SA GAME JAM is an annual competition proudly sponsored by Free Lives with the aim of encouraging more South Africans to make games!  The jam will run here on Itch.io from 2-5 October 2026.  We invite game devs of all levels to enter this exciting competition and stand a chance to win a share of over R70 000 cash!

You can enter as an individual or team.  You are allowed to use whatever tools you like and use pre-existing code/sounds/art/assets where it helps you but if you use assets you are required to disclose them.

Whether you're a pro game developer or just starting out, SA GAME JAM is for you. The competition is open to South Africans at any level of experience so enter NOW!

Please indicate in your submission what level you're participating in (student, hobbyist or professional), and whether you would like to be considered for the diversity prize.

Overall Winner: R20 000

Student (currently studying in any field): R10 000

Hobbyist (not working in the game development industry): R10 000

*Diversity: R10 000

Best Art: R5 000

Best Audio: R5 000

Technical Excellence: R5 000

Best Narrative: R5 000

Best Humour: R5 000

1. Competition starts on 2 October 2026.

2. Deadline for entries:

4 October 2026, 18:00 SAST for 48 hour entries. 

5 October 2026, 18:00 SAST for 72 hour entries.

(Please note in your entry whether it is a 48 or 72 hour project)

3. You can enter as an individual or as a team.

4. To be eligible to win any of the prizes, your team has to play and give feedback to five other entries by Monday, 12 October 2026.

5. Use whichever language, tool or development system you are comfortable in.

6. Your game must contain all files needed for it to run and should not require other bulky systems to be downloaded or installed, exceptions are browser plugins like Flash and self-contained DLLs distributed with the game.

7. While any fixes post-jam will be taken into account, the version submitted at the time of the deadline will be played and judged, so make sure it is PLAYABLE WITHOUT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION NOT CONTAINED IN THE GAME.

8. Competition is only open to entry for South African residents. You must be living in South Africa and have an active SA bank account.

9. You retain all copyright to your work.

10. The illegal use of copyrighted material will not be tolerated. Do not steal!

11. All risk or liability in case of copyright infringement or other legal issue resides with the entrant, Free Lives and The Playtopia Foundation take no responsibility for entered games.

12. The judges’ decision is final and no negotiation will be entered into.

13.  AI is allowed, but not encouraged. Just like with premade Asset Packs, we want participants to disclose how they used AI - because we want to be able to evaluate what was made during the jam, and who made what, and because we won't be offering prizes to any low-effort prompt-artistry.

In the event that the deserving winner of a category won the prize as a result of significant use of AI tools, we will consider offering an additional prize to the best performing team who did it without any AI.

The mission of SA Game Jam is to increase the number of games made in South Africa. While it’s true we want to continue supporting foundational game development skills (like coding and digital painting), we recognise that increasingly game developers are incorporating AI into their workflow, and we aren't going to be excluding developers based on their choice of tools. 

We recognise there is a tension between game developers who are excited to explore the opportunities these new AI tools offer, and game developers who feel that these tools threaten their craft, or find aspects of their origin or their potential ethically repugnant. It is not within the remit of SA Game Jam to resolve this tension. But we can ban anyone who cannot find it in their hearts to be tolerant and nice to fellow South African game devs who are exploring this awesome career/hobby/artform in a way that is different to their own.

*This prize aims to reward devs from marginalised groups (women, people with disabilities, people of colour, LGBTQ+ folks, Indigenous people, etc). At least one member of your team must belong to such a group in order to qualify for the Diversity prize.

The theme will be announced at the start of the jam.

Winners will be announced on Friday, 30 October 2026.

BE SURE TO JOIN OUR OFFICIAL  DISCORD FOR SA GAME JAM!