Is it alive? Is it dead? Can't it be both?
Welcome to Crashtober 2026, a Halloween game jam celebrating BASIC, questionable physics, impossible states, spooky things in boxes, and cats with deeply uncertain life expectancies.
This year's theme is:
What that means is entirely up to you.
Maybe your game is about something that exists in two states at once. Maybe the world changes depending on whether you're looking at it. Maybe the player doesn't know whether an event has happened until they open a door, flip a switch, check a coffin, investigate a suspicious noise, or make a choice.
Maybe your haunted house is both haunted and not haunted until somebody opens the basement door.
Maybe the monster is alive and dead.
Maybe you are.
Or maybe you just make a game about a cat.
The theme is intentionally broad. Interpret it literally, metaphorically, mechanically, narratively, philosophically, or with complete disregard for responsible quantum mechanics.
There is just one additional requirement:
It's Crashtober, so give it at least a little Halloween spirit.
That doesn't mean your game has to be horror. Ghosts, monsters, pumpkins, costumes, witches, skeletons, autumn nights, creepy laboratories, haunted spaceships, candy, supernatural nonsense, or simply a spooky atmosphere all count.
If someone can look at your game and say, “Yep, that's vaguely Halloween,” you're good.
The only real question is:
What's in the box?
Your game must be created using a variant of BASIC.
That's it.
Crash BASIC? Absolutely.
QB64? FreeBASIC? PureBasic? BlitzBasic? Visual Basic? Something wonderfully obscure running on hardware older than some of the contestants?
All welcome.
If you can reasonably call it BASIC, you're invited.
This isn't exclusively a Crash BASIC jam. The goal is to make something, have some fun, and celebrate a family of languages that has been helping people turn ridiculous ideas into working programs for decades.
AI-generated or AI-assisted art and music are allowed in Crashtober 2026.
There is one absolute requirement:
You must be honest about it.
If AI was used to create or substantially modify artwork or music in your game, your submission must clearly disclose that fact. You don't need to apologize for it or justify it. We just expect participants to accurately represent how their game was made.
Please include a short note on your game page identifying:
AI use beyond art and music is not preferred for this jam, but will be permitted. Using AI to generate game code, mechanics, level design, story/dialogue, or other substantive parts of the game will result in sad kitties.
The reason is simple: this is a BASIC game jam. We want to see your BASIC skills, your problem solving, and the interesting ways a human developer can push the language.
Part of the fun is seeing what people can make with BASIC itself: clever tricks, unexpected mechanics, strange technical choices, and solutions that reflect the person who wrote them. We want to judge the game you built, not the code an AI built for you.
AI can help supply some of the paint and music.
The game itself needs to be yours.
If you're unsure whether a particular use falls within the allowed category, ask before submitting.
We need to be able to run and judge your game.
At minimum, your submission must be playable on Windows 11.
A native Windows build is great, but it is not required. If your game needs an emulator, interpreter, runtime, compatibility layer, or any other additional software, your submission must include clear instructions explaining exactly what is needed and how to run it.
If your game targets an older or unusual BASIC environment, that's completely fine, just make sure we can actually get it running.
Web builds are strongly preferred whenever possible.
If your game can be launched directly from its itch.io page in a browser, that's the easiest and best option for judging.
In short:
Please test your submission before the deadline. A game that exists in a superposition of working and not working may be thematically appropriate, but it makes judging difficult.
Your submission should:
Team entries are welcome.
Existing libraries, engines, tools, art tools, music tools, and reusable code are fine. The goal isn't to reinvent PRINT from first principles.
Pre-existing assets are also permitted, provided you have the right to use them.
Most importantly:
Submit something.
Game jams are about finishing weird little experiments, not spending three weeks polishing the pause menu.
$25 Starbucks Gift Card
And, if the winning game was made with Crash BASIC, the winner will also receive:
One year of Crash BASIC Studio
$10 Starbucks Gift Card
Bragging rights, quantum uncertainty, and the emotional support of an imaginary cat are included at no additional charge.
You do not need to use Crash BASIC to participate or win.
However, if the first-place entry was created with Crash BASIC, its creator will receive an additional one-year Crash BASIC Studio license.
Want to give Crash BASIC a try for the jam? Go for it.
Already have another favorite BASIC? Use that.
The important part is making a game.
Keep submissions appropriate for a general game-jam audience.
Don't submit work you don't have permission to distribute.
Don't intentionally sabotage, harass, or interfere with other participants.
Don't worry about whether your game is impressive enough.
A finished 10-minute game with a bizarre idea is infinitely more interesting than the revolutionary MMORPG still living exclusively inside your head.
Make it strange.
Make it spooky.
Break things.
Finish something.
And remember:
Until somebody plays your game, there's technically a non-zero chance that it is both excellent and completely broken.
Happy Crashtober.
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