Game Off is an annual game jam challenging individuals and teams to build a game during the month of November. Use whatever programming languages, game engines, or libraries you like. 

This year's theme is WAVES.

wave /weɪv/

Noun

• A moving ridge on the surface of a liquid (for example, ocean waves or coffee ripples).
• A repeating pattern of motion, energy, or sound (for example, sound waves or radio waves).
• A sudden burst or surge (for example, a wave of enemies or a wave of emotion).
• A gesture of greeting or farewell.

Verb

• To move your hand in greeting or farewell.
• To undulate or fluctuate (for example, wheat waving in the wind).
• To signal or summon (for example, waving someone through a door).

Adjective

• Flowing, wavy, or oscillating (for example, wavy hair).

Acronyms (OK, we made these up)

• Wizards Accelerating Velocity Every Sunday
• Warriors Against Variable Energy Surges
• Whales And Vikings Engaging Submarines
• Or make up your own—we love seeing how creative you get with it!

Need inspiration? Here are a few concept ideas

• A space shooter where you fly through gravitational waves and wormholes.
• A survival game where you build a coastal base and brace for tsunami waves.
• A tower defense game where you battle waves of increasingly powerful baddies.
• A skateboard game where you ride a sine wave, shredding through peaks and troughs. 
• A rhythm game where you catch the beat and ride the wave.
• A racing game where you drift through vaporwave skylines and a totally tubular synthwave soundtrack.
• A physics puzzler where you bounce, reflect, and refract energy waves.
• A remake of a class you enjoyed when you were younger resulting in endless waves of nostalgia.

Whatever form your game takes, whether it crashes, ripples, or totally wipes out… we can’t wait to see it.

1. Sign up. Create a free GitHub account if you don’t have one.
2. Join the jam. Hop onto the itch.io Game Off page. If you don’t already have an itch.io account, you can sign in with your GitHub account.
3. Create a public repository. Store your source code on GitHub—open-source magic at its finest. Push your game before December 1 at 13:37 PST.

After the submission period ends, participants will vote on each other’s games. Entries will be evaluated in the following categories:

• Overall
• Gameplay
• Graphics
• Audio
• Innovation
• Theme Interpretation

Voting will end on January 8, 2026, at 13:37 PST. After 48 hours to review the ratings, the winners will be revealed on January 10, 2026, at 13:37 PST.

New to game development?

Game jams are a great excuse to build your first game, play with a new game engine, or learn a new language. There are plenty of free, open source and “source available” engines to explore. Here are a few suggestions for some popular languages:

• JavaScript: you might be interested in Phaser or Sprig.
• Python: check out Pygame or Godot (Godot uses GDScript, which is similar to Python).
• C++ or C#: look at Godot, Unity, and Unreal Engine.
• Rust: you might like Bevy.
• Java: take a look at libGDX.
• Flutter: take a peek at Flame.
• Go: you might want to look at Ebitengine.
• Lua: check out LÖVE or Defold or LIKO-12 (especially if you like retro games)!

The Game Off 2025 Community is a great place to ask questions or look for teammates. There’s also a fantastic and friendly community-run Discord server

New to Git or GitHub?

Game Off is the perfect opportunity to check it out (version control pun intended)!

• Git Documentation: learn everything about version control and how to get started.
• GitHub Help: explore tutorials and FAQs about GitHub.
• Any questions about GitHub? Visit the GitHub Community Forum.

Good luck and have fun! Can’t wait to play, err, test all your games! <3