The Challenge 

"Heavy board game boxes and bloated, 40-page rulebooks are nice—but true design elegance is squeezing a massive gaming experience onto a tiny, highly restricted physical canvas."

Welcome to The Toner-Saver Showdown, a game jam dedicated entirely to print-and-play minimalism, budget home printers, and tight, tactical mechanics. Your goal is to build an engaging, deep tabletop experience while respecting the player's ink and paper supply.

The Constraints 

To qualify for voting, your submission must strictly adhere to the following four pillars:

• The 2-Page Canvas (Up to 4 Pages Total): Your entire game—including rules, maps, tracking sheets, boards, or card layouts—must fit on a maximum of two sheets of standard Letter or A4 paper. You are welcome to use the front and back of both sheets (giving you a total budget of 4 pages). 

• Toner-Saver Friendly: Absolutely no "ink-sink" artwork, solid black backgrounds, or heavy dark textures. Your file must be text/line-forward, high-contrast, and optimized to consume as little home printer ink or toner as possible. Grayscale optimization is heavily encouraged. 

• Player Count: Your game must be designed strictly for 1 Player (Solo), 2 Players (Duet/Co-op/Versus), or feature a dedicated mode for both.

• Household Components Only: Aside from your 2 printed sheets, players should only need common household items to play. Think: a standard deck of cards, standard six-sided dice (d6), coins/tokens, a pencil, or a pair of scissors.

Voting Criteria 

When submissions close, the community will rate games based on:

• Ink Efficiency: How cleanly is the file optimized for a cheap home printer?
• Mechanical Depth: Did the designer squeeze a massive experience out of tiny rules?
• Tabletop Usability: Is it easy to cut out, read, and play on a real table?
• Player Flow: How smooth and engaging is the solo or 2-player loop?

The Prize  

The top three community-voted games will receive the Host’s Choice Feature. They will be permanently curated on the Soul Art Toys library homepage inside a special "♛ The Monochrome Masters" collection backed by a mini-review spotlighting their mechanical brilliance!

Rules & Code of Conduct 

This jam enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy against hate speech. We want a safe, inclusive space for all creators.

Prohibited Content

Games containing or promoting any of the following will be immediately disqualified and removed:

• Racism & Xenophobia: Slurs, harmful stereotypes, or prejudice based on race, ethnicity, or nationality.
• Bigotry & Hate Speech: Discrimination or dehumanization based on religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or disability.
• Harassment: Bullying, targeted attacks, or malicious behavior toward any participant or group.

Enforcement

• Reporting: If you spot a violation, report the game or contact the organizers immediately.
• Organizer Discretion: We reserve the right to remove any submission or community post that violates the spirit of these rules.

 Heavy or dark themes must be handled respectfully. Using sensitive topics purely for shock value or to glorify bigotry will result in an immediate ban.

Need Inspiration? Check Out This Example! 

If you are looking for a great reference for what we are trying to achieve in this jam, take a look at Cinder & Ash by soulartoys.

It is a nice example of a solo print-and-play game that perfectly hits the brief:

• Ink-Saving: The entire game fits on a single, clean sheet of paper with no heavy, ink-bleeding graphics.
• Low Components: It requires very few extra pieces to play, making it highly accessible.
• Deep Gameplay: Despite its minimal footprint, it delivers an engaging, complete single-player experience.

Give it a look to see how much game you can pack into a lightweight, printer-friendly design!