Greetings, RPG Makers!

The RPG Maker 2025 Game Jam has concluded, and we're thrilled to announce the winners who truly went Beyond Expectations! With over 275 entries and 900+ ratings, the creativity and passion displayed were nothing short of extraordinary. Without further ado, here are the winners!

🏆 1st Place Winner 🏆 Dine-in Dungeon by Looey
This comfy Overcooked-like dunge-and-serve provided a cute atmosphere for me to slice slimes and chickens, put them into shakes and meals, and argue against a landlord for the existence of my little shop-in-a-nook. Highly polished and with a fun aesthetic, Dine-in Dungeon had it all - great sound, great gameplay and visuals. Just be careful not to let the slime overcook!	This game hits a certain spot in my brain that kept me cooking well after completing the minimum requirements. Not because I had to, but because I WANTED to. Excellent cooking/dungeon game, and I never once felt overwhelmed. Loved the characters and the designs and I want more!

🏆 2nd Place Winner 🏆 A Bureaucrat's Judgment by Rubescen
My personal favourite. A sobering confrontation of the displacement of workers by an encroaching technological force, its ambition crackles with both fury at the corrupt powers, and empathy to our shared humanity" Failing forward and making the most of machinations beyond your control is a concept that many games try, but few succeed. This is an example of success.	A masterclass on how to broach topical and impactful political discourse without feeling/seeming ham-fisted. Fun to play, too! Who said life in the administrative sector couldn't be fun? With my 2B pencil and freezer-tie, I'm out to save the world or get fired trying. Let's be real, I'm likely getting fired for this shiz.

🏆 Best RPG Maker Unite Game 🏆 The Wild Run by Lochraleon
It's a race to save your animal friends! Show the world how you and your chosen racer can UNITE to beat the odds and take home the prize! A good contender for Unite's new poster child, this gorgeous 3D racing game feels like a prototype for a calm yet cute Mario-Kart-but-with-animals style banger.	Fun and cool-looking racing game which is a perfect example of how much one can do with Unite! Evolving beyond the confines of the top-down formula, this game shows what Unite can do in the right hands.

🎵 Best Soundtrack 🎵 The Dream Is Dead by Lumi, callmeDJ
What starts as a regularly "chipper" affair quickly descends into glitchy madness as this game's soundscape deftly experiments with reversed tracks, glitches, distorted refrains and a final track that truly stuck in my mind for long after I'd finished. Its inclusion was a reminder of the constant creeping thoughts of self-criticism that can endlessly haunt the ambitious creative's mind.
Runner Ups
The Job is a case study on why children should not be working - not because it's bad for the kids, but because it's horribly stressful for the adults when the kids run wild with nailguns. Road to the Next Life has an entirely original OST with evocative melodies and lush textures, pulling out feelings of melancholy, sadness and longing for a world saved from the oppression that haunts us.	Apartment 808 Creepy atmosphere coupled with a haunting piano melody at the right times, and it just sets the stage perfectly. The Copper Knight I still can't get the first dungeon theme out of my head.

🎨 Best Visual Design 🎨 Masaki's Way of Saving The World by Iris to Id, Shira, Haru
With its gorgeous painterly maps, beautiful character designs and overall sense of "stillness", this game's visual design truly resonated with me. The entire time, I felt immersed in the world of Masaki, with its heavily detailed CGs and art - even down to its message boxes and custom title markers - the visuals all added to and complemented the atmosphere and narrative immensely.
Runner Ups
The UFOnaut If you like brown tones this is the game you've been waiting for. What's not to like when it comes to beating cute little dinosaurs, lizards and turtles all for the sake of power? Who is the next chosen one? SO. MUCH. GORGEOUS. ART. Fully detailed character portraits with immense detail, great title design, and just a beautifully colourful *feel*. Loved the look of this game.	The Exorcist Trials Awesome colors, cool designs, and a slick feel made this one pop out for me visually. Pentacle Abyss Using Dictionnaire Infernal as reference shows how digging deep into lesser seen resources can give your game a fresh look.

