Make real games out of fake cover art!

Wait, what?



"A Game By Its Cover" is a game development competition based on how people's creative work inspires others to think in new and wonderful ways. In it the TIGSource community made real games out of fake game carts, whose creators probably never imagined would become something real! ( gooeyblob.com )

The original TIGSource competition spawned some amazing games, including Santa Ragione's "Tales of Unspoken World", which they later turned into a full game called Fotonica! There was another competition back in 2012 but somehow it never gained enough momentum after that. We think it would be a shame to just leave this idea behind, so this is an attempt to resurrect that idea.

Unlike its predecessors, this is a jam, not a competition. This means that there are no prizes, no judging and no voting. This is to make sure everyone is welcome, especially people who might not be comfortable competing with others. So relax, make a cool game and have fun!



Prior AGBIC Press Coverage:

Also, check out this video of some of the 2012 entrants which shows the cover art they were based on.

How to participate

Pick a fake game cartridge/disk/box art. (see below) Use it as inspiration and turn it into a real game. Submit your game on time. (optional) Tweet about it!

Guidelines

There are no rules, only guidelines. Go wild.

Your entry should be based on one source image.

More than one entry can be based on the same image, so no calling dibs.

Try to provide a URL to the cover art your game is based on. There's a dedicated field for this in the submission form.

Collaborations are allowed and welcome, of course.

This should go without saying, but you can use any framework/engine you like. Hell, your game doesn't even have to be digital. Yes, you can totally make a board game or a card game or whatever!

Carts / Cover Art Sources

Our primary source, which was also the original inspiration for all of this, is the My Famicase Exhibition, hosted every year in Japan by Meteor. You can browse the exhibitions individually by year (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) or view all carts at once on this Flash site (warning: heavy) or via this mobile site. Update: In case you're having trouble finding a cart that you like, let RAND↻M FAMICASE decide for you.

Additional sources could be for example this photoshop contest, or these. You can obviously use any interesting (fictional) box or cartridge art you can find. Just remember to provide a link or screenshot with your submission!

Any questions? @AGBICjam