Update: The contest is over. Thanks to all who entered!!
The following is a list of entries into our 2nd Flash Game Design Competition (in no particular order). Click the game icon to go to the review page for that game.
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"Rings and Sticks" ...by Komix |  |
"Gateway II" ...by Anders Gustafsson |  |
"PLANned" ...by Wouter |  |
"NOBuzzle Tree" ...by Shu Wan, Cheng |  |
"Grow Word" ...by Tonypa |  |
"Orbit" ...by Sean Hawkes |  |
"Tower of Babblers" ...by Lars A. Doucet |  |
"Sprout" ...by Jeff Nusz |  |
"Frog and Vine" ...by Matt Slaybaugh |  |
"Grow the Robot" ...by Starkraven Madd |  |
"enQbate" ...by Aquilino Griffin |  |
"Chicken Grow" ...by Bart Bonte |  |
"Jelly Fusion" ...by Matthew Dirks |  |
"Growbal Warming" ...by Richard Ohanian |
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Wooty tooty flip-bam-booty!
We're hosting our 2nd Flash Game Design !
(and the crowd goes wild! rwar!)
Here's the scoop: you, casual gamer / game designer / Flash whiz, design a simple puzzle game in Flash (version 8, AS 2.0).
Yes, the type of entry we're looking for is the same as what we called for during our first . And while the entries we received contained various interpretations of "simple puzzle game", all things considered, the simple puzzle idea proved to be an excellent choice. So we're doing it again!!
But there is a catch. This time your game design must incorporate this theme: "grow".
You are, of course, free to interpret that any way you choose; however, the extent to which your game addresses the theme is left up to the judges to decide. Entries not meeting this requirement will be disqualified.
If you're wondering what we mean by "simple puzzle game" consider this: Think of something that you might find in a point-and-click game, Myst, or the like. Not necessarily an entire point-and-click game, but that's ok, too! For some inspiration, check out the entries from our first , and especially Andrew VanHeuklon's brilliant collection of Flash puzzles called Click Drag Type. That collection was actually the inspiration for these competitions.
Use your imagination and be creative. We are looking to create a collection of the best entries submitted to the like we did in August. Impress us with your game design skills and you will score fame, recognition, prizes, as well as a proper review of your work by the JIG Casual Gameplay review staff.
As before, we're looking for a ton of great entries to make this competition really spectacular. And we've got the prizes to back it up! In addition to seeing your name in pixels and the millions of people that will play your game—yes, millions. Our first competition has already received over 2 million plays!—we have some nice cash prizes to award this time:
- 1st place:
- $1,000
- (1) Flash 8 Professional license*
- 2nd place:
- $500
- (1) Flash 8 Professional license*
- Audience award:
- as before, determined by JIG community popular vote and worth at least $200.
*If your winning entry makes an exceptional or innovative use of either Premiere Pro for video or After Effects for animation/video, Adobe will upgrade this prize to the Adobe Video Bundle, worth over $2,000!
Although the Flash 8 Professional license is available for Windows or Mac, the Adobe Video Bundle is available for Windows only.
Entrants who do not have After Effects, Premiere Pro, and/or Flash 8 Professional can download a 30 day trial from the Adobe website.
In addition to all of the above prizes, your game will be eligible to recieve a bid from ArcadeTown for publishing there as well.
Winners will be judged by the JIG Casual Gameplay staff based on creativity, originality, aesthetics, and how well it incorporates the theme. You don't have to make anything complex, just wow us with a great idea or two.
To enter the JIG CasualGameplay Game Design , all you have to do is create a simple and original Flash puzzle game and send it to us.
Like the first , your game will appear in a collection for the site, and so it must support our specifications and our very simple API listed below. If you do not know how to do this, you will need to send us the final .fla file 48 hours prior to the deadline so we can add the appropriate support for you.
By submitting an entry to the , you grant Jayisgames.com and CasualGameplay.com a permanent, non-exclusive license to host the game, either individually or as part of a larger collection. We will always include credit to the original author and display a link to you or your sponsor's site, if desired. Please provide us with your name, shipping address, and preferred link (optional) when submitting your entry.
Also, in return for winning one of the Adobe prizes, you give Adobe the rights to publicize information about you and your game, and what was done with its products as part of the development process (i.e., talk about the game designer, what tools were used, get a quote, etc.).
Once you have your game polished and ready to go, send it to: [email protected]
The deadline for entries is
Friday, February 23rd. at 11:59PM (GMT-5:00).
So, start the brainstorming and get ready to wow us!
