The Spring 2026 Edition of the GameJam is 2026 Apr 10–18.
For this GameJam competition, your teams must choose your own adventure! For each of the four categories below, your team must choose one constraint that you must impose on your game.
| Genre | Visuals | Mechanics | Controls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top Down | 2/4 Colors Only | Only One Main Mechanic | One Button Only |
| 2D Platformer | Low Res Everything | Opposing Mechanics | Two Buttons Only |
| Puzzle | No Art (Shapes Only) | No Direct Control | Split-Screen |
| Fighting | Abstract Representation | Reversible Actions Only | Rhythm-Timed Inputs |
| Real-Time Strategy | Procedurally Generated | Delayed Feedback | Trackball Only |
| Point & Click | No Visuals (Audio Only) | Hidden Rules | Must Use Both Sticks |
| Day | Time | Euler | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kick-off | Fri, Apr 10 | 6:00pm | 217 | Welcome. Rules. Constraints. Form Teams. |
| Playtesting | Fri, Apr 17 | 6:00pm | 217 | Playtesters will play games and give feedback. |
| Soft End | Sat, Apr 18 | 7:00pm | 217 | Game dev should stop. Game info is updated and game files are uploaded. Presentation dev begins. |
| Hard End | Sat, Apr 18 | 8:30pm | 217 | Game updates and uploads closes. Clean and reset lab. |
| Presentations | Sat, Apr 18 | 9:00pm | 109 | Presentations and live play begins. Judging and awards to follow. |
All Taylor students are invited, from any major, not just CSE students or programmers. Freshmen are encouraged to participate. Bringing friends is also welcomed.
Listed below will be the judging criteria.
NOTE: novel, human-created content (code, visuals, audio, etc.) will be given extra "points".
- good interaction with GameJam theme
- fun to play
- completeness of game with proper UI (title screen, etc.)
- incorporate novel visuals
- incorporate novel audio
- arcade-ablility (does it feel like an arcade game)
- iterative design that incorporates playtesting
- implementation difficulty
The games will be played on the Taylorcade during the presentations. Ideally, the games should be designed to use the controller inputs, so the games can be loaded onto the Taylorcade for play after the GameJam, but the games may use a full keyboard or USB controllers (ex: XBox controller). Teams will have the opportunity to test their game with a couple of controllers that mimic the Taylorcade's controller. Dr. Denning has an X-arcade Tankstick game controller that has two controller sticks, lots of buttons (20+), and a trackball (see image below). Mr. Rob Cartwright donated an X-Arcade Dual Joystick controller to the CSE Department which is like the Tankstick but without the trackball. See arcade game guidelines for more details.
Any included artwork, sounds, and music must be permissibly licensed! No copyrighted material! (ex: CC0 or CC BY 3.0 are good licenses)
The relevant rules for the upcoming GameJam are:
- You may use any permissible (CC0 and the like) graphic assets, sound effects, music, fonts, etc. No copyrighted media.
- You may use any engine, but know that the games will be submitted here and judged from a Windows machine. You will have a chance to test your game on the machine throughout the contest.
All code for the GameJam must be started from scratch on Friday at 6pm! You are free to try out ideas before then (ex: try out various mechanics), but you must recreate that code from scratch after 6pm on Friday. Talk with me if you have questions!Coding for this competition may start immediately after the constraints are announced!Each team can have a maximum of 2 coders, but may have any number of artists, musicians, writers, etc.Teams may have more than 2 coders for this competition.- All game development should end and presentation development and submissions should begin at the competition's Soft End at 7:00pm on Saturday.
- Submissions close at the Hard End at 8:30pm on Saturday.
- Game presentations for the audience and judges starts 9pm on Saturday.
Play testers are Grace Bolton, Scottie Housholder, and Drew Nye.