GGJ2026
Main Theme
Mask
https://youtu.be/ERV-CM6OnRQ?t=601
The video above is both the keynote and the theme reveal, and the URL should automatically jump you up to the theme reveal’s timestamp at 10:00.
Sponsored Diversifiers
Outgrow Hunger (G4C Student Challenge Theme)
Design a game where players care for a natural space that feeds and supports a community.
https://learn.gamesforchange.org/themes/outgrow-hunger
Additional Info from the Games For Change Student Challenge Website
The Issue:
Where do you connect to nature? Maybe it’s a park, garden, or forest. These spaces aren’t just beautiful, they’re essential. They grow food, support wildlife, and help communities thrive. But they need care. This year’s challenge invites you to explore how local ecosystems—urban or rural—are part of global food systems. How can we protect and nourish these spaces to ensure everyone has access to healthy food? How can nature help us build a more resilient, equitable, and hopeful world
The Game Design Prompt:
Design a game where players care for a natural space that feeds and supports a community. Whether it’s planting crops, protecting pollinators, or sharing food, players will take actions that show how ecosystems help fight hunger and build resilience. The game should highlight how local environments connect to global food systems and how small actions can make a big impact. Inspire players to explore, protect, and grow their world.
Own the Road (G4C Student Challenge Theme)
Design a game that inspires safer behaviour in and around vehicles and reduces the risks of being on the road.
https://learn.gamesforchange.org/themes/own-the-road
Additional Info from the Games For Change Student Challenge Website
The Issue:
Road safety isn’t just about rules - it’s about real lives. Every year, millions of people are injured or killed in preventable traffic incidents, and car crashes are a leading cause of teen death. But what if you could help change that? Road safety encompasses a wide variety of topics, including urban planning, driving distracted or under the influence, understanding unsafe road conditions, and many more. We need YOU to help increase safe practices in and around vehicles and reduce risky driving behaviors so that our roads and communities are safer for all!
The Game Design Prompt:
Design a game that inspires safer behavior in and around vehicles and reduces the risks of being on the road. Whether you’re taking the perspective of a city planner, a driver, a pedestrian, a biker, or even a car manufacturer, your game should educate, engage, and empower players to make smart, life-saving choices on the road.
All in for Nature: Reefs & Rainforests (G4C Student Challenge Theme)
Design a game that tells the story of a reef or rainforest under threat, and how to protect it.
https://learn.gamesforchange.org/themes/all-in-for-nature-reefs-rainforests
Additional Info from the Games For Change Student Challenge Website
The Issue:
Reefs and Rainforests are like the Earth’s superheroes; they protect us by cleaning our air and water and giving us food, medicine, and they even help us fight climate change. But right now they’re disappearing fast, and only a tiny part of them is protected - just 15% of land and 8% of ocean. Both ecosystems are home to incredible species, ancient wisdom, and some of the planet’s most magical places. It’s crucial that we protect 30% of both ecosystems by 2030 to keep our planet healthy. People have stood up to protect these ecosystems before and now it’s your turn to make a difference.
The Game Design Prompt:
Get inspired by the world around you. Focus on a reef or rainforest close to your home, one that you’ve always wanted to visit, or a fictional place that you imagine yourself in. What are the issues that affect this ecosystem, and what are the solutions to its survival? Think of grassroots, citizen-led campaigns that have made a difference in the past. What if your game could make someone feel the wonder of a reef or hear the heartbeat of a rainforest? Design a game that tells the story of a reef or rainforest under threat, and how people unite to protect it.
Cross-Platform Play (Sponsored by Xsolla)
Design your game to seamlessly adapt across platforms; PC, web, or mobile. Core gameplay stays consistent while UI and controls adjust based on the device.
Cubes (Sponsored by Unity)
Think outside the cube! Or inside the cube? We don’t know - just use some cubes! Squares, boxes, and real-time tri-dimensional objects are welcome too. It’s hip to be squared when you incorporate cubes into your game design or mechanics.
Fragrant Frontier (Sponsored by OVR)
Stop and smell the in-game roses. Utilize the OVR Unity or Unreal plug-ins to create a game where the primary game mechanic relies on scent or the clear visualization of scent.
https://www.ovrtechnology.com/
Build It in UEFN (Sponsored by Epic Games)
Create your game using Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). If you want some extra creative XP, try incorporating one or more of these ideas: Try an alternative camera perspective, such as first-person, top-down, side-scroller, or a mix; add multiple vehicles; use explosives in a way that shapes gameplay; or include an NPC interaction that changes the player experience.
You get an Avatar, and you get an Avatar! (Sponsored by Genies)
Use the Genies Avatar SDK for Unity to give every player in your game a unique, customizable digital identity. If you’re feeling ambitious, try modifying gameplay based on the outfits or individual clothing of the avatar! More info:
https://go.genies.com/ggj-diversifier
Accessibility
Hands Off
The game is played without the use of hands.
Out of Sight
Create a game that can be played by both sighted and blind players.
Art
Life isn’t black and white
At the start of each playthrough, the game randomly selects a colour palette that determines the visual style of environments, characters, and UI elements.
The World is Alive
Even stationary objects have some animations.
Masterpiece
The game culminates in the production of a piece of art that can be displayed on a wall.
Audio
Let’s Jam!
Playing the game involves generating music driven by the players’ actions.
Code
Cartridge Ready
Your game should be under 10 MB.
Random encounter
Make the game around procedural generation.
Design
Many hands make light work
Make a game that’s meant to be played with four or more players.
It’s about time
Your game relies on altering the flow of time as a key mechanic.
Meta
Strangers Thing
No one on your jam team has worked together before
Take a Walk
The game can be played (safely!) outside while walking
Something Borrowed
Create a tabletop game that features some materials borrowed from other jammers
Diverse
Include a total of three or four diversifiers in your game, including this one!
Narrative
Stay Local
Incorporate something uniquely tied to your region’s culture or traditions.
A rolling stone gathers no moss
Your player never stops moving.
Undefined Language
All in-game text, symbols, spoken words, and written language must use a completely made-up language.