Halloween jam 2026

Game Development Writing and Content
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Well, I suffered an electrical storm that fried my pc. So I lost a lot of work, so I had to start the jam today, and the cover and all that is gone… Yay…

But the theme is ready for people who want to join.

This year I decided to go for a topic open, but more focused than previous editions. And a theme more young adult, even if I can see it used for more mature topics as well.

As always. No AI-GENERATED BULLSHIT.

There is no price to win, and the goal is having fun writing stuff, learning about coding and finishing projects. Using AI serves none of those goals.

Deadline

The jam would start today and run until 31st October 12:00 pm GTM +1

Rules

The game has to have MEANINGFUL choices on it. Can be only be an ending, but has to branch based on player choices.

It has to have a minimum of 2k words.

Has to be written on an engine that allows select choices and is playable online.

If the game is for mature audiences has to be warned beforehand to me to see if it is allowed, as it is a jam that has been enjoyable for the general public so far, and I want to keep it that way.

The game has to be kept private until the end of the deadline. If the writer needs a private beta test. I will organise one privately.

The game has to be new and original. Not being published before. After the end of the jam, the author can do whatever they want to their work. However, the game can’t be removed during the voting week.

The voting week would start just before the end of the deadline.

And of course, the game has to follow the theme of the jam.

This Halloween Jam theme is....

Isekai, Poison and Ai overlords

So, I want to hear everyone’s opinions about the theme. And I remember everyone the same, I say every year. Think outside the box. Experiment with it. And have lots of fun!

37 Likes
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Oof. Sorry to hear about your PC. That’s awful.

Sounds like an interesting theme with lots of creative possibilities.

I probably shouldn’t attempt this with everything else on my plate, but I think I’ll give it a shot.

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The minimum is 2k, a small game. It doesn’t have to be big. In fact, small games usually do well in the voting poll.

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Haven’t done this jam before, so apologies if I’m asking something obvious. Anyway, some questions.

Can I run my own WIP thread for the game, as long as I do not share a public link?

Do I need to use all three, or just one theme? Do I need any kind of Halloween theme for the game?

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The theme is the three. The goal and challenge are to see what the writers can do to interpret and integrate all.

For instance, I can even imagine A poisonous AI virus that is an Isekai. Or the AI overlord being the good person chill in their world, and a Poisonous individual appears from who knows where and starts screaming that we are evil.

Or poison can be the name of The AI, etc… As I always say, thinking outside the box is important.

About WIP, yeah, you can do a thread, but you don’t put links. You even can do snippets always there aren’t playable or too spoilers.

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This song is what directly inspired the theme. I was wondering what theme and A ha had just appeared on my random playlist.

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this is a fun theme!! i’m already thinking a kinda satirical/dark comedy vibe would work well for it.

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I haven’t gotten any idea yet, we’ll see what happens.

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You have lots of time to think about it. I like gave several months to helping people to a Learning to plan in a non stressful deadline and B, to give margin to even try several projects and see what stuck

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I’m ruminating on something which should fit the theme nicely.

On long drives with my daughter we play this game where we pick three random words and have to tell a story on the spot and weave the words into the story somehow. So in many ways this feels very familiar!

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Yeah. In fact, most of my jams themes, I choose words from a random generation of Halloween-themed words. That or like this year with songs as inspiration.

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This seems fun, good luck all! I have awful one-track-writing syndrome, I can’t write something else when I have so much left of Pactbinder to get through, but I wanted to chime in and say these were super fun prompts - an idea jumped into my head basically fully formed at reading the theme, so kudos for that.

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Is this redemption? It must be

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Can I use one theme or do I have to all all three, if this was already stated then I should read more.

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Yep, all three:

So, how you incorporate each of them is entirely up to you.

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Ai hivemind, posion that forces people in the hivemind. player isekai’ed into the world. boom.

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@Hamartia I tend to do that as well. However, if you want to participate, I always encourage people to try the one-day challenge of the 2k game. Really, that’s the reason I always put the 2k word limit.

If, in a year, I achieve several small entries, I would do a small section for them. I love short games in jams. They are fun!

@Fraud_Writer That hive mind thing sounds great.

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it is indeed interesting and fun, need to decide how I will handle the isekai thing and if I want the player to control the hivemind or avoid it.

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Could be a good choice for the player. It gives me the final of Mass Effect trilogy vibes lol

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I kinda want to Isekai the AI into a setting that usually wouldn’t have any :no_mouth: Like, sure, it’s usually the protagonist that gets hit by a bus, or whatnot, but why not be on the other end?

6 Likes