every participants should submit a theme of their choice before this phase ends, the submitted theme then will be in the date 12/25/2020 given to another participant randomly and will be their theme for their game.

2021

FanJam VIII

  • Event Period: 3/19/2021 - 4/3/2021
  • Theme: No Instructions Needed

Fanjam IX

  • Fanjam 9 is probably also the first fancade ludum dare in itch.io tho it's not clearly stated
  • It is also possible that it's skipped for it's number is sacred in both Hinduism (Being that Sounak is from India) and Nordic Beliefs (Being that Martin is from Sweden) or other superstitious beliefs about number 9 either being sacred or unlucky

FanJam 10

  • Event Period: 7/11/2021 - 7/29/2021
  • Theme: Snake Variations

Annual FanJam 2021 / Fanjam 11

  • Event Period: 12/12/2021 - 1/8/2022
  • Theme: The Kits of Christmas
  • Development Phase lasts for 7 days

Special Mechanics:

  • On 12/25/2021, every participant will recieve a random kit as their theme, from Sounak9434 via a DM.
  • They can use the kit or remake the core mechanic from scratch. The only criteria is that, the core mechanic of their submission must be similar to the kit.
  • They are not limited only to the kit they are assigned to. They can mix and match it with any other kits or assets, as long as the core mechanic stays the same.
  • It is highly recommended to add a credits level, to credit the creator of the kit, and any other pre-made assets they are using for their submission.

2022

FanJam 12

  • Event Period: 6/21/2022 - 7/8/2022
  • Theme: Apes alone weak… Apes together strong…

2023

FanJam 13

  • Event Period: 6/23/2023 - 7/3/2023
  • Theme: You Cannot Stop