WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

This game jam is exclusively for the local game dev community in Iceland. If you're a GMI community member currently living outside of Iceland, you're welcome to join but this jam is not open to the general public. 

Please note that submissions that don’t relate to the theme or are mass-submitted to several jams will be removed. 

JAM SCHEDULE

• Theme is announced and jam starts: 12:00 on November 20th
• Jam ends: 16:00 on December 4th
• Voting opens: Right after the jam ends
• Showcase event: 17:00 on December 4th (venue TBD)
• Voting ends: 20:00 on December 8th
• Winner announced: Evening of December 8th

HOW IT WORKS

The jam runs for 2 weeks to support different paces. Want to build something big and ambitious? Go for it! Just want to jam a few evenings? That works too You’ll get two full weekends to create. Do as much or as little as you like - just make something you're excited about! We will announce the jam theme publicly at the same time as we kick it off so you can get to work that same day.

THEME

The theme this year is Folklore. Check out this video for some inspiration: 

 HOW TO JOIN

• Create an itch.io account
• Submit your game to the official jam page before the deadline
• That’s it! Your game will then be a valid entry

IRL EVENTS 

This time, we won’t be hosting an in-person kick-off event due to the Reykjavík Game Summit. However, as always, we’ll come together at the end of the jam to celebrate and showcase everyone’s amazing creations!

If you can’t make it to the showcase event, don’t worry - you can still participate fully. Attending in-person events is completely optional, though we do encourage it because it’s a great way to connect and have fun. We also understand that it’s not possible for everyone, and that’s totally fine!

COMMUNICATION & COMMUNITY

We will have a few different posts open on the #gamejam channel on the GMI Discord. Join the discussion to share what you're working on or to find teammates! We strongly encourage teaming up with others as it makes the jam more fun and productive.

TOOLS & RESOURCES

• All engines are allowed
• You can use third-party assets
• You may use your own pre-existing assets

TIPS & TRICKS

Join the conversation on Discord! Participating with the community makes the jam way more fun. Check out the #gamejam channel.

Cut scope. Focus on a tight, clever idea - the best jam games are simple and polished. This really cannot be overstated. The key to a good jam experience is to figure out early on what the core of your game idea is and focus on delivering on that core. Everything else you add on top is extra. This is especially true for larger teams who often believe that because they're big, they can do way more - but don't forget that project managing the game gets more complex as the team grows in size. We've seen that the ideal team size has about 4-5 people max (but there are no rules for team size!). 

Use the time flexibly. The 14-day window is meant to give you space to work on a game jam game and live your regular life, not to encourage crunch. Please don't overwork yourself or burn yourself out. This is meant to be fun, and creatively rewarding!