🎮 Most Innovative Gameplay 🎮 kana.exe by Hatoge
Replicating the feel of using a PC to play games, check sites and mess with images is hard to do, but kana.exe manages to make you relive the early days of the internet, even if you weren't there for it. Truly a marvel of gameplay that deserves recognition. That scrolling action got me acting up, ya'll.
Runner Ups
Cognition OPTION(al) This game makes you think about how to apply the tools at your command in order to switch it up and deal with the various roadblocks in your way. All while looking cool and being fun! The Copper Knight When smart tactics over power leveling is built into the core design of your game, you know you've got a winner on your hands.	Meet the Box As a fan of escape room games, this one provided a puzzle that was my favourite of the whole jam. But also… how did they do that snapshot feature? I've never seen that before in an RM game. WTF? The Dream is Dead Something about using the debug console for RPG Maker really sang with me and made figuring out how to do the puzzles feel really fun and engaging.

📖 Best Narrative 📖 Moonlit Blessed by quiesphere
The companion can perform acts of heroism that not even the hero could hope to accomplish. Moonlit Blessed explores the position of a side character to a satisfying and heartfelt extent.
Runner Ups
Masaki's Way of Saving The World A touching and heartfelt story about the choices we make even when knowing the cost. It made me cry. Axol's Quest You come for the cute art and you stay for the engaging and funny story. The game played like a Saturday Morning Cartoon and really made me love every character.	The Copper Knight By quickly dropping the charade of a typical dungeon-crawling adventure, The Copper Knight stands out with its surprisingly heartfelt story and fun banter between Milly and Saoirse. kana.exe I was endlessly drawn in by this game's web of environmental storytelling moments. The forum posts, private chat logs and hidden operating system solutions collage into a haunting landscape of the obsession of internet celebrity, and the grim dangers that come with it.

💫 Best Use of Theme 💫 Exceed/Excess by Dzhak
A good entry integrates the theme into the project. A prize winner has the whole project built around the theme. Exceed/Excess is a prize winner in every sense of the word
Runner Ups
DECCI After a surprising initial transition from "stereotypically RPG Maker game" to something much more sinister, DECCI goes beyond expectations by then providing a 3D-looking Freddy-like experience in RPG Maker with "no plugins." Truly wild. Nine to Five In a contest with a theme about subverting expectations, subverting the theme itself was a risky gamble. For me, it paid off.	MaestroMon Collect a full orchestra of mons to take on a battle of the bands and rise to the top as the very best (like no-one ever was). EDEN DRIVE Something about how this game not only used the meta flavor of creating files in the game folder, but got you to "program" within them to unlock puzzles in-game was really innovative and fun.

While the community votes brought us our top winners, our panel of judges also wanted to highlight a few games that left a lasting impression. These titles may not have claimed the top trophies, but they absolutely went beyond the expectation of our judges.

Beeyond	The Copper Knight
Go forth as a cute little bee and collect flowers in order to make your garden grow! Spend the pollen you collect on goodies in order to make your hive thrive!	This game was dripping with love and passion from the dev, from the silly intro to the genuine heartfelt moment between the heroes at the end. With a clever visual aesthetic and a creative approach to traditional combat, the Copper Knight seized my heart immediately and never let go.
A Bureaucrat's Judgment	Axol's Quest/Ruut'Kith
Since I already gushed about this game above, I'll point out some other games I loved: Meet the Box, Antis, Masaki's Way of Saving the World, Pentacle Abyss, Beeyond, The Dream Is Dead, kana.exe, Dine-in Dungeon, Attack on the Kingdom, DECCI, Moonlit Blessed and Road to the Next Life. Thank you so much.	Hate to admit it, but it's a tie for me between these two because they were both stellar in their story-telling, world-building, and character designs. Not only that, but they both were games I could easily see myself playing outside of a game jam judge capacity. I honestly loved them both.
Antis	Neo Malta
Antis may start off slow and a bit unintuitive, but once it clicks it's surprisingly addictive! There's something oddly compelling about managing an ant colony, and the polish here really impressed me.	While I adore Kana.exe, and there's no shortage of praise for that game, Neo Malta has captured my heart with its incredible charm and nostalgic art style that beautifully echoes classic Gameboy and DS games. The potential I see in this project fills me with excitement, and I can't wait to watch it flourish into the full game I know it can become.
file_you_wanted
Sometimes, you look at games that use default assets and it might make you think a certain way about the rest of the content. To me, it felt like file_you_wanted did an amazing job of subverting that expectation in a way that was gripping, unique and continues to stand out to me after the jam. Well-done meta horror in RPG Maker will never not rock.

