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Let’s be honest — monetization in games often sucks. But it doesn’t have to.

Paywall Eden is a jam about making in-game purchases actually fun, clever, or surprising — without ruining the player experience. 
Think smart twists, playful satire, or mechanics where monetization feels like a natural part of the game, not a last-minute add-on. 
You can take it seriously or go full parody mode — up to you.

The key is to make something that works with monetization, not suffers because of it.
· Mobile-style IAPs inside a horror game?
· A platformer where every coin unlocks a meta-joke?
· A narrative where buying something actually changes the story?

We’re open to weirdness — as long as it’s fun, intentional, and doesn’t wreck the gameplay.

Theme

Make in-game purchases something players actually love!
Need inspiration? Here’s a list of fun ideas to kickstart your imagination — feel free to borrow one or come up with your own unique take:

1. Microtransactions, Macro Consequences
Every purchase changes the world: buy a sword — start a war. Buy a potion — a whole town vanishes.

2. Buy the Rules
The game doesn’t explain itself — every mechanic must be “purchased” to understand how it works. Even the tutorial costs money. Just like on the Nintendo Switch 2.

3. Paywall Dungeon
Every door in the dungeon is paywalled, but there’s never enough currency. Players must figure out how to "break" the economy to progress.

4. In-Game Pet
Your companion is a moody pet that reacts to “purchases”: it might become nicer, meaner, or even vanish entirely.

5. Gacha Planet
The whole world is built on gacha: characters, levels, even music are randomly “rolled.”

6. The Monetization Maze
A labyrinth where every turn is a “paid choice.” Manipulative UX turned into gameplay.

7. Buy Time
Everything you do costs time — and time must be purchased. Actions, story beats, even music are all on the clock.

8. Unlock the Genre
The game starts as a platformer, but you can “buy” your way into an RTS, visual novel, or other genres. (Hello, Split Fiction!)

9. Premium Death
Regular death is free. But if you want a fancy animation or a personalized epitaph — you’ll have to pay.

Important: You’re not expected to implement real in-game purchase systems.
Instead, use placeholder logic — fake it like a pro!
Add a shop, let players “buy diamonds,” or unlock secret features with coins… but don’t worry about the backend. Just trigger the effect with a button or some silly action. Keep it simple and focus on the experience.

Prizes

1. All jam entries are automatically eligible for a publishing deal with Playgama.com.
2. The prize will be available for withdrawal once the winners will be selected during the judging period. 
3. There are two award categories: Submitters' Choice and Jury's Choice, with five winners in each. The top games in both categories will receive cash prizes:

1st place – $300
2nd place – $250
3rd place – $ 200
4th place - $150
5th place - $100

4. If you win and decide to polish and publish your game on Playgama, you'll get access to a special offer: 0% commission on partner platforms for 12 months.

Rules

1. All game engines that support exporting projects to HTML5/WEB format are allowed.
2. All games must be web-based (HTML5), optimized for performance, and responsive to browser scaling.
3. The game build size must not exceed 100 MB.
4. Create everything from scratch during the event, especially the game logic. Pre-made or purchased assets are allowed for art and sound. 
5. Your game must not violate anyone's copyright. If you use assets, you must own the right to use them.
6. Working in teams or on multiple projects is allowed.
7.  Games must be family-friendly. NSFW content, excessive violence, or hate content is strictly prohibited.
8. Ensure the game is intuitive, engaging, and aligned with the jam's theme by providing clear objectives, dynamic gameplay, and effective player feedback.
9. All games must include Playgama Bridge SDK.
We consider each winner a partner and strive to efficiently publish their game across multiple web platforms to maximize monetization. To facilitate this, integrating our SDK is required. Explore more information about what the Playgama Bridge integration is all about in this community jam post.
10. The game should be designed with in-game purchases at its core. 
As part of the jam, you won't need to fully customize the in-game purchase functionality. However, you must design gameplay progression that positions in-game purchases as a central element of the game design. You are not required to fully implement this progression — just establish a solid foundation within the game and outline a plan for future development.  Read this post about why in-game purchases are cool for developers.

Rating 

There will be two award categories: Submitters' Choice and Jury's Choice, with five winners in each. In both categories, the top five games will receive prizes:

1st place – $300
2nd place – $250
3rd place – $200
4rd place – $150
5rd place – $100

Both participants and the jury will evaluate each game based on the following criteria:

Gameplay – overall mechanics, controls, and player experience
Theme – how well the game fits the given theme
Polish – smoothness, bug-free experience, and overall refinement
Visuals & Audio – quality of graphics, animations, and sound design

After which the games will be ranked according to the average score from these criteria.
The post-jam voting period will be open until June 13 at 16:00 CET.

What is Playgama & Xsolla

Playgama.com is a platform for web game developers that offers a comprehensive suite of tools for distributing, monetizing, and growing browser-based games. It provides an open-source Playgama Bridge SDK compatible with all major game engines, enabling developers to easily distribute their games across gaming and non-gaming portals worldwide. To help maximize revenue, Playgama.com features built-in monetization tools, including ad formats and in-game purchase mechanics. 
Additionally, the platform offers SaaS services designed to boost player engagement, such as cloud saves, leaderboards, social features, and other tools that enhance user retention and involvement.

Xsolla is a leading global video game commerce company with a robust and powerful set of tools and services designed specifically for the industry. 
Since its founding in 2005, Xsolla has helped thousands of game developers and publishers of all sizes fund, market, launch, and monetize their games globally and across multiple platforms.  As an innovative leader in game commerce, Xsolla 's mission is to solve the inherent complexities of global distribution, marketing, and monetization to help our partners reach more geographies, generate more revenue, and create relationships with gamers worldwide. Headquartered and incorporated in Los Angeles, California, with offices in London, Berlin, Seoul, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Raleigh, Tokyo, Montreal, and cities around the world.