Welcome to the February 2026 Edition of the Eternal TTRPG Jam! 

This is a game jam for TTRPG designers to test ideas, experiment with concepts, and maybe find their next big idea! Every month there will be a new Jam with new themes and challenges. 

Hosted by Rowan Sender

Come join the Discord!!

There's also the Reddit if you're so inclined.

Follow the Jam's Tumblr

Theme: Zine Month

Zine Month: February is Zine Month! This theme has come back around to the Eternal Jam. Most themes for the jam are subjective: proscribing the content of the games being made (though often broad enough for many interpretations). Zines are a formal theme: offering up the final shape of the thing and asking the designer to work backwards to any ends they see fit. Now is the time for experimentation in subject. Think about the benefits that the format gives you. How will people interact with it in their hands. What affordances does that allow you as the designer? If ever there was a theme to make that game where you must destroy it in the process, now is the time!

HERE is a tutorial on how to construct several different forms of zines. Zines often find their home in counterculture movements, fanworks, and other subcultures where DIY publishing may be the only way to ever share your ideas. The format allows almost anyone to produce a physical object of art and communication at home. It is a personal favorite of mine, and honestly the impetus for this entire project. As always, I'd like to shout out ELECTRIC ZINE MAKER, as another Itch maker that created a very nifty tool for making zines. Thanks to Rihwi on the discord for pointing me towards this tool that automatically formats PDFs into zine format!

As of the February 3rd, we are officially one year out from the first Eternal TTRPG Jam. It's been a long and interesting year full of learning. I'm very grateful for everyone that's been involved and everyone I've gotten to meet because of this. Here's to another year of games!

Optional Challenge: Play Testing

Play testing: Play testing is a portion of the design process that is often overlooked because of the format of this jam. Since this month's theme lends itself to fairly small games, there may actually be time to test your game! Whether it's in person, or on the Jam's Discord, run your game before the month is through.

This challenge goes along side a push across the server to get more people playing games. Bez has been doing a great job running games consistently for most of the past year, but the play space here is open to everyone. Since zine games are naturally fairly small, now is the month for some new people to jump in and start playing. Playing games is an important part of designing them. Hop in, make your pitch and gather some players. Even if you're not up for running something yourself, you could always sign up to be a player in another person's game!

Rules

• Your project should be made within the time of the jam. Ideas from before are fine, and it's totally okay to develop after the end, but the bulk of the work should be done during the jam time.
• Keep it short! The point is to not kill yourself on this one project. Loosen up, follow your creativity, and maybe you’ll land somewhere you wouldn’t have otherwise.
• This jam is focused on new games and experimentation. Revisions, updates, and new editions are allowed.
• No AI generation of any kind. Text, images, ideation. None of it. You’re better than that. What are we doing here?
• Charge what you like! I encourage pay-what-you-want, but it’s your call!
• Label adult, NSFW, and violent content appropriately. 

FAQ (Presumably)

What is the Eternal Jam?

This jam is a continuous series of jams that run until the heat death of the universe (aspirational). Every month has a new theme and an extra challenge for designers. The idea is that it’s always here, so even if you don’t have time or aren’t interested in the theme of the month, you can pick it up on the next one!

What is the point?

The Eternal Jam is meant to be an outlet for experimentation within the TTRPG space. These projects are supposed to be tiny, quick, and creative. Most probably won’t be fully fleshed out. But every so often, the spark of an idea will catch and a new project will be born from the breeding ground of the Eternal Jam.

Is the challenge required? 

No! The challenge has and always will be an additional wrinkle meant to put pressure on your designs. Engage with it as much or as little as you like. Use it as a lense through which to view you design.

What kind of content is allowed?

Anything, in theory. Explicit content should be tagged appropriately, but other than that: games, settings, waxing prose masquerading as playable content. Really anything goes.

Format?

One pagers, micro-zines, booklets, a loose collection of notes. It really doesn’t matter. It should be small ideally. The original idea was handmade zines, so it should fall somewhere around there. Check out Electric Zine Maker if you want a cool tool!

Art?

I don’t know. I think it’s art, but who am I to say? 

Draw it yourself. Use creative commons images. I don’t know, make a collage? Are crayons still a thing? You’ll figure it out, I believe in you.