Ancient empires swallowed by the sea. Forgotten kingdoms buried beneath the sands. Crumbling space stations drifting through the void. Hidden underground cities, vanished cultures, abandoned colonies, mysterious ruins, and the echoes of people long gone.

For this jam, create a game inspired by the idea of a lost civilization.

Your interpretation can be as literal or as creative as you like.

Maybe players explore the ruins of a forgotten empire. Perhaps they uncover the history of a vanished people through artifacts and stories. Maybe the civilization isn't ancient at all...it could be a future society that mysteriously disappeared, a magical kingdom erased from memory, or a city hidden from the world for centuries.

The only requirement is that the concept of a lost civilization plays a meaningful role in your game.

What Can I Create?

All game formats are welcome!

Submit:

🎮 Video games

🎲 Tabletop RPGs

🃏 Card games

♟️ Board games

📚 Solo journaling games

🎭 LARPs

📖 Interactive fiction

📱 Mobile games

🎨 Visual novels

⚙️ Game systems and supplements

🧩 Experimental games

Whether you're a first-time creator or an experienced developer, you're welcome to join.

Inspiration

Need ideas? Consider:

Sunken cities beneath the ocean

Forgotten jungle temples

Ancient alien worlds

Lost underground kingdoms

Desert civilizations buried by time

Abandoned megacities

Ghost towns with strange histories

Ruined magical academies

Vanished sky kingdoms

Prehistoric cultures

Secret civilizations hidden from modern society

Post-apocalyptic societies remembered only through relics

Archaeological expeditions

Time-lost civilizations trapped outside history

Optional Diversifiers

These are completely optional bonus challenges for anyone looking for extra inspiration:

📜 The Last Record – The civilization is revealed through journals, recordings, or artifacts.

🏺 Archaeologist – Players are exploring the ruins long after the civilization disappeared.

🌌 Not Ancient – The lost civilization exists in the future rather than the past.

🗺️ The Map Was Wrong – The civilization was believed to be a myth.

👑 The Last Survivor – One member of the civilization remains.

⚡ Rise and Fall – Show both the civilization's glory and its collapse.

🦴 What Happened Here? – The game's central mystery is discovering why the civilization vanished.

Jam Rules

Required

✅ Your project must be created during the jam period.

✅ Your game must relate to the theme Lost Civilizations.

✅ You may work alone or as a team.

✅ Both free and paid submissions are allowed but please offer community copies for members of the jam to check out your game. 

Not Allowed

❌ Hate speech or discriminatory content

❌ Plagiarized or stolen work

❌ Submissions unrelated to the theme

❌ Adult-only or pornographic content

Community Guidelines

Please be respectful and supportive.

Game jams are about learning, creating, experimenting, and having fun.

Leave constructive feedback when possible and celebrate the work of fellow creators.

Remember that many participants may be creating their first game.

This Jam is NOT ranked but I would love to review the games on my YouTube channel! I personally judge the following criteria:

Theme and Creativity will judge how well the theme was incorporated and how original the content is.

Game Design and Mechanics will judge how well the rules support play and whether the submission feels playable as written.

Clarity and Readability will judge how easy the game was to understand and whether the game was well organized.

Presentation and Layout will judge how polished and pleasant the game was to read or play and if any art included is visually appealing.

Completeness and Scope will judge whether the submission feels complete for its size. Does it deliver a full playable experience regardless of page count or length of play?

Discord Link

Want to chat with fellow game creators, share progress, or just talk all things TTRPG and Game Design? Join my discord server and check out my game jam related channels and chats. 

https://discord.gg/XWfEvYgrds

Thousands of civilizations have risen and fallen throughout history, while countless others exist only in myth and imagination.

For this jam, I invite you to uncover the forgotten, explore the abandoned, and tell the stories of worlds that time left behind.

Good luck, and happy creating! 🏛️✨