Once again we have wracked our brains and developed some excellent community submission to create the 2019 GGJ Diversifier list!
We hope these will get you fired up and excited about the Global Game Jam in just over a weeks time.
With big thanks to the following people for helping to make this possible: Alex Camilleri, Sarah Cole, Rebecca Fernandez, Ian Hamilton, Eddy Léja-Six, Daniel Linssen, Shalev Moran, Tim Stobo, Claire Wilgar and Sagan Yee.
Together they helped to come up with an excellent list, along with all of you who responded to our open call for diversifier submissions this year.
Diversifiers are a great way to add a little more fun or challenge to your jam weekend. Sometimes they can be very helpful to limit your scope or refine your ideas. They are totally optional constraints you can choose to add to your GGJ19 game alongside the main focus of the theme. It can help your game stand out from the crowd, and you can choose up to 4 when you submit!
This year's diversifiers will also be available in other languages, which will be linked to this post as soon as they are avalible.
Sponsored
Power of Community - (Sponsored by Mixer) - Make a game where community impacts your game. Players, viewers or streamers can enhance the game, change the outcome, or be a unifying force.
Forgive and Fortify - (Sponsored by iThrive Games) - Create a game that explores how forgiveness strengthens those who practice it. (Forgiveness kits in English, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic)
Always Room for One More - (Sponsored by Origin Access) - Make a game where new players can join at any time.
Use the Source, Luke - (Sponsored by GitHub) - Use one or more open source tools, game engines or libraries in your game (and thank them in in the Technology Notes section on the submission page).
Party Maker - (Sponsored by AirConsole) - Use AirConsole to make a computer game that uses smartphones as controllers (learn how do to this here).
Puzzle design challenge - (Sponsored by Red Bull Mind Gamers and The Tetris Company®) - Make your game around, or inspired by a real world toy you have played with in your lifetime. (For more information, see here)
Language-Independence - (Sponsored by Valve Software) - Create a game that can be understood regardless of which language the player speaks
Accessibility
Let me show you how it's done! - Make a game that is accessible to or represents your own disability, or that of a member of your team, in the way you feel all games should address it.
Celestial - An option to adjust game speed is included
Keep it simple - Make your game playable by people who can use no more than a D-pad plus 2 buttons, with hardware like an Xbox Adaptive Controller in mind.
It is dangerous to go alone, take this! - The game makes use of one or more system/OS accessibility APIs (PC, iOS, Android, and Xbox).
Art
Thomas Wasn't Alone - Use only simple shapes (cubes, triangles, circles, etc.) to represent every single element (characters, HUD, etc.) inside the game.
In Ink - Use only black and white colours in your design. There should be no other colours, not even grey.
Art of Sharing - You and another team must share art assets, without seeing how the other team uses them.
Audio
Mind over matter - Add a voice over narration to the gameplay
4′33″ - Your game must draw attention to the natural soundscape of the environment in which the game is being played.
Scale With A Song - Your game must last exactly the length of a single music track.
Code
Assetless - Create all visuals programmatically or in the scene editor, and avoid any importing of image files, sprite sheets, 3D models etc.
Mixed Media - Make a physical game that utilises computer code.
Under the Hood - Make some or all of the code visible in your game.
Design
Super Secret Stash - Feature a hidden room within your game.
This is where we came in, right? - Make a looping game and have the player start at a random point in the storyline.
Bolter is jammed! - Make a game where the main action is obviously missing. (platforming game with no jump, shooter without weapons, etc.).
Sticky Finger - The game begins when you place your finger on the screen, and ends when you take your finger away.
In a webpage - Your gameplay is hidden in a seemingly normal web page.
The Guide I was looking for - Your game has a supplementary guide, using a different medium than the game itself, that players must refer to to beat the game.
Ephemeral - Make a game that can only be played once by each player.
Narrative
Meanwhile - The story of your game takes place on the backdrop of a seemingly-more significant story. While the real heroes fight evil, what happens elsewhere?
Wanderlust - Your game tries to awaken interest in travel and visiting new places, with a focus on your home town.
Russell’s Teapot - The aim of the game is to prove something unprovable.
20-XIX - Celebrate 2019 by using 19th-century prose and poetry as your narrative inspiration.
The Ancient Folk - The game must include ancient traditions and locations of a community.
Meta
Public Domain - Incorporate inspiration from one of the works that became public domain in 2019.
Recycle! - Instead of making a brand new game, start from an existing GGJ game from a previous year, made by someone you don’t know. Improve it and take it in a new direction.
Happy Anniversary - Your game should incorporate 2018's theme (Transmission) as well as 2019's theme.
ADL Identity Framework - Use this framework to explore how to use games and game design to explore identity and better understand yourself and others. (Created by Dr. Karen Schrier and the Anti-Defamation League).
Protect the Oceans - Incorporate elements into your game to raise awareness about marine pollution (Goal number 14 on the UN Sustainable Development Goals).