Friends of Jayisgames: Please help spread word of this by posting a note along with a link to this entry on your blog or website. Feel free to use this banner to link back to us. Thank you kindly!
Many thanks to the kind folks at Adobe and ArcadeTown for sponsoring this .
Specifications and the finer details of submitting an entry follow...
Your game will be loaded from an external swf into a common UI by a MovieClipLoader. Therefore, there are a couple of issues you must be aware of:- It is recommended that your stage size be the same as the UI, 640x480. Smaller games will be centered on the larger stage of the common UI automatically. However, if your game is smaller than 640x480, and you use hitTest, make sure the (x,y) points are in terms of global coordinates. Refer to this article for an explanation of a potential gotcha.
- The background color of the common UI will be black (#000000). Therefore your game must either look good against a black background, or you will need to include a rectangle filled with the color you wish to appear as the background, and of the same size of your stage, on your main timeline.
- Frame rate should be set to 30 fps, as that will be the frame rate of the common UI that loads the external game swf files.
- Your game will be loaded with _lockroot set to true, which means references to _root in your game will continue to reference the main timeline of your game; however, you may not use references to _level anywhere in your code. (If you do not know what this means, you probably don't have anything to worry about.)
- For Sound objects to function correctly in loaded MovieClips, when instantiating new Sound objects you must pass a reference to the movieclip that's doing the instantiation, such as:
var mysound = new Sound(this);. If you leave out "this" your game will have no sound when loaded.
The common UI is designed to provide a consistent interface with which to easily navigate through each of the competition entries. To facilitate a smooth and functioning common UI, your game must support our very simple API:
- start() - a function in the first frame of your game that gets called by the common UI (GameManager class) to start the game. This function will not be called until after your game has finished loading. Therefore, your game should remain on its first frame (preloader) until it receives a call to start().
- reset() - a function in your game that is called to reset the game to its initial state. It must exist so the GameManager can call it when the player selects "reset" from the common UI controls.
- quit() - a function in your game that is called to quit the game and return to the main compilation menu. It must exist so the GameManager can call it when the player selects "quit/menu" from the common UI. This function must make the following call: GameManager.getInstance().gameDone(); // use this exactly as written.
If your game contains a win condition, be sure to create an appropriate ending to the game. Do not simply call the GameManager's gameDone() function without some congratulatory message to the player first, or the player will be disappointed and points will be taken off your entry. A few entries did that in our first competition and players were confused as to whether the game had been solved correctly.
A stub compilation UI shell is available to test your game with. If you have any questions at all about these specifications, please post a comment here and we will address it.
Yes!! GROW clones! Couldn't have picked a better theme. Well, Getting Dorfl Laid would be a better theme, but we're talking casual gaming here, not lifetime achievements.
The theme is NOT "Grow clones".
The theme is "grow", how ever one interprets that is fine, but I purposely did not mention Grow games at all in the above announcement because it is NOT intended to be a Grow clone competition.
That being said, I would love to see some Grow clones entered. =)
Starting these competitions was a great idea! It always get's people's creative juices flowing, which is good as long as they don't spill on me. I still have the nightmares... Well, good luck to everyone! -.:Mev...
What will be the standard window size for the final exhibiton? Same as the last competition? I know flash movies can be resized but sometimes things get out of scale/over anti-aliased.
Cheers,
-Stefano
Stefano - your question is answered in the specifications. The maximum stage size is 640x480 as before.
I hope this is as good as the last one!
I also hope these tags work!
Jay I must say you are one crazy son of a gun. 2 Game Copetitions in one years time!!!! woo way too much, but I love it. Now me persoannly I don't own any flash or shockwave kinda programs so I can't join in making these awesome games like the rest of you but a good suggestion for one of you designers... A game that encompasses rooms each with their own puzzle, by solving the puzzle a statue in a central room will "grow" up from the ground. It fits the theme and its something I'd be dieing to play :).
Wonderful! And great theme.
If this one is anything like the first, I'm really looking forward to playing the entries!
Great. Maybe I can finally make something worthy of a competition. Good luck.
A grow theme sounds like a great idea, but I think some designers might end up with heartbreak when they realize their grand scheme has to be severely truncated in order to finish in time. I bet you'll see different grow theme games pop up after the contest is over because of elaborate labors of love.
Another good similar theme would be "aging" which I rarely see in any game. To have the environment age as progress continues would be fascinating. As things rot & disappear more areas/items would be accessible.
