Welcome to IndieCritical Summer Jam 2025

A 10-day global game jam for developers who want to make something weird and bold.

This jam is hosted by IndieCritical, a publication and video channel built to put indie games first. We don’t cover polished marketing bait. We spotlight the stuff AAA wouldn’t touch: raw ideas, strange systems, games that actually say something.

This jam is part of that mission.

Whether you’re solo, in a team, or just curious to try a jam for the first time, this is your space to:

• Break rules and build something unfiltered
• Work fast, smart, and strange
• Finish something small and surprising
• Get noticed by a platform that actually gives a damn about indie devs

The theme will be revealed when the jam begins. 
You’ll have 10 days to build whatever it inspires in you: emotional, experimental, funny, broken, beautiful.

We’re not here for safe. We’re here for interesting.

🥳 THEME FOR THE INDICRITICAL SUMMER JAM 2025

The prompt is: 

"It's not what it seems"

HAVE FUN!

📅 Dates

• Start: August 06, 2025 @ 00:00 UTC
• End: August 17, 2025 @ 23:59 UTC
• Voting End Date: August 27, 2025 @ 23:59 UTC
• Theme reveal: At jam start (August 06)

💬 Discord

Join the jam channels on Discord: https://discord.gg/bAQahStvyx

#️⃣ Socials

Follow us (optional):

• X : https://x.com/IndieCritical
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@IndieCritical
• Our website: https://indiecritical.com/

🛠 Rules & Guidelines

• You can work solo or in a team of any size
• One submission per person only 
• Teams can only post a team submission, not individual submissions on top of that
• Use any engine
• Use of AI art is prohibited
• Web builds are mandatory (more accessible = more plays)
• You may use pre-made assets, as long as you credit them
• Games must be made during the jam period
• No hateful, offensive, or NSFW content
• Include instructions on your project page
• Results will be given after the voting period

🧠 Judging Criteria

Submissions will be judged by the IndieCritical team and community based on:

• Creativity: How bold, weird, or original is the idea?
• Execution: Does the core concept shine through?
• Emotional Impact: Does it leave a mark?
• Theme Interpretation: How well did it embody the theme?
• Judges Choice: Selected games can be weighted a bit by judges!

🏆 Prizes

Judged by IndieCritical judges and the community (Payment via PayPal) 

• Winner: $100 + full IndieCritical video spotlight and written coverage on our website + sharing on social media
• Runner-Ups (2nd and 3rd place) : $50 + written coverage on our website + sharing on social media
• The top 10% best games will be added to a video spotlight on our channel https://www.youtube.com/@IndieCritical

All finalists receive:

• IndieCritical Itch.io badge
• Highlighted in a recap video and article
• Included in a post-jam video or stream & playlist