No, it has to be 20 seconds or less. Shorter is absolutely fine. What matters is that the whole game fits inside 20 seconds, because that's the whole point of the jam (although we won't be checking games with a stopwatch)

There should be 20 seconds of gameplay, not including titles, menus or cutscenes. You are highly encouraged to minimize these elements or make them skippable to let the player get into the game as quickly as possible.

Yes! We're asking for a complete game in 20 seconds or less but if you want to add more 20-second levels to it, that's fine.

Every play-through or level should be a separate, self-contained, 20-second experience. Don't carry pick-ups or learned skills from one play-through or level to the next. Sorry Mario, you can't keep that fire flower.

Absolutely. Just make sure the default mode is the 20 Second version.

You can use any engine to make your game (but please see the next question).

Your game must be free, playable in the browser and hosted on itch.io (not linked from an external site). You are encouraged to provide downloads for additional platforms.

Yes, most engines have web exporters or tools provided by their communities to help:

Yes! If you don't already have a team, join the Discord server and post in the #team-up channel to find teammates.

We want to see games made by our fellow humans rather than AI. If there's something you can't do for yourself, join our Discord server and post in the #team-up channel. We'll do our best to help you find teammates.

In your game's project page under "AI generation disclosure", indicate if your game does or does not include the output of Generative AI.

1. In your game's project page under description, clearly state what mature content is in the game
2. In your game's project page under Metadata » Audience & Content, check the appropriate boxes
3. In your game, provide a content warning

Additionally, you should make it known if your game contains flashing lights or other effects that could cause seizures.

Yes!

You can submit as many games as you like but if you do, please ensure that they follow the rules and are made to a reasonable standard. Flooding the jam with very low effort entries risks having them removed.

Yes, but please submit it near the end of the jam. Do not submit non-functional games.

By default, yes, but contact a host if you are in this situation.

That's the work of bored-cube, who built it for last year's logo and colours and kindly let us adapt it for 2026. You can see the original in the Discord. Used with permission — thank you!