I love the theme and can't wait for the entries! If only I had the knowledge to be able to create a game :)
If everyone who sees this could digg it (click the "digg it!" link at the bottom of the article) that can help get this competition info to more people, because the more entries, the awesomer!
last year i found some of the games difficult to get my head round. could i request that games that aren't obvious in their game play have some kind of instructions, i appreciate that for some games working out how to play can be part of the game itself, but subtle hints in a section marked "i'm an eejit and can't figure this out" would be helpful.
I haven't released or made a lot of games, and yet I'm seriously thinking about entering this contest! It's a great concept! If you'll excuse me now for a month time, I'm off to brainstorm, Zen-like. Hmmmmmmmm... *dozes off*
Naymlis: Macromedia/Adobe has a 30-day demo of Flash on their website, so you can learn it and make a game of your own for the competition.
WOW! A second game competition already!
I really liked the way that you said "grow" and not "grow games/grow clones". It will be interesting to see what people make of that, as well as playing the grow games that we will obviously get.
May i say GOOD LUCK TO ALL! unfortuneatly i will not be entering myself as i can neither use flash nor have it. I am aware that there is a 30-day trail, but i don't think i could learn flash well enough in 30 days to enter a competition.
Thanks jay for hosting such a great event, for a second time! (how do you afford all this? over $1700 for one competition!). I look forward to playing all games and..
MAY THE BEST GAME WIN!
What's funny is when I first saw the theme I didn't even think of "Grow" games, instead I thought of plants, then aging...and other things :)
I won't mention anymore, since I'm curious as to what others will think up :3
argh! You had to start this 3 days before a load of exams didn't you?
Its great that you've started another compo... Hopefully I'll have enough time to enter this time...
thanks Jay!
=)
But you've got two weeks longer than the first competition, so it should work out just fine! =D
Wow, this is so soon after the last one. I like the theme. Might have to see if I can come up with something this time around...
Hopefully Eyezmaze enters.
He's my favorite game designer.
Wooty tooty flip-bam-booty? Well, that's not exactly my feelings towards this competition... more like:
Brilliant! Amazing! Psychedelic! Wow that's quick! I wish I could design games, but I can't wait to play them!
Anyway.. I love the theme.
"Wooty tooty flip-bam-booty!"
You have no idea how much this makes me laugh.
I'm looking forward to seeing (and playing) the new entries; especially after seeing what a great group was entered last time!
Good luck to everyone, and may the best game win! :)
-Hilary
Thanks Edgy but im too slow of a learner. I'll download it and hopefully by the next competition I'll be more voiced in shockwave and flash enough to make a game. Who knows i might nto even be using a demo anymore by then lol :). So if anyone still wants to use my idea go right ahead.
How about a Wii for third place? Or a DS Lite and say, Clubhouse Games/Brain Age/Phoenix Wright/etc.
Grow! I look forward to this. Good idea, very nice. Could you put a link to this page from the ever-growing nav-bar at the top of the page, makes it easier to find it, and, if it is in bold, it will get more visibility.
You can add it to your favorites easy enough. There's no vacancy at the Navbar-Inn, unfortunately, but it has been given favorable rotation in the replay feature that is now present on every page.
Josh - I love the idea of a Wii or a DS for a third prize! If I can find a sponsor for that, we'll add it to the prize list. =)
Ah, yes, and god knows I need a Wii. I've been hitting the Tetris pretty hard but it won't hold me off for much longer.
It says in the page to use Flash 8, but would Flash MX meet the requirements?
Awesome! I've got a great idea for a game, and I've begun designing it, but I'm not sure it fits into the theme of "Grow" the way the judges envision it: To put it simply, if the theme were "Cooking," my design is more like last competition's "Thief" (in that cooking fit into the plot) than "The Alchemist's Apprentice" (in which cooking ingredients was the technical apparatus of the game). Will I be penalized for a thematic/plot/literary interpretation rather than technical interpretation of growth?
Christin - if you can envision "grow" within the context of your game, whether plot element or gameplay, then it fits within the theme of the competition and we welcome your entry. =)
kingkael - Flash MX 2004 is fine to use, because it supports AS 2.0, which our API is built upon. If you have only Flash MX, then you can still enter your game, but you will have to send us your .fla file so we can compile it using AS 2.0 and add the API calls that the competition compilation will require.
hey!! the deadline is my birthday!!
good call, jay ;-)
Thanks for the clarification Jay. I have Flash MX 2004, so I hope to be submitting a game. Good luck everyone!
this awesome jay i love your site its awesome as a possum but your competitions are the best i wish i could join but i don't have flash too bad
jay you spend your time making game heaven so we don't have to thanks
i wish i was old enough to get typeKey
Remember, there are 30 day free trials of flash pro on Adobe's site. So if you haven't used it on your computer before, but have knowledge of it from school or work then go ahead and get the trial and enter the competition. That is what I am going to do.
