All rounds and events will begin/end at 16:00 CEST/GMT+2 until 25th of October, then switching to 16:00 CET/GMT+1 by default.

The Historically Accurate Game Jam is a friendly video game-making competition with historical themes, generally taking place twice a year.

In previous jams, we've covered themes such as the Famous Assassinations, Cold War, Your Country's History - and you get to vote for what comes next! Challenging yourself to make a game that has historically accurate roots can be surprisingly fun. 

Why don't you give it a try?

Join our Discord Community if you would like to exchange ideas/thoughts on historical themes in games, or want to find teammates for the next HAGJ! 

WINNING PRIZES

Winners of the Overall and Historically Accurate categories will be showcased on our Official HAGJ Collections, forever! You can check them out anytime at the bottom our jam's profile. 

Winners of the Overall category will also receive bragging rights with the "Guests of Honor" (temporary, until the next jam) and "Cross of Valour" (permanent) server roles in our Discord Community!  

We're on the lookout for additional winning prizes! Do reach out to us if you would like to be our next sponsor!

THEME VOTING ROUNDS

• Theme Suggestion Round: 24th September - 1st October 2026
  Submit your theme idea for the next jam. These ideas will be vetted and released during the next round.
• Top 10 Themes Voting Round: 2nd - 8th October 2026
  Pick two themes from the released theme list to influence the Top 10 Theme list!
• Final Voting Round: 9th - 15th October 2026
  Pick two themes from the released theme list to help finalize HAGJ13’s theme!
• Submission Period: 16th - 25th October 2026
  Make your video game while following jam rules and submit your jam entry!
• Rating Period: 25th - 30th October 2026 
  Rate and leave constructive feedback on submitted entries in order to get ranked!
  This paves the road to decide the winner and help us all learn from the experience.
• Winner Announcement: 31st October 2026
  Winners will receive their prizes, be announced, and showcased on all relevant community spaces!

GAME RATING

• Overall - Your average rating, based on the other criteria.
• Gameplay - How well does the game play? Consider fun factors, difficulty scaling and options.
• Visuals - How good/polished does the game look? Has the developer produced unique visual assets that work well for their project?
  Do those assets help reflect the historical setting?
• Audio - How good/polished does the game's soundtrack and/or SFX sound? Has the developer produced unique sound effects that work well for their project? Do those assets help reflect the historical setting?
• Thematic Relevance - How relevant is the game is to the current theme? How well was the theme applied to the overall game and gameplay?
• Accuracy and Authenticity - How well does the game reflect actual historical events and processes? Does it feel authentic to the historical time period it represents? How has the developer selected which parts of the past to include in the game, and does that provide a good representation of the history?

RELEVANT JAM WIKI POSTS

• What Kind of Themes Can I Suggest?
• How is the Game Jam Theme Chosen?
• How do I Research the Theme for my Game?
• How Historically Accurate Does My Game Need To Be?
• How Do I Get Reliable Material on my Game Topic?
• Is Pre-Made/AI Content Allowed?
• What Game Engines May I Use?
• What Kind of Games am I Allowed to Submit?
  
• How Do I Submit My Game?
• Who Needs To Be Credited?
• How Do I Rate Other Submissions?
  
• Can I get Disqualified/Banned from Participating in HAGJ?

HAGJ'S RULES 

Browse through any of the links, to read further on the topic

• Video games must be created within the jam period. 
• Entries containing overly sexual/politically controversial content, or games irrelevant to the theme of the jam will be disqualified. 
• Free/pre-made assets may be allowed within discretion. 
• You may use any (non AI-native) game engine to make your video game. 
• No AI Allowed - We want Historically Accurate Game Jam to explore human ideas of and interactions with the past. We therefore ask that you do not use generative AI of any kind at any point in developing your game. This includes but is not limited to generating assets and code, bug-fixing and asset modification, and using it for historical research purposes.
• Teams can only include up to 6 core members. Contributions from people outside the limits of the team are allowed within reason. Everyone must be credited on the team’s submission page.

CODE OF CONDUCT

 Applies to both the jam, and the HAGJ communities on itch and Discord. 

• Please be polite and treat others with respect. 
• Mature themes are allowed, but outright sexual content or overly realistic depiction of extreme violence and abuse is not. Mature themes should be handled in a way that is sensitive to and thoughtful regarding the historical people and cultures involved. Games not following this rule will be promptly removed from the jam's submission list. 
• Please add a trigger warning if you think you have content that may include disrespectful or sensitive material.
• Please don't hesitate to reach out and ask questions if you need any clarifications or help, especially if you think your game contains any edge cases!

THANK YOU!

• Tuile, for the standardized art, community announcement posts, and for hosting the jam in general. 
• Jubal Barca and Mateus Boga for providing their unique insight.