Game jams

• Zoud GameLabOnline

  Oct 15 - Nov 15, 2026 · Online

  open now · ends in 24 days

  Month-long virtual game jam for games that teach financial literacy; winners are announced mid-December.

  Organizer

  Zoud (UAE National Financial Wellbeing Initiative) and Global Game Jam

  Prizes

  Up to $140,000 in prizes and development funding

  gamesfintecheducationchecked 2026-10-20

• Mini Jam 222: EnchantedOnline

  Oct 23-26, 2026 · Online

  starts tomorrow

  72-hour, prize-free online game jam with the theme Enchanted, part of the recurring Mini Jam series.

  Organizer

  Mini Jam (ZahranW)

  gamesbeginnerschecked 2026-10-20

• GitHub Game Off 2026Online

  Nov 1 - Dec 1, 2026 · Online

  starts in 10 days

  GitHub's month-long game jam. The theme is revealed Nov 1, source code must be in a public GitHub repo, and community voting runs to Jan 1.

  Organizer

  GitHub

  gamesopen-sourcechecked 2026-10-20
• GDevelop BIG Game Jam #10Online

  Nov 6-15, 2026 · Online

  starts in 15 days

  Nine-day online jam by GDevelop with judged cash prizes from CrazyGames and community awards.

  Organizer

  GDevelop

  Prizes

  Cash prizes from €100 to €400 for top 5, plus vouchers and subscriptions

  gamesno-codechecked 2026-10-20
• Godot Wild Jam #99Online

  Nov 13-22, 2026 · Online

  starts in 22 days

  Nine-day monthly online jam for games made with the Godot engine.

  Organizer

  Godot Wild Jam

  gamesopen-sourcegodotchecked 2026-10-20
• Metroidvania Month FinaleOnline

  Nov 16 - Dec 16, 2026 · Online

  starts in 25 days

  Month-long online jam for making metroidvania-style games.

  Organizer

  Falcon Nova

  gameschecked 2026-10-20
• Pixel Forge MEGA JAMOnline

  Nov 28 - Dec 8, 2026 · Online

  starts in 37 days

  Ten-day online game jam with cash prizes for the top three plus sponsor gift cards and software licenses.

  Organizer

  Pixel Forge (fiscally sponsored by Hack Club)

  Prizes

  $600 cash for top 3, plus gift cards, credits and licenses

  gamesstudentschecked 2026-10-20

• Godot Wild Jam #100Online

  Dec 11-20, 2026 · Online

  starts in 50 days

  The 100th edition of the monthly Godot engine game jam, running nine days.

  Organizer

  Godot Wild Jam

  gamesopen-sourcegodotchecked 2026-10-20

• Global Game Jam 2027Hybrid

  Jan 25-31, 2027 ·

  starts in 95 days

  World's largest game jam at hundreds of local and virtual sites; each site picks a 48-hour window within jam week.

  Organizer

  Global Game Jam

  gamesbeginnerschecked 2026-10-20

• Brackeys Game Jam 2027.1Online

  Feb 14-21, 2027 · Online

  starts in 115 days

  Week-long online game jam run twice a year by the Brackeys community; the theme is announced at the start.

  Organizer

  Brackeys

  gamesbeginnerschecked 2026-10-20

1. 1. Before

   Read the judging criteria and the sponsor prize list first; pick the tracks you can win, not the biggest one. Set up your stack, API keys and a deploy target (Vercel, Railway, Fly) the day before.

2. 2. Team

   Three or four people: one on the backend and integrations, one on the frontend, one on the demo and the pitch. Agree on the idea in the first hour, then stop debating.

3. 3. Scope

   Build one flow that works end to end, not five half-features. Mock anything that is not on the demo path, and use sponsor APIs where they genuinely help (that is how many prizes are judged).

4. 4. Demo

   Judges see your project for 3 to 5 minutes. Open with the problem in one sentence, show the live product, end with what is next. Record a 2-minute backup video in case the Wi-Fi or the API fails.

5. 5. Submit

   Submit early with a README, screenshots, the repo link and the video, then keep improving. Late submissions are usually not accepted, even by a minute.

6. 6. After

   Ship it: put the project online, write a short post, and launch it on DevHunt. Many hackathon projects get their first users that week.

Pack: laptop and charger, a power strip, headphones, a phone hotspot as backup Wi-Fi, ID (in-person events check it), and a free LLM key or two from our free LLM API list.