This is Sprint 3 of Climate Jam 2026.

The Sprint 3 intro session will be held at the Sprint 3 start time listed above on Zoom.
Zoom meeting room link HERE.

OVERVIEW
In this sprint, you will build out your project into a playable game, swap out placeholders with final assets, and playtest, playtest, playtest.

Implement what you’ve learned from the first two sprints. As you build your game, keep in mind how every individual decision can further complement and enhance your game's core mechanics, themes, and call to action.

By the end of Sprint 3, you should:

• Have all core content / levels in the game.
• Be at a point where no new functionality will be added, just refinement, tuning, and bug fixes.
• Be ready to have your game playtested by people outside of the Climate Jam community.

It will likely still be unpolished, unstable, and may contain significant bugs, but it will be getting close to being releasable. Testing and QA will find the major issues.

Things to consider during the first week of Sprint 3:

• Make it exist first, make it good later. Done is better than perfect.
• Prioritize your project's most necessary and essential elements.
• Avoid getting sidetracked by less essential elements and bonus features, even ones you really like.
  
• Does your production process have any bottlenecks to watch out for? Is there a way to resolve them?
  
• Are you on schedule to complete your project by the deadline? Do you need to cut anything or refocus?
  
• Does everyone on your team know what their personal responsibilities and deadlines are?
• Are you keeping the Climate Solutions Rubric in mind?
• Playtest often, at least within your team and with other Climate Jammers.
• Backup your project files!

Additional things to consider during the second week of Sprint 3:

• Keep building up your project's strongest and most distinctive aspects. 
  
• In the current state of your project, does your inclusion of "real science" and "a solution-focused call to action" feel too vague/unclear OR too clunky/heavy-handed? How might you better balance them out?
• Does any aspect of this project feel disconnected from the rest? Can you adjust them to make the gameplay experience more cohesive?
• If you have time, consider circling back to those less essential (but still beneficial) elements and bonus features.
  
• What kind of player feedback will be most helpful as you complete your project? What questions should you ask?
  
• Playtest often. Invite other jammers, friends, family, anyone you can think of who might provide useful input.
• Backup your project files!

SPRINT 3 CHALLENGE
Submit a playable game.

For purely digital games:
Upload your build, provide a link to your build, or make it playable in-browser on your project page.

For non-digital and alternative format games:
Provide print-and-play materials and/or play instructions, if possible.
Also provide a video clearly demonstrating how the game is played. We recommend that your video includes voice-over or text that explains the core mechanics, physical components (if any), the gameplay loop, etc.

Optional Stretch Goals:

• Provide a feedback form for players to complete. Design it so that you receive the most relevant input for the current build of your game. This will be used during the review period for this sprint. Include a place for general comments and questions from the players. Here's an example of a player feedback form and a Peer Reviews session from Climate Jam 2025 (logistics and other details in this video may be out-of-date or irrelevant to this year's jam).

• During this sprint, post at least once to the #works-in-progress channel on the Discord server! These can be images, short clips, amusing development anecdotes, and more.

For Sprint 3, your itch.io project page needs:

1. A playable build of your game.
   See details above for submitting non-digital and alternative format games.
2. (Optional stretch goal) A link to a player feedback form.

SCHEDULE
All dates and times listed below are in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).

• July 15: Sprint 3 Begins (10:00 AM PDT)
• July 27: Sprint 2 Submission Deadline (11:59 PM PDT)
• July 28: Review & Feedback Period

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR SPRINT 3 MATERIALS
Submit your Sprint 3 materials through this jam page, not the main Climate Jam page. Only submit once per team/project. 

If you submitted a a project page for Sprints 1 or 2, you can simply update that itch.io page for Sprint 3 before submitting.

Plan to submit early. If you experience last technical issues, or won't be able to submit before the deadline for any reason, contact the organizers in the #jam-support channel on Discord before the deadline.

When you submit you will also be asked for:

1. (Optional stretch goal) A link to a player feedback form.
   
2. Team Name
3. Primary Team Contact
4. Whether this team includes any IndieCade Game Design interns (and their names)