Phoenix Comic Fest – Board Game Jam

Published by Brian Wendt on May 19, 2018

Welcome to the first ProtoAZ Board Game Jam! Participants will work as teams or individually to design a board game, make a sell sheet, and pitch their game to industry experienced judges. We don’t expect anything polished, the goal of this event is to learn about the board game design hobby or to help hone those skills you already have.

The Board Game Jam starts Friday, May 25th and ends on Sunday the 27th with participants turning in their sell sheet and giving a short pitch to the judges. Participants will have about 48 hours from announcement of the design prompts till the judging event.

See the Phoenix Comic Fest event schedule for ProtoAZ event times.

Themes

• Reversal
• Unconventional Resources
• Divergence

Implementation of the themes is up to the participant’s interpretation.

Competition Rules

1. Games must be original and have been designed for the ProtoAZ 2018 Phoenix Comic Fest Game Jam.
2. Games are not required to be playable or have written rules or finished components.
3. Some implementation of the design prompt is required but is left up to your interpretation.
4. A “sell sheet” will need to be turned in during the judging event. The sell sheet should include: The game’s working title, player count, estimate time to play, Game Jam team member names, and a short description of the game (preferably 1-3 sentences).
5. Participants must be respectful of other participants, organizers, staff, and other guests of Phoenix Comic Fest. You may be disqualified if you are determined to be too disruptive.
   During the judging event please also make sure your guests are respectful.
6. Teams are expected to share or otherwise handle prizes they may win at their own discretion. ProtoAZ and Phoenix Comic Fest are not responsible for how your team divides any winnings.
7. The judging event on Sunday will require at least one member of the team to be present, turn in the sell sheet, and present a verbal “pitch” of the game to the judges. The pitch may be interactive and involve your entire team.
8. At least 1 participant on the team must be 15 years or older. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
9. We encourage all different abilities to participate. The judging format may be individually adapted to support a participants needs such as not requiring a verbal pitch. Please contact a ProtoAZ organizer ahead of time.
10. Any artwork used must be original, public domain, or properly licensed. If the licensing requires attribution please include it on the sell sheet or a separate sheet. Pictures from the competition may display the artwork publicly. Artwork is not judged.

Tips

• Written rules are not required but be prepared to answer questions about the rules.
• You may want enough components ready as a prototype to demo the core mechanics of the game.
• Judges will be looking for clever implementation of the theme and the sense of fullness the game has.
• Join the Facebook group Phoenix Game Makers Guild for more tips and to ask questions.