I really want to make something for this competition but i have never used flash before. Is it possible to learn in a month?
This might sound funny, But I have some good Ideas on some games, and I just dont know what is the easy way to make them. is there a program that can help me?
As mentioned before, Adobe offers a 30-day free trial for Flash from their website. The only way to learn something is to dive right in and do it! =)
Of course I believe it is possible. Your mileage may vary.
How does an swf check if it is playing standalone or embedded?
if (/* standalone? */)
start();
/* else sit tight */
I'm currently just checking a static boolean I manually set in a couple cases like this, but I'd rather have the AS detect it for real.
Bryan, you could try:
if(_root == _level0)
Not tested, but it would probably do the trick.
Hi Jay!
A bit off-topic, but do you know if last-years-grand-prize-winner Sean has made more games than the three with which he entered the contest?
Thanks in advance!
The puzzles/games submitted to the competition should *not* run standalone. It's fine to create a boolean for testing, but the submitted swfs should have that functionality removed.
I will be posting a link shortly with a stub common UI shell you may use for testing purposes.
wouter - Have you looked through the entries submitted to the recent Mousebreaker contest? I think you will find entries from several developers that entered our competition in August.
wouter - the answer is pretty much no. I did make an entry to the mousebreaker contest though, it's called Four Down. It didn't win obviously, as I was up against some very high quality productions, and at least one team called Dry
Goods who made some great stuff.
Ok, thanks for replying!
Four Down is good, but a little bit too much time-pressure for me. Hope to see more of your work in this competition then :)
I'm a little late to the hooray for another contest party, but Arcade Town is very proud to be sponsoring this event. We hope to see some great games in there, just like last time!
Best of all, in addition to the prize money you may get, keep in mind a sponsorship from AT is even more cash in your pocket!
We love this kind of event and we're psyched about seeing some super creative games.
So a big thanks to Jay for running another event and a big future-thanks to ALL the contestants! May the best game win!
-Joe (The Biz Guy of Arcade Town)
Must entry SWF be made in flash or can something like Haxe or MTASC be used?
Your game must compile to a SWF, run within our common UI, and support our specifications and API listed on the competition announcement page. I don't care what compiler you use to do it.
Great idea putting a theme jay! And the perfect theme too! If I knew anything about making games, i definitely would enter something.
Very good, I checked the site last night and quickly started development. Doubtful that I'll win, Just gotta shine it up as much as I can, I guess. Anyways, expect my entry soon.
keep up the good work, jay.
~Derrike G.
everyone loves grow games
Dear sir,
I like to design a Action game but I don't know how so please join me and support for my inconvenience.Thank you sir
"Stage size must be 640x480 (or smaller). Smaller games will be centered on the larger stage of the common UI automatically."
Will the backgroundcolor of the common UI be black?
Yes, the background color of the common UI will be black.
Ok, nice color :)
Can I create and apply a newer version of one of my games. For instance "Pongo Pongo", a newer and different game version would be called "Pongo Pongo II".
With the dead-line coming in a week or so, i doubt ill make it in time. But a good experience to try anyways...
The api is slightly worrisome to me :P
Where can i find this "stub compilation UI shell"?
You can download the stub compilation shell here.
Yes, Campos, you may even submit a game that you've already created. Keep in mind, however, the theme of the competition: GROW. Entries that do not incorporate the theme will be disqualified.
I have just added support for smaller games to the stub.
If your game is of smaller dimensions than the compilation UI (640x480), please use the input fields on the stub to enter the dimensions of your game during testing.
If you downloaded the stub prior to the date and time of this comment (all times GMT-5:00), then please download the stub again as a new version has been uploaded that includes the input fields for the dimensions.
Oooooh! The deadline is this Friday! I can't wait to see the entries!
*so excited, he just can't hide it*
hello!...can i join this competition? i learned about this contest this February 24, 2007..AM I TOO LATE TO JOIN?? please e-mail me if i can still join... i have made few flash games but i haven't prepared for any contest...i would like to try it...hehehe....
e-mail me please...
[email protected]
Oh, oops, I just found this article today. :(X
Who won this competition, I can't see a winner, only the entries.
Thanks.
[Results from CGDC #2 can be found here:
https://jayisgames.com/archives/2007/03/cgdc2_winner.php
For more information about all our competitions, the entries and the winners, browser through our complete CGDC page:
https://jayisgames.com/cgdc/
Thanks for your interest! -Jay]
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