It can be hard to accurately assess your own theme. After all, YOU have a good idea for it. Likewise, it can be hard to tell if others' themes are nice after only a minute of contemplation. Luckily, I think I've got two simple (and quick) strategies to tell if a theme is likely to be well received.

• Oops, All Squares-- Try to think of game ideas where every visual in your game is a square. No characters, no detailed environments, and no story. Just gameplay. This can help you realize if your theme idea lends well to unique gameplay ideas. Themes like "Western" or "Fairy Tale" might not be ideal because they rely mostly on the art, music, and story to convey the theme. Game jam themes that can be fulfilled through gameplay alone are bound to bring about some creative games that would never've been made otherwise.

• Literally Just Tetris-- This strategy is essentially the mirror version of the prior strategy; can you make a Tetris clone, keeping the gameplay unchanged, and still fulfill the theme? This strategy checks if a game could fit your theme using just art, music, story... all the stuff that surrounds the gameplay. Theme ideas that are too meta and relate to the actual mechanisms of games, such as "one level" or "controls reversed" don't lend themselves easily to an art or story focused experience. Of course a good writer can work around an obtuse prompt, but its best to be considerate of their goals when constructing your theme. (I don't recommend actually making a Tetris clone for your game, as ideally your game fits the theme game design wise and thematically, but this is a good exercise to test if your theme suits art- and story-based games).

Some people are here to make an innovative, unexpected gameplay experience, and others wish to flex their artistic muscles to create stunning stories and visuals. Ideally, your theme can fit the desires of both these groups. It would suck to be super excited to make a gipping story using the theme, and then you get "pong-like" or something as your theme, and vise versa.

• Genres Genres Genres-- Try to think of as many ideas as possible and keep track of which genres they are in. Try to get as much variety in genres as you can. Are the majority of your ideas platformers? Is if hard for you to think of an idea that's a FPS? Do your ideas only work in 3D or with a particular art style? If that's the case, it could be good to broaden your theme.

• Avoid Idioms-- It can seem fun to make a game about a certain saying or phrase that you know. However, since people from all over the world and from all different cultures are participating, it's important to recognize that idioms might not translate well and could lead to confusion.

Of course, this isn't gospel; your theme might lean more towards gameplay or visuals and still be good. I just think this is an easy, consistent first step to picking your theme suggestions. I'm excited to see what all your themes are in voting (that's my fav part for some reason lol), and good luck and have fun if you end up making a game!