In addition to joining the game jam through itch, please fill out the registration form linked above so we can properly award prizes should you or your team win!
The Big Byte Game Jam is an annual game jam where creators make unique interactive experiences using a theme related to cultural ideas, perspectives, issues relevant to members of various Diasporas, over a 1 month (4 week) period.
Part of the Culture Bytes jam series, this game jam is held in collaboration between the organizations listed below:
Melanated Game Kitchen is a collective of BIPOC game creators focused on the creation and curation of unique interactive experiences revolving around culture while growing in our craft. Their growing collective of artists, designers, programmers, music creators, producers, and more skilled creators can help you take your creative work to the next level.
Black in Gaming is a thriving community committed to fostering, empowering, and amplifying Black professionals within the video game industry. Since 2002, their mission has been to actively create avenues for education, leadership development, and skills enhancement for Black individuals in gaming.
Share on socials with the hashtag #bigbytejam to generate hype and find team members. During the jam, we'll reshare screenshots, video uploads, and blog posts of jam games while you're working on your games.
The theme will be revealed on at the Kickoff event on June 1st. Please see the Jam Schedule section below for more details.
Ingredients are additional ideas related to the Creative Theme to help focus your creativity. They will be revealed along with the theme during the Kickoff event on June 1st.
The jam's main food dish is Okra Stew. Okra is a vegetable found throughout dishes all across the African Diaspora and is said to originate in Africa.
For our Culture Bytes jams, we always feature a food dish. The food dish connects to our Creative Theme in a way that directly ties the theme to the diaspora. Food connects us together. Explore details about the dish to get inspired for your game and in you own kitchen.
+ Bonus Points to your game if you feature the food dish in your game in a fun way.
You do not need to form a team before the jam starts. During the Kickoff event on June 1st, there will be opportunities to mingle with fellow jammers in the Discord server and form teams then. However, if you do have a team in mind already and want to form ahead of time, that's totally fine!
This jam is open to both digital and analog interactive experiences – choose the medium that excites you!
This jam is for creators of all relevant skills and experience levels, regardless of whether you have made interactive experiences before or not. Writing, art, design, music/sound design, programming, playtest expertise, etc. There will be mentors in the discord that can help out when you need.
We highly recommend submitting your in-progress game even if you don't finish over the course of the jam, as you can always submit a more complete version later. And we love to learn more about what everyone worked on! We hope to share everyone's progress, regardless of full game completion, during our closing showcase stream.
We will have professional developers play the games and select their favorite games for our prizes and prize pool. Winners will be announced through our social media channels and the discord server.
Games will be ranked against the following categories:
We will also have participant voting to determine Player's Choice winners.
For one week after the jam ends, people will be able to rate your game against the three categories mentioned above.
Everyone is eligible to rate games. Games will be available to play on the itch.io page after the jam ends.
Those who submitted or contributed to a game will be able to judge whichever games they like. Others can vote, but it will be random voting.
Location: YouTube
Jam Kickoff, Theme Reveal & Team Forming
Location: Discord Server
Location: Discord Server
Meet-up with jam participants and check-in on your progress in the mid-jam hangout session.
Location: Itch.io Page
Location: Discord Server
Showcase games and live interview sessions with jam teams.
Location: TBD
We're playing every game on stream!
More resources coming soon~. Join the discord for early access to more resources.
Visit our Game Jam Guide to find even more tools, resources, and free assets. See a sample below as well.
Thank you so much to our sponsors below for providing funding and promotion for prizes and other jam resources!
Jams & Joysticks is music, sports, pop culture and everything video games available on Twitch, YouTube and various podcasting platforms. From gaming, game development, animation, story creation and the opportunities and inspiration behind it all, Jams & Joysticks has something for everyone.
Plus Arcade is a creative studio powered by community, culture, and bold ideas. They specialize in event production, design consultation, and hands-on workshops for the gaming and creative media world. Whether it’s throwing unforgettable gaming parties, hosting indie showcases, or helping creators level up their vision, they're here to make magic happen.