Text Adventure Literacy Jam

The Text Adventure Literacy Jam is a parser-based text adventure authoring competition that challenges entrants to "Create a TEXT ADVENTURE game suitable for children with no prior experience.".

This jam has a partner jam, "Concurso de iniciación a las aventuras de texto" (rough translation: Text Adventure Initiation Contest), for Spanish language entries, which has a very similar set of rules, but slightly different prize pool, and will have a completely different entries and winners.

This is the sixth "Adventuron" jam, but the first of these jams to accept submissions using any authoring system, providing they adhere to the rules.

Non exhaustive rules include:

• Game must use a VERB NOUN parser.
• Game must report to the player if they use more than 2 complex words (some transitional words (such as 'the' are permitted at author discretion, hard two word rule is recommended).
• Game must have integrated tutorials teaching standard text adventure concepts such as (getting, dropping, examining, taking inventory, navigation, as well as hand hold at least one verb noun puzzle solution).
• Game must not use irrational or diagonal directions.
• Game must be playable by using the keyboard alone but also permits touch/mouse/gamepad or voice inputs as secondary control methods.
• Game must be suitable for children.
• Search and examine are synonyms (English language only rule).

• English language (for Text Adventure Literacy Jam_=).
• Spanish language (for Concurso de iniciación a las aventuras de texto).

Organised by Chris Ainsley, author of Adventuron.

The Spanish version of the jam is co-organised by Juanjo Muñoz.

Competition Schedule (Text Adventure Literacy Jam)

• 10th February 2021 - Competition website opens for intents to enter.
• 25th February 2021 - Game submissions are accepted.
• 31st March 2021 - Entry Period closes, judging period starts.
• 4th May 2021 - Judging Period Ends.

Competition Schedule - Concurso de iniciación a las aventuras de texto (Spanish jam)

• 17th February 2021 - Competition website opens for intents to enter.
• 25th February 2021 - Game submissions are accepted.
• 31st March 2021 - Entry Period closes, judging period starts.
• 4th May 2021 - Judging Period Ends.

Links

• Text Adventure Literacy Jam Website.
• Concurso de iniciación a las aventuras de texto Website (Translation: Text Adventure Initiation Contest).
• Adventure Games Podcast, discussion of future jam concept, in May 2020.
• Excalibur Sword of Kings TALP, reference TALP implementation, April, 2019.
• The Text Adventure Literacy Project, blogpost launching the text adventure literacy project, July, 2019.
• The Text Adventure Literacy Jam, announcement on intfiction.org, Feb 10, 2021.
• Adventuron Classroom Online browser editor/authoring tool.

... banner image by Mark Harrison, copyright of Adventuron Software Limited (used with permission here).