This jam is now over. It ran from 2025-06-21 00:00:00 to 2025-07-07 04:59:59. View results

Welcome to Indie City Allstars, our competitive summer game jam- we're back for ROUND TWO BABY! Bring your A-game as we lay it all out in a Chicago style community throwdown, complete with CASH PRIZES and a POPUP ARCADE AT NIGHT CITY. Competitors are invited to create a single-player arcade game into a competition a committee of judges and Itch.io community votes, culminating in a live pop-up arcade hosted by Night City.

Last year we focused on high-scores- this time around, it's about GOING FAST. All entries must include some form of an in-game timer, as well as recording players' best times (so... a leaderboard, basically).

After the jam’s end, 10 projects selected by committee will be featured as part of a live competition and pop-up arcade at Night City. Prizes will be awarded to first, second, and third places at the event, ranked according to juge's selections. RSVP is required for the showcase!

Winner will be announced at 8:30pm CST at the pop-up arcade. Prizes will be sent out within seven business days via Paypal, zelle, or Venmo (winner’s preference).

For community prizes, you can place your votes here!

Suggested Theme and Guidelines

Some potential guidelines for creating arcade games include:

Minimal Buttons
Easily learned with basically no tutorial
Fun to spectate
Timer function focused
Average play session 30 seconds to 2 minutes

OPTIONAL THEMES ARE:

Beach Hazards
Evil Lizard Wizard
Chicago Style
Ancient Sewers

Schedule

June 20 - 7:00 PM Central Time: Jam begins, optional themes announced! Speed meet in the Indie City Games Discord for team formation.

July 6 - 11:59 PM Central Time: Submissions due, Community Voting opens
July 9 - Officially Selected games announced
Saturday, July 12 | 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Community reception and pop-up arcade (RSVP Required, link up soon) with winners announcement held at Night City

Quick Links

Official Selection

Games must be original and created during the jam period. Asset packs are allowed, with credit to their creators. In order to qualify for the pop-up arcade and competition, games MUST have a timer function and be able to record best times, and should be arcade focused.

All entries will be reviewed by a selection committee. Games qualify to compete for cash prizes at the pop-up arcade via selection by committee, with winners decided by judges live at the event. Games must also submit the jam entry form, and have at least one team member able to attend the pop-up in-person.

Winners for the Steam gift cards are decided purely by community voting.

We want to minimize gatekeeping and encourage community participation across all skill levels. All games that comply with the rules below will be included in the jam page on Itch.io. However, due to limited space at the pop-up arcade and limited availability of prizes, a maximum of 10 games will be officially selected.

Rules for Official Selection

To be officially selected, submissions must fulfill the following criteria:

Game must be submitted to the game jam on Itch.io.
No Ai art of any kind
Jam entries should be original and created during the jam period.
One contact person on the team must submit an entry form.
Games should be designed on an arcade gameplay loop and must include a timer function and be able to record best times.
- Games should have a shorter average session time, encouraging repeated, multiple plays rather than one long play time.
Teams are permitted. Participants may be members of multiple teams but may only be the contact person for a single game. Team members (usernames or real names) must be credited on the game’s Itch page.
At least one team member must be present and able to display the created game for the duration of the pop-up arcade (we will have at least 30" x 30" of table space for you and outlets, you're on the hook for the rest!).
Any externally created assets must be credited with links on the game’s Itch page.
The game must be reasonably functional as determined by Night City and Indie City Games.
If a game is submitted as playable in-browser, it should also include a downloadable version.
Game size should not exceed 2 GB.
The game must be playable without a third-party installer.
Tag your game with icgallstars2025
We reserve the right to exclude showcasing a game if we find it inappropriate for the event.
We reserve the right to disqualify a game for any reason.

Developer Prizes

Prizes will be dispensed on a per-game basis (IE an entry comprised of multiple team members is not eligible for additional prizes). Prizes are as follows:

Judges Selection - Cash: