1. Your game must showcase Procedural Generation and some kind of Permadeath. Your game does not have to be a “true” roguelike, whatever that is.

   Various interpretations of permadeath are acceptable:

   1. “Strict” -- lose everything when your character(s)* die, and a fresh world is generated.

   2. “Mild” -- you lose all progress/items/xp/etc associated with your specific character(s)*, but some progress carries over to the next ones (Rogue Legacy),

   3. “Strict w/ Unlocks” -- when your character(s)* bite it, you lose everything, but you are allowed to work towards and keep certain unlockable milestones (Spelunky, Binding of Isaac, FTL).

      *"Character" is just used as a convenient shorthand. Your game doesn't have to have "characters" in the traditional sense.

 

SPIRIT OF THE RULE:
However it’s interpreted or applied, the whole point of mixing permadeath with procedural generation is to remove the “just memorize the level by playing it over and over again” strategy.

 

2. No ripped or unlicensed art/audio assets. You must have the proper rights to use whatever appears in your game. Obviously, freely licensed, public domain, etc, art/audio assets are totally fine (and encouraged!) You can find lots at OpenGameArt, IndieGameMusic, the FreeSound project, or make your own sounds with BFXR.

   See the resources page for some suggestions!

3. Closed source games, flash games, etc, are fine. We’re trying to give attention to OpenGameArt, but this time the rules are different from the Liberated Pixel Cup.

4. If you want to use assets or code that you started working on before the jam’s start date, that’s okay, but we do insist that you make them available to everybody else via open source or permissive licensing (non-commercial use is fine), to avoid having an unfair advantage.

5. You are allowed to submit your PDJ entries in other jams overlapping this one, such as 7DRL, CyberPunk Jam, and vice versa, though we strongly encourage you to make sure they fit the rules of the jam, so that you don’t over-burden the judges with borderline or incompatible entries.

6. You may enter as many games as you like, provided they follow all the rules. (We really recommend you focus on just one though!)

7. We reserve the right to decline submissions that are hateful, pornographic, illegal, or otherwise offensive in nature, at our sole discretion

   1. We don’t plan on stomping all over your free expression

   2. Don’t test us by submitting overtly horrible shock stuff.

8. VOTING

   1. Voting is restricted to people who have submitted at least one game. Submitting multiple games does not give you additional voting power.

   2. Voting is done by approval vote, where each entrant may vote for up to (25%) of the games in each category.