Kaidan Nights

Game Theme: Japanese Urban Legends

"The kind of story you might hear whispered in a school hallway, hear about during a late-night sleepover, or stumble across in some forgotten old forum post."

Create a short visual novel inspired by a Japanese urban legend. The entire story should take place over one single night, starting off relatively normal before something strange and unsettling slowly begins to happen.

General Rules

• Theme Adherence: Your game must fit the announced theme and the overall genre of the jam (Horror, Gothic, Dark Fiction, etc.).
• Format: The game must be primarily a visual novel, interactive fiction, or heavily text-driven narrative game. Mixing genres (e.g., VN + Point-and-Click, VN + Survival) is completely fine and encouraged!
• Fresh Starts: To keep things fair, the core narrative, script, and code must be created during the jam period.

Assets & Content

• Premade Assets: You are allowed to use free or legally purchased third-party assets (music, sound effects, sprite packs, fonts, backgrounds) as long as you have the proper license and give credit in your game description.
• Content Warnings: Because this is a horror jam, you must include a clear Content Warning (CW) list on your game page and at the start of your game if it deals with heavy, sensitive, or highly graphic psychological/physical themes.

Teamwork & Submission

• Team Size: You can enter solo or work in a team of any size. There is no limit on team members.
• Submission Deadline: All entries must be submitted before the countdown timer hits zero. Late submissions will only be accepted under extreme technical circumstances (contact a mod before the deadline ends).
• Keep it Playable: Please ensure your game has a working build. A web build (HTML5) is highly recommended for visual novels, as it dramatically increases the number of people who will play and vote on your game!

Voting & Criteria

After the submission window closes, a public/developer voting period will open. Games will be rated on the following criteria:

• Atmosphere & Tone: How well did the game capture that eerie, gothic, or terrifying vibe?
• Narrative & Writing: Was the story compelling, spooky, or beautifully twisted?
• Use of Theme: How creatively did the team interpret the jam theme?
• Art & Sound Direction: How well did the visuals, UI, and audio complement the horror element?

Jam Prizes

• Discord Feature: Winning entries will get prominently featured and showcased on our community Discord server.
• YouTube Showcase: Gameplay clips and highlights of your submissions will be shared on our official YouTube channel.
• Community Growth: Connect, collaborate, and network with a fresh group of passionate indie narrative game developers.

Useful Tools

VN Engines

Jam Requirements