New Decentralized category in js13kGames 2021!

I’m always trying to improve and grow the competition every single year, and the big news in 2021 is the introduction of the new category: Decentralized.

After getting positive response to the WebXR and Web Monetization categories I decided to add a third this year, on top of our regular Desktop / Mobile / Server ones. Decentralized category revolves around Web 3, blockchain, NFTs, and crypto. I very well know not everyone is a big fan of those, but you can’t deny blockchain gaming and game related NFTs are rapidly growing in popularity. I was amazed by the Web Monetization API two years ago, and now I’m all about building Decentralized games - I hope you will be, too. Please remember that the category is entirely optional, although I’ll be trying to convince you to participate with some dedicated prizes.

If you follow my activities, you might’ve noticed that this year’s Gamedev.js Jam 2021 in April already had (Web Monetization and) Decentralized category. I’ve partnered with great folks at Protocol Labs and NEAR Protocol who want to explore the intersection between decentralization and games, and I think it went quite good during the jam. That’s why I’d like to continue this exploration and see if YOU can come up with something cool as well.

Introduction of the new category also adds Challenges - you can participate in the Decentralized category with any “decentralized” technology you want (as long as it falls into this broad topic), but if you decide to try any of the Protocol Labs technologies (IPFS, Filecon, etc) or NEAR Protocol one, you will be able to win their respective coins.

To make all this new stuff easier for you, we’ll publish a dedicated tutorial using a new, open sourced 13 kb game as an example, which would implement the most basic and common features of both Protocol Labs and NEAR Protocol technologies. It should be out between now and the start of the competition on August 13th, but you are free to explore the games submitted to the Decentralized category in Gamedev.js Jam 2021 and any other examples available in the wild to prepare yourself accordingly.

I hope you’re as excited about this as I am!