💀EroHorror VN Jam👻

Make titillating games to terrify

EROHORROR WINNERS:
Orangepeel, Onionskin
Hildred
noise girl

This page can also be viewed on my website: https://gamejams.vnfreaks.com/erohorror2025/ 

(below is the jam page as it was before the winners were announced:)

SPECIAL NOTICE
Are you worried you won't be able to submit on time? I have good news for you. if your game was made for erohorror jam but you miss the deadline, contact me via my email (on the jam page website) or discord DM, and your game can be allowed as an HONORARY SUBMISSION

which means that your game will still be allowed in the jam, on itch, and in a special HONORARY SUBMISSIONS section on the website - however, your game will not be considered for the prize money (but I shall still read and review it). No deadline, but the jam will likely get the most views during October.

I encourage folks to still shoot for the deadline, but I am doing this because I am anti crunch, anti game-dev stress, and pro having more eyes put on these wonderful erohorror games.

Hello everyone! This is a game jam for people who want to make and enjoy EroHorror - which is also known as some other terms, such as Erotic Horror, Horror Erotica, and Dark Erotica. 

If you're unfamiliar, that means that these visual novels will blend together erotic elements with horror elements in their game. This could look like a lot of things, and it doesn't need to involve sex. If it's horror, and it feels titillating in some form or fashion, then that's everything it needs!

However, I'll give a few examples to get the gears turning: EroHorror could be about a classic for the genre - being seduced by a vampire. It could be about fucking a monster of all different kinds. It could be about the horror (and thrill) of being kidnapped and put into a basement. It could be about falling in love with a serial killer. There are so many different places to take the idea of EroHorror, so please, run wild with the idea.

While this jam isn't only for queer stories, there is definitely a lot of ways to explore queerness through monsters and horror. So please, to my fellow queer freaks, don't hold back just because this isn't only for the gays. 

I'll be reading through all of the entries, and selecting 3 favorite games. Each team who is selected will win, gasp, $200 USD! Yes, this jam has gained an anonymous sponsor!

Also - I will be hosting downloads to the jam entries of the game on my website! With the way things have gone in recent history with itch, I want a way to ensure the games are available for download even if other methods go down. If you want to opt out of this, you are more than welcome to, but its my own way to help keep the jam entries safe for future players.

Want to team-build or chat with other people joining in the jam? Here's a discord link for all the jams I run

📝Rules for Stories:

1. If there is something that you think is erotic or titillating to the story, and you think there is a horror element, then that is enough. I'm not here to police the entries and say "this isn't erotic enough" or "there isn't enough horror". Have fun and stay in the zone of the theme, and that will be plenty.
2. EroHorror is a very wide term. I gave a few examples, but there is a lot that the topic covers. That said, I would like to explicitly say NSFW entries are allowed, and entries with heavy topics are allowed. In fact, I expect that many of them will be in one of those categories, and look forward to it. Similarly, I am sure I will enjoy the softer EroHorror as well.
3. Be mindful of harmful stereotypes or games that come off as malicious towards the reader; There are no specific things that are off-limits, however I may disqualify entries based on our own judgement. (E.g., a game that treats suicide or self-harm as cheap shock value instead of telling something interesting with it.)
4. While there are many ways to take the horror element, and while this isn't a jam only about queer horror, I still want to say: No games that promote bigotry. BE NICE.

🖥️🤓TECHNICAL RULES:

1. Ren'Py is HIGHLY PREFERRED, however any engine/framework which can create visual novels that are playable for all win, linux and mac are permitted.
2. You can submit your game to multiple jams, as long as they meet the requirements. It is also ok if your game was made for a different jam - as long as it was made during the time allowed for this jam.
3. All members involved in a team and the game jam have to be legal adults.
4. This is an unranked game jam, however I will be picking three of my favorite entries.
5. There will be no ETA for when the judging will be complete. It will depend on how many entries I get.
6. No paid games as submissions. Once the judging has concluded you are free to do what you want with your submission.
7. This jam will accept entries with NSFW, heavy and uncomfortable themes, but they are meant to be tagged appropriately.
8. While development should take place within the jam time frame, the usage of pre-existing free to use, public domain, creative commons, etc. resources is allowed and encouraged.
9. The usage of generative AI for your submission is forbidden. If you personally don't think you're very good at a particular artistic endeavor (e.g., art, music, writing), I would still rather see your best and most sincere attempt than generated assets.