The Sandbox Game Jam — “A Glitch in the Metaverse” (300,000 SAND + LANDS in Prizes)!
Win 300,000 $SAND, LANDs, and NFTs - The “Glitch in the Metaverse” JAM!
After three incredibly successful Game Jams (read all about it here), we are excited to announce the fourth official The Sandbox Game Jam! We spared no expenses to make this edition bigger, better, and with a record-breaking prize pool of 300,000 SAND!
The theme of this Game Jam is:
“A Glitch In The Metaverse — What You See Is Not What You Get”
We will be giving away a total prize pool of 300,000 SAND, LANDs, and NFTs in prizes for all winners. There is no entry criteria, anyone can jump in and participate in the competition and present their creations in front of an exclusive judging panel, consisting of game industry experts from all over the world. All you have to do in order to participate is to Download our no-code Game Maker for free and get going!
Excited? You should be! Read on to find out everything you need to know.
What you need to know
As mentioned above, this edition’s game jam theme is…
“A Glitch in the Metaverse, What You See Is Not What You Get”
How you interpret this theme, is entirely up to you. There are no limits in terms of creativity, however, submissions will be judged according to their overall idea, the level of creativity, playability, level design, creativity, as well as bonus points for the “wow factor”.
The game jam is a very rewarding way to engage with our Game Maker and bring your ideas to reality! We will be hosting regular jams moving forward to share the best practices, provide feedback and have a look at what is being worked on!
Important Dates
- March 18th Game Jam Announcement & Submission START
- March 20th Game Jam workshop LIVE on our Twitch
- June 21st submissions CLOSE
- June 22nd voting STARTS
- June 26th Saturday LIVE STREAM Awards ceremony
April 21st Update
Due to the recent removal of Presets from the Game Maker v0.6.0., some of your game experiences have become unusable and required full restarts, thus we have decided the following:The “Glitch In The Metaverse” Game Jam will start over, moving the submission date by one full month to June 21st
Preset functionality will return with the next major patch, after the current Game Jam has ended.
All the other game jam conditions remain unchanged and we apologize for the inconvenience
Prizing — Over 300,000 $SAND* in Total Prizes!
- 1st Place: 150,000 $SAND (~$93,000 USD) + Game Featured on The Sandbox game maker home page. Including 1 1x1 LAND!
- 2nd Place: 50,000 $SAND (~$31,000 USD) Including 1 1x1 LAND!
- 3rd Place: 20,000 $SAND (~$14,400 USD) Including 1 1x1 LAND!
- 4th — 10th Place: 10,000 $SAND (~$6,200 USD) each Including 1 1x1 LAND
Special Mention — Team Favorite: 10,000 $SAND (~$6,200 USD)
*$SAND value taken as of March 18th $0.62
Judging Criteria
First and foremost, your submission must adhere to the theme “A Glitch In The Metaverse” in order to qualify. Once this is the case, each submission will be evaluated based on a selection of key criteria of our 100 point scale:
100 Points Scale
Categories
- Overall Idea — (25 Points)
- Level/Game Design — (25 Points)
- Creativity — (25 Points)
- Playability — (25 Points)
- Bonus Points: Wow Factor — (Up to 25 Points Extra)
Who can join?
Anyone who has currently been accepted to use the Game Maker is allowed to enter the jam!
Are Teams Allowed?
YES! You MAY work in teams of up to 4 people if desired! The prizing will be split according to the number of team members.
Can I create custom assets?
Yes! For the first time we are allowing custom VoxEdit created assets in game.
If you are not already whitelisted on The Sandbox marketplace to submit custom assets for approval, please fill out the following form: https://forms.gle/D5HHnHFRS9p3LNpq7
Submitting your Game for Judging
We will be using the Game Maker “Gallery” feature as a form for submissions.
You MUST upload your game to the gallery following the GIF tutorial below and using the title: “Game Jam Glitch — Game Title”
You MUST also submit your game to the following form link: https://form.jotform.com/210746774724159
Judging Panel
For the very first time, we will be expanding our judging panel beyond staff from The Sandbox, and we are very excited to announce our panel of game industry veterans for this jam! Video game experts from Ubisoft, Glu Mobile, Uken Games, OhBibi, Paladin Studios, East Side Games, Massive Damage, Lucky Kat Studios and The Nifty Show will be reviewing the submissions and help to find a worthy winner!
Learn more about our judges' background and expertise in gaming:
Chris Ye — CEO of Uken Games
Chris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Uken Games. He’s led the company through the launch of 14 mobile games, including feature titles Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Jeopardy! World Tour, which has collectively amassed over 60 million downloads worldwide. This success has helped propel Uken into one of the largest independent game studios in Canada. As a Toronto native and proud Canadian, Chris believes in developing a strong startup ecosystem at home. He contributes to this as an active angel investor and startup advisor.
Herdjie Zhou — Co-Founder & CEO at Lucky Kat
After a life-changing event, Hernan and Herdjie decided to do what they have always wanted to do: starting a game studio together. With the experience of life being so fragile they took a leap of faith and started Lucky Kat Studios. Their mission has been since then to create mobile pixel art games with a pop-culture twist. Games include Grumpy Cat’s Worst Game Ever, Trigger Heroes, Magic Finger 3D, and many more. They had over 40M downloads on iOS and Android in 2020.
