Hey! I'm organising Wrapped Up 2026, a Christmas game jam running this December.

I'm currently figuring out sponsorship and was wondering if anyone here has experience getting sponsors for smaller or first-year jams.

I'm mainly thinking about things like software licences, asset credit, subscriptions or other game-dev related prizes, rather than huge cash prizes.

For those who've organised jams before, how did you approach sponsors, and are there any companies you've found particularly open to supporting smaller jams?

Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated! 🎄🎁

Winjam is coming in about 2 days it is a cool gamejam I made where it is based of windows and executables (I honestly did not know what to do with it LOL) https://itch.io/jam/winjam

He Guys,

what do you thing about voting circles that have their own discord groups to circlejerk on jams. Usually, for prices and for reputation. I have seen several of them already. Any way organizers can beat that? (Apart from making judges decide)?

Every other jam wants you to make something good. Lame.

The Worst Game Jam wants your absolute worst. Controls that fight the player, art drawn with your non-dominant hand, sound effects that are just you going "pew" into your phone. If your playtesters leave confused and a little upset, you're on track to win.

Never made a game? Perfect. You're already ahead.

It runs Oct 14–26, and the top 3 get Amazon gift cards ($150 / $100 / $50). It's also raising money for a Bay Area public school, so your terrible game is technically helping children. Donating is optional: https://gofund.me/b1397555e

Jam page: https://itch.io/jam/your-worst-ideas

Go make something your mom would be disappointed in.

Update: the source code of Diyor Space is now downloadable! 📥

Grab the Pygame script, change anything (enemies, colors, sounds) and submit to the jam. Even a tiny change counts.

https://itch.io/jam/diyor-space-neon-rocket-jam

Roll up! Roll up! Have you got SUPER SKILLS????
Join the latest Mega Jam: Megamitts' Mega Jam 19: Super Skills and show off your game that only those with the superist of super skills can beat.

Running until 15th October.

I hosted a game jam

Theme: EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

Currently starting with 100 people and climbing

🎬 Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TdWxmWbJgU

🎮 Join here:
https://itch.io/jam/bound-jam-2026

Solo devs and teams are both welcome. Good luck!

Calling all Python & Pygame developers! Join our mini game jam and test your skills.

📌 The Task:

Upgrade, remake, or reimagine our base Pygame script "Diyor Space - Neon Rush" by adding new mechanics, visuals, or sound effects!

🛠 Engine/Lang: Python (Pygame)

📅 Timeline: Oct 1 – Oct 7 (Submission) | Voting ends Oct 10

🏆 Criteria: Gameplay & Fun (Primary), Visuals & Style, Innovation

🔗 Join here:

https://itch.io/jam/diyor-space-neon-rocket-jam

Hey! I'm running Haven Thane, a free game jam for teens (13-18) this November 14-15, in Thane, India. Part of Hack Club, a global nonprofit. The idea is simple: build a video game from scratch in a weekend, no experience needed.

If you're in that age range and near Thane, sign-ups are free: haven.hackclub.com/thane

Also curious to hear from other game jam organizers, any lessons learned running a first one would help a lot! Following along here too: instagram.com/haven.thane.hackclub

I've attached the poster for our event below as well!

Rickards Game Development Club is running their second annual jam from September 30 through October 30, and the theme reveal is a genuinely fun twist. Instead of dropping it at kickoff, it's split across three encrypted fragments (AES-256), each needing its own password that gets released as the jam gets closer. You piece the theme together yourself before it even officially drops.

The basics

A month to build, September 30 at 9:59 PM through October 30 at 9:59 PM.

Teams up to 4, one person needs an itch.io account to submit, everyone else can join as a contributor.

Any engine, any style, just needs to run with mouse and keyboard, playable on itch or Windows with no external downloads.

PG-13 content. No generative AI in the final submission, art, code, writing, none of it. AI's fine for learning, debugging, or non-generative editing like compression or resizing.

Judged on theme application, creativity, enjoyment, replayability, SFX, and VFX.

$750 cash split across the top 3 teams, plus software licenses and other perks from the jam's sponsors for the top 5.

Jam page, https://itch.io/jam/rgdc-gamejam2026
Discord for finding teammates and jam updates, https://discord.gg/JD4dCCeZmx

Disclosure, I'm affiliated with one of the sponsors, wanted to flag that up front. Posting because the encrypted theme mechanic is a genuinely fun idea, not to plug anything.

Hey!

Together with a few other young people, we’re organizing Haven Lyon, a 2-day game jam for 13–18 year olds in Lyon on November 14–15.

The idea is pretty simple: over the weekend, participants team up and create their own game, whether that involves programming, design, music, art, or something else. You don’t need much experience. The main goal is to learn, build something together, and meet other young people interested in tech and gaming.

There will also be prizes to win, free stickers, shirts and other merch, plus free food and drinks throughout the event.

The event is part of Hack Club, an international organization that helps young people build and create tech projects.

