Print n' Play is a Chicago community game jam, where participants create a zine as a component of their game- or even as the game itself!
If you need some inspiration or are unfamiliar with zines as a medium, we highly recommend you check out Quimby's, located in Wicker Park! If you're looking for digital examples, the Library of Congress has a collection that's free to browse, and you can even find plenty of examples here on itch.io under the zine tag.
At the conclusion of the jam, Night City will host an in-person community reception and showcase of all of the officially selected games submitted to the jam! All participants are encouraged to bring along zines for their own games to exchange at the showcase.
Due to the scope of making both a game and a zine, collaboration and teamwork are highly encouraged for this jam.
- All entries require a zine as a component to be eligible for official selection! You can add your zine to your submission but adding a PDF as a downloadable file. Some ideas include:
- Creating a game manual for your game
- Have the zine be an essential element for your game, such as containing solutions to in-game puzzles, or a map of in-game areas
- Create a mini artbook or supplemental narrative for your game
- Have your zine be the game itself! Make a TTRPG or tabletop game
- Creating a game manual for your game
- Gore and other more graphic content are acceptable, we just ask that any entries containing particularly sensitive elements be flagged accordingly.
- For printing purposes, we recommend zine pages be sized at 8.5" x 11" (A4 sized).
- Consider adding a QR code linking to your game's itch page to the zine itself!
- All entries should be tagged with #printnplay
- Only games officially selected will be showcased at the in-person reception.
Zine Creation Resources
Quick Links
Official Selection
Entries will be evaluated based on presentation values, engagement, playability, and integration of zines as a medium.
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 in-person reception, 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.
- Officially selected games will be determined through community rating.
- Jam entries should be original and created during the jam period.
- One contact person on the team must submit an entry form.
- Games must be uploaded with (or as) an accompanying zine, included on the itch page separately as a downloadable PDF.
- 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 showcase reception (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 printnplay
Legal / IP Rules
- Developers hold all rights to the games they make.
- Developers grant Night City and Indie City Games the permission to use their game's name, screenshots, and video footage in promotional materials for Night City, Indie City Games, and future events.
- Night City and Indie City Games are not responsible for any games submitted.
- Games featuring text in languages besides English must provide a translation of all submitted materials not in English.
- Night City and Indie City Games reserve the right to not display and / or remove any uploaded games if the game content is broken, offensive or unsuitable as determined by Night City and Indie City Games’ sole discretion. This includes but is not limited to: games with harmful or prejudicial themes related to gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, appearance, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, socioeconomic status, or religion.
About Indie City Games
Indie City Games is a Chicago-based non-profit working to provide local independent game developers and artists with space to create, share, meet, collaborate, and showcase their work. Our mission is to foster an intentional, mutually supportive community around multimedia, interactive art.
For more information or to find teammates, come check out our Discord, or follow us on Instagram!
About Night City
Night City is a Chicago studio focused on curating community-oriented video game development, festivals, exhibitions, and educational resources.
Night City’s mission is to strengthen community by:
- Reconceptualizing video games as participatory community art.
- Affording diverse, local creators an equitable space to share their work with in-person audiences beyond traditional commercial channels.
For more info check out nightcity.games
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