Joel Comm — The Nifty Show/The Bad Crypto Podcast
In July 2017, Joel and Martech leader Travis Wright went down the rabbit hole of blockchain technology. They took their excitement and channeled it into the creation of The Bad Crypto Podcast. The show, heard in 180 countries around the world, is one of the top crypto-related shows in the world. With over 400,000 downloads/month, the show provides an informative and entertaining take on the Blockchain revolution that is changing the world. Joel gives keynotes and participates in panels on the subject.
Taehoon Kim — nWay Studios
TK is a serial entrepreneur in the high-tech and online gaming sector. TK is co-founder and CEO of nWay, a San Francisco-based developer and publisher of competitive multiplayer games across mobile, console, PC, and streaming platforms. Previously, TK co-founded Nurien Software, a PC online game development studio behind the 3D Social Networking platform Nurien, and the music-based online game MStar.
Hadrien Carpentier — Oh Bibi
Hadrien is a skilled Game Lead and Product Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the video games industry. He has successfully managed many mobile game projects from pre-production to operating live-ops, across various genres and scopes. His missions usually involve a wide range of skills to optimize product quality and performance, from defining long-term strategies, managing teams and processes, making design and balancing decisions, and analyzing KPIs.
Kay Gruenwoldt — Paladin Studios
Kay is currently leading the amazingly talented and passionate team at Paladin Studios as CEO as well as being Founder of Walking Squid Advisory, a consultancy in the digital media and entertainment space. With over 20 years of Computer Games Industry Experience with successful assignments in all areas of the production process, licensing, sales, and marketing on PC, console, and mobile, Kay is also a speaker and panelist on games and media related topics at high-profile events around the globe like GDC mobile, GC and XML, as well as being a member of several advisory boards in Games and Media related organizations like Dubai World Games.
Josh Nilson — GM East Side Games
With over 20 years in games and tech, the East Side Games (ESG) co-founder and ex-CEO is continuing to drive the business and culture at ESG. Under his leadership, ESG’s awards in 2020 included Pocket Gamers Top 50 Mobile Game Makers, Globe and Mail Top 400 Canada’s Top Growing Companies, the winner in the first-ever BC Business “Business of Good Awards” in the Indigenous Prosperity category.
Ken Seto — Massive Damage
Ken is an experienced mobile app and game designer, with a focus on user experience design. He is the CEO/Co-Founder of Massive Damage Games, where he is well regarded for his passion and expertise in mobile, social media, and user experience design. The Games he and his studio were working in involve Star Renegades, as well as multiple Halycon 6 games!
Kay Chan — Glu Mobile
Kay has worked with a variety of free-to-play games from concept to launch. From bouncing ideas around with co-workers to deciding which technologies and services to use in the game. She is currently Snr Product Marketing Manager on Glu Mobile.
Formally Lead Marketing Manager since 2015. Worked on notable titles such as “Trailer Park Boys: Greasy Money” and “Always Sunny: Gang Goes Mobile”. Started as a Producer on various projects from concept to delivery for 3 years. One game ranked in the top 100 grossing Facebook game charts for 5 years. Another game gained 25 million downloads and peaked at 500k daily users; it also reached #1 in the App Store in 14 different countries.
Phil Elliot — Square Enix: Director of Indie Publishing
Phil created the concept for Square Enix Collective in 2013, and has built it from the ground up to offer a range of funding and publishing services for indie developers around the world.
As the Director of Square Enix Collective, his mission is to find and nurture talent, and to help indie developers create successful games and build viable businesses.
Prior to joining Square Enix, Phil ran GamesIndustry.biz for four years. He’s also worked for Gamespot UK as Editor, and for BBC Radio 5 Live.
Ubisoft
Last but not least, we are incredibly excited to have a team member from Ubisoft on the judging panel. Ubisoft is a leading video game company, the creators of original and immersive worlds like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, The Crew, or Watch Dogs.
Internal Judges
We will also be judging your game jam submissions internally with our entire executive, design, marketing, and artist teams!
Resources to help you with your game!
Below are some tutorials and resources for help using our awesome Game Maker!
- Game Maker Beta Information: https://medium.com/sandbox-game/the-sandbox-game-maker-v0-4-our-biggest-update-to-date-9bd5ec0de642
- Game Maker Academy: https://sandboxgame.gitbook.io/the-game-maker-academy/-MO_tlvgMsleEgoR9XWx/
- Game Maker Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_AqeWVYruhqQ6bL09VQqEZ3KcWMYyOei
- All Sandbox Resources: https://resources.sandbox.game/
- Game Maker Beta Access: https://www.sandbox.game/create
Any questions or concerns? Join our DISCORD and ask in the #tsb-game-jam channel! We are here to help!
GOOD LUCK and HAPPY CREATING!