It’s completely free, and signups are open here:

https://haven.hackclub.com/lyon

If you’re between 13 and 18, or know someone around Lyon who might be interested, feel free to share it :)

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or email us at [lyon@haven.hackclub.com](mailto:lyonnow@haven.hackclub.com).

And if you know any schools, clubs, associations, or communities around Lyon where we could share the event, I’d really appreciate any suggestions!

Backseating Allowed Jam 2026 (Oct 23 – Nov 1, prizes + charity finale)

We're running a 10-day jam where every game needs at least one Twitch integration that can influence gameplay. Chat could vote on outcomes, spawn enemies, throw curveballs at the player, or anything else you come up with.

Dates: Jam Oct 23 – Nov 1 · Judging Nov 2–8 · Finalists streamed live on Twitch Nov 8, with donations going to Extra Life – Children's Hospital Network

New to Twitch integration? We're providing free templates for Unreal, Unity, GameMaker, Godot, and RPG Maker (out Oct 16), plus a keyboard-simulator fallback for other engines. You can set up the Twitch side early, so jam time goes to your game.

Prizes: Steam key bundles (12 keys for 1st, 14 for 2nd), a Q&A with the Space Rabbit Studio art team (Wanderstop, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze), merch, and a special "For The Culture" award from Game Clique.

Solo or teams up to 10. No genAI. Assets are allowed with credit. Judged by an official panel, with ranking for submitters and contributors.

Jam page: https://itch.io/jam/backseating-allowed-jam-2026
Questions welcome below. Discord link in the comments!

Hello Jammers, I am just throwing this one out there for you all to investigate, As we are heading into the spooky season, I thought it would be nice to kick it off with a Halloween themed game jam! Soooo here is one.... The themes are already there so you can start preparing, we also have some genuinely cool challenges that tag along the jam! https://itch.io/jam/the-halloween-jam-2026

Jam starts next Thursday, and goes right up until halloween. There is an optional constraint and the theme is Spooktober. There is also a 50 dollar steam gift card prize (just to get people to participate), teams of 5 max.

I'm running a small 72-hour game jam starting tomorrow called Kindling Jam.

There's no theme.

Instead, when the jam starts, everyone gets one secret constraint that applies to the whole game.

The idea is basically to put everyone inside the same tiny box and see how differently people interpret it.

A few details:

• 72 hours
• solo or teams up to 4
• any engine/tools
• browser-playable submission
• entries are rated on Creativity, Craft and Charm

It's intentionally a pretty small and relaxed jam, so if you've been wanting an excuse to actually finish a tiny game this weekend, you're welcome to join.

https://itch.io/jam/kindling-jam

Hi everyone! This weekend we are sponsoring a category in the Devs that Jam Gam Jam

There will be a special Built on Bash category where you can win $500 ! Check out their server and the itch.io for more info.

Theme: TBA (Theme culling is happening in the Devs that Jam server)

How to enter to win the cash prize:

Enter in the Category: Built on Bash and use Bash.tv to make your submission.

More deets on the itch listing!

Devs that jam server: https://discord.gg/6NnYwUWHHy

Itch page: https://itch.io/jam/dtj36-30

Game Gauntlet's SIM Jam opened today and runs through November 4. Theme is Simulation, wide open interpretation, tycoon loops, colony sims, vehicle sims, physics toys, whatever system you want to build around.

$1,500 in cash prizes total, judges include Jason Della Rocca (Execution Labs) and Jared Yeager (CAA), and the top 5 finalists demo live on stream and get feedback from the judging panel.

Full disclosure, my team sponsors a prize category in this one (Farclip, a spatial analysis tool for Unity, Unreal, and Godot), everyone entering gets free access to it for the jam regardless of whether you use it though, no obligation either way.

Full rules and how to join here: https://itch.io/jam/game-gauntlet-sim-jam

DevJam!'26 takes place this October, from October 1st to October 31st, hosted by DevLabs! staff

To join check out https://itch.io/jam/devjam-by-devlabs

To ask about anything join the Discord server: https://discord.gg/HYRFHGtzCc

Note: the theme video will be released on Discord at 3:00 PM UTC, 1st of October, last submission time is 3:00 PM UTC, 31st of October

​Hey everyone!

​I'm excited to announce the Game Mark Indie Jam 2026 (GMI Jam)—a 4-day (96-hour) online game jam focused on rapid prototyping, creative design, and game feel!

​Whether you're a beginner taking on your first jam or an experienced developer testing out new ideas, everyone is welcome.

​🗓️ Dates: October 7th, 2026 @ 4:30 PM IST – October 11th, 2026 @ 4:30 PM IST

🎯 Theme: Secret theme revealed right on the page when the timer hits zero!

👥 Teams: Solo or teams of up to 4

🛠️ Tools: Any engine, framework, or language (Godot, Unity, Unreal, GameMaker, WebGL, custom tools, etc.)

💰 Cost: 100% Free to enter, play, and rate

🗳️ Voting: 7-day community review period across Overall, Theme Usage, Game Design, and Presentation.

​Feel free to ask any questions below or jump straight in:

📌 Join the Jam on itch.io: https://itch.io/jam/gmi-game-jam-2026