Event details When Submissions open through Sat., Nov. 7, 2026, 11:59 p.m. PT Where Online, through itch.io (TapTap for developers in China) Cost Free to enter Join the jam The theme of the second thatgamejam is a piece of music. thatgamecompany released it with the announcement video on Oct. 24 and gave entrants two weeks, until Nov. 7, to turn what the track makes them feel into a game. Any genre counts. The rules say outright that nobody has to make a music or rhythm game, or even put the track in their entry. 0:00 /0:49 1× The thatgamejam #02 announcement, with the theme track. The full recording is on the jam page. Video courtesy thatgamecompany. The track was composed by Jason Grace, and the full recording is free to download from the jam page. Anyone who uses it has to use it unmodified: no remixes, no samples. A cover or an original score is fine. It is a fitting prompt for the studio behind _Flower_ , _Journey_ and _Sky: Children of the Light_ , games built so that strangers feel something together without a line of dialogue. Jenova Chen, the studio's CEO and creative director, said in the announcement that the studio picked a theme you hear because "sound doesn't need translating." The jam follows the September launch of thatgamepublisher, which we covered as _Sky_ money going toward other people's emotionally ambitious games. Five cash prizes total $10,000: Best Overall ($3,000), Best Gameplay, Best Visual Design and Community's Voice ($2,000 each), and TapTap's Choice ($1,000). Studio staff review every entry and Chen evaluates the finalists. The community vote runs on itch.io from Nov. 8 to Dec. 11, and winners are announced Dec. 22. Killscreen covers games that start from a feeling instead of a genre, and the people making them far from the big storefronts. The free newsletter brings them to you. Get the free Radar

A rhythm game where you play the song by jumping through it.

⌨️ Game Jam tomorrow: thatgamejam #02💜 (starts Oct 24, 2026 UTC)

A game jam from 2026-10-24 to 2026-12-12 hosted by thatgamecompany. thatgamejam is a global game jam hosted by thatgamecompany that spans two weeks. It is a gentle, welcoming space for developers of a...

A game jam from 2026-10-24 to 2026-12-12 hosted by thatgamecompany. thatgamejam is a global game jam hosted by thatgamecompany. It is a gentle, welcoming space for developers of all backgrounds to cha...

thatgamejam Is back with sound as the focus.

This article has been curated by Reconnect, the games writing discovery platform.

THATGAMEJAM IS BACK! thatgamejam #02 Invites Developers To Turn Sound Into Play Hear it. Feel it. Turn it into play. thatgamecompany’s independently organized global game jam opens October 24 with an ...

Thatgamecompany, the developers behind Journey and Sky: Children of the Light, have announced a second iteration of its "thatgamejam" event. The event will start on October 24. On October 24, thatgamecompany will launch the prompt, which it describes as "a short audio track meant to stir something in every developer who hears it. Developers of all skill levels are invited to listen closely and translate how they respond to the sound into gameplay and worlds of their own." It notes that participants are not required to create rhythm or music games.

A game jam from 2025-12-20 to 2026-02-05 hosted by thatgamecompany. thatgamejam is a biannual game jam hosted by thatgamecompany. It is a gentle, welcoming space for developers of all backgrounds to c...