🎉 Congratulations!

A heartfelt thank you to all participants for your incredible submissions. Your dedication and creativity have made this jam a resounding success.

Stay tuned for upcoming events and opportunities!

— The RPG Maker Team

As a continued celebration of our Maker Festival, push your creativity to the limit in the ultimate RPG Maker Game Jam! 
Challenge yourself to create a game in just four weeks and compete for a share of the $3,000 prize pool!

Gotcha Gotcha Games has teamed up with Humble Bundle and Extra Life for the RPG Maker Beyond Expectations Bundle! 

👉 Get the bundle here: https://www.humblebundle.com/software/rpg-maker-beyond-expectations-bundle-software

Your challenge is to create a game exploring the theme of Beyond Expectations. Whether you're putting players in situations where they must exceed their perceived limits, telling a story of unprecedented achievement, or creating innovative mechanics that challenge conventional wisdom, the possibilities are endless. Will your players shatter boundaries, help others achieve the impossible, or discover that they're capable of far more than they ever imagined?

Remember: Your game must incorporate Beyond Expectations as its theme to be a valid entry!

Main Prize Pool: $3,000 USD

Experience the thrill of competition and showcase your game development skills! While creating an amazing game is its own reward, we're excited to offer substantial prizes for the top entries:

Main Competition Prizes

• 🥇 1st Place: $1,000 USD
• 🥈 2nd Place: $1,000 USD
• 🥉 Best RPG Maker Unite Game: $1,000 USD

Special Category Awards

In addition to our main prizes, we're recognizing excellence in specific areas! Outstanding entries will receive a free official DLC of their choice for exceptional achievement in the following categories:

• 🎵 Best Soundtrack
  • For exceptional musical composition and sound design

• 🎨 Best Visual Design
  • For outstanding artistic direction and visual presentation

• 🎮 Most Innovative Gameplay
  • For unique and creative game mechanics

• 📖 Best Narrative
  • For compelling storytelling and character development

• 💫 Best Use of Theme
  • For creative and effective incorporation of the "Beyond Expectations" theme

Note: Winners of the main prizes are not eligible for Special Category Awards. All prizes will be awarded based on the judges' final decisions.

Participation Prize

Every team or solo developer who meets the jam’s submission guidelines will receive a special music DLC just for joining in!

The judging panel will consist of experienced developers and community members. They will evaluate each submission based on the Judging Criteria linked below. The judges reserve the right to disqualify any entry that violates the jam’s rules. All judging decisions are final.

👉 Click here to read the full Judging Criteria!

Meet the Judges

Our panel includes experienced developers, content creators, and community leaders from across the RPG Maker scene:

• Benny Makes Games: Developer, RPG Maker community veteran, and host of the RPG Maker Cola podcast.
• HawkZombie: Twitch streamer, indie dev, creator of the comedic RPG Sorbetta: Gravely in Debt.
• Liberty: RPGMaker.net admin, veteran IGMC judge, and active event organizer within the RPG Maker community.
• Red Nova: Developer of Remnants of Isolation (IGMC 2014 Grand Prize winner) and the survival-horror RPG Prayer of the Faithless.
• Riggy2k3: Indie and retro RPG YouTuber, active community member, and developer of the RPG Maker title DELUGE.
• Yumemi Caelestis: Vtuber, Vsinger, and voice actress from Astral Shift, known for the ending theme of Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum.

👉 Click here to learn more about our judges!

1. Engine Requirement: You must use Gotcha Gotcha Game's Maker series engine (Official Site, Steam, Epic Store). Games made in other engines are not eligible for this jam. Each mainline Maker engine has a trial version with full features, while RPG Maker Unite's trial is only available for a limited time.
2. Original Work: Development on contest entries must begin after the jam starts (March 20, 2025 JST). Pre-existing assets (such as music, sound effects, and graphical resources) may be used, as long as you have the right to use them and properly credit the creators. However, any new content made for the game must be created during the jam period.
3. Submission Deadline: All entries must be submitted by April 21, 2025 (JST). No late entries will be accepted under any circumstances, so plan accordingly and avoid last-minute uploads.
4. Game Length: Aim for a playable experience with a minimum playtime of 15 minutes. Games longer than an hour will be judged only on their first hour of gameplay.
5. Rights & Attribution