This jam is now over. It ran from 2021-03-05 05:00:00 to 2021-03-15 13:00:00. View results

Create a complete roguelike game in 7 days!

History and Rationale

Roguelikes are traditionally procedurally generated RPGs in the mold of Rogue, with turn-based interactions in a grid-based environment, where levels are procedurally generated each play-through and death is permanent. 

In 2005, the roguelike community established a yearly event, the 7DRL Challenge, in which developers are challenged to create a roguelike in seven days. This allows one to have the shared misery of knowing you are not the only one tracking down a bad pointer at the 167th hour. The annual event occurs during a week in early March. 

7DRL Challenges are NOT about being a fast coder, but rather proving you can release a finished, playable roguelike to the world. There is no winner of the challenge, but rather all those who finish are honored for their work, the criterion is completeness.

There are many interpretations of what a roguelike is which may serve as a guide. However, 7DRLs may bend or even break these interpretations in the name of Innovation. 

Event rules

  • You CAN use external libraries, game engines, pre-existing code/algorithms, pre-existing art, etc. You can even start your game from an existing game if you are planning to turn it into something unique. If in doubt, be clear what resources were reused.
  • The goal is a finished and reasonably polished game: not the prototype of a game. Watch your scope!
  • Likewise, the goal is a new game, not just another week of work on an existing game.
  • It is allowed and recommended to have a rough design idea of your project before starting

How to participate

  • Join the jam here at itch.io to show your intention to participate!
  • Pick a start time on Saturday or Sunday in your timezone. Start coding at this time! Note the countdown is likely before your possible start date: this is because we support all timezones.
  • 168 (or less) hours after starting, submit your entry on the portal. 
  • You can mark your entry as Successful or Incomplete, based on your own judgment of how complete your game is. There is no prize for success or punishment for failure, so use your own judgment if your game is Done and Polished.
  • The challenge window is always Saturday to Sunday; if you start after Sunday you will have less than 168 hours as in-challenge 7DRLs must be completed by the closing time.

Time frame

The 7DRL Challenge has special rules regarding timing, so the normal itch.io counter is not accurate. 

  • You have max 7 consecutive days to work in your game.
  • The date you pick to start working must be between March 6 and March 14 in your local time.
  • If you start on or after March 8, you must submit before March 14 end of the day, so you might have less than 7 days to work on your entry.

Resources

  • libtcod, rot.js, jsrl and T-Engine are all dedicated roguelike libraries/engines which can be very useful for completing a game within the week.

Other info

Previous Challenges

Up to 2021, there had been sixteen annual 7DRL challenges.