Socials
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSandboxGame
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSandboxGame/
- Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/vAe4zvY
- Telegram: https://t.me/sandboxgame
- All channels: https://linktr.ee/sandbox
Game Maker v0.5.2 Awesome New Features!
(Use these when creating your game!)
Avatar
The avatar now spawns from the Avatar’s portal, highlighted by the blue cursor.
- You can now customize the avatar’s behavior, components, camera and model by going into the new GLOBAL PARAMETERS button. You also get access to this menu by clicking on the AVATAR SETTINGS button in the inspector while selecting the Avatar’s portal.
Avatar
- In this menu, you can select which avatar’s type is spawned and add tags to it.
Camera
- In this menu, you can easily change the camera views and customize each value to make the camera you want.
Controller
- In this menu, you can change the avatar behavior values and add / remove components.
Lighting
- In this menu, you can easily change between different lighting atmospheres.
Note : While choosing Player’s Avatar in the avatar menu, some parameters will be locked to make your experience eligible to the metaverse.
Global Game Maker Improvements
The Game Maker tools have been reworked and improved to provide a better user experience with a lot more functionalities.
- The Terraform is now easy to use, with a lot more options on it.
- The way you place the assets in the scene has also been improved to allow you to easily add and manage your assets position and rotation.
Library
The whole Library has been revamped to provide a better user experience. You can now quickly search and use filters to find what you need.
Presets are now accessible within it and usable inside the Hotbar.
Selection Window
The Selection Window has been revamp to provide a better user experience. You can now quickly search and use filters to find what you need.
Behaviors and Components have now an Icon and a ToolTip for each of them, to make them more understandable.
New Message System
Instead of having text to type, copy, and paste, the New Message System allows you to easily create a Message and re-use it anywhere you want.
Rules Window
The Rules Window has been revamp to provide a better user experience. You can now collapse and uncollapse Quests, and manage them easily. You can also quickly define the informations you want to display within the Victory and Defeat screens.
Quest System V2
The new Quest System allows you to fully customize the Quests:
- How to unlock the Quest
- How to launch the Quest
- How to complete the Quest
- How to return the Quest
New options have been added to allow more customization and quests that have been done before should be easier to do now.
Plus, the Timer Objective has been improved:
- Timer — Survive: The Player has to survive until the Timer reaches 0 to complete the Objective.
- Timer — Defend: The Player has to defend something/someone until the Timer reaches 0 to complete the Objective.
- Timer — Receive Message: The Objective is finished once it has received the specific “Message” before the timer ends.
Indicator Component
The Indicator Component has received a major update, related to the new Quest System and some other improvements:
- LifeBar color parameter has been removed to provide a more consistent User Experience within all Metaverse Experiences.
- Objective Cursor parameter has been removed to provide a more consistent User Experience within all Metaverse Experiences.
- The Quest Cursors are now split in 3 parameters:
- Giver: When the linked Quest is unlocked, a golden “!” will be displayed over Object’s head until the Quest starts.
- Objective: When the linked Quest is started, a golden target icon will be displayed over the head of the Object until the Quest’s Objective gets complete.
- Receiver: When the linked Quest is completed, a golden “?” will be displayed over the Object’s head until the Quest gets validated/finished.
- For each parameter, you can set multiple Quest links inside it.
Presets
Creating a Preset has never been so easy. Select the Object you want to transform as a Preset, and click on the related button in the Toolbar to do so. You can also easily replace an existing Preset by clicking on it when creating a new one.
Plus, it is now possible to use Presets inside the Asset Spawner, which gives you more possibilities.
Tags
The Tags related to Behaviors and Components have been changed.
It might not change your current Experience functionalities as they will remain the same for already-created Experiences, but we suggest to be attentive to them.
Publish
You can now easily publish your Experience to the Gallery and allow the other users to play to the content you created.
Behaviors and Components
Behaviors and Components had their tooltips and parameters updated.
They should now be easier to understand.
Play Mode Improvements Include
New Balancing & Grades
Some Behaviors & Components values need to be adjusted -
- Please move once the slider to update the maximum value to the new one.
The balancing has been reworked to provide a better difficulty. Each object has now its difficulty mainly driven by its Catalyst and also its Gems.
Each Object has a Grade displayed next to its Lifebar. This Grade represents the Catalyst of the Object and the amount of Gems inside it. Thanks to this, Players will now identify the power of an Object easily.
New Melee Enemy
The Enemy fighter behavior has been automatically replaced by the Melee Enemy behavior.
This behavior follows the same intentions than the previous one but has been improved to make the fights much more enjoyable.
A targeting system has been added to make your attacks move your avatar towards the enemies, removing frustration that we previously had.
Note : Some parameters within this behavior are locked and will be unlocked in future updates.
Quest Icons
As said before, a Quest is split in 4 steps. For 3 of them, a specific Quest Icon is displayed during the Play Mode.
- Quest can be started: Gold “!”
- Quest’s Objective: Gold Target Icon
- Quest can be finished: Gold “?”
Inventory & Equipment
Players will be able to pick up equipment and quest items from experiences and save them in their local inventories. Equip different sets of items to change your character’s attributes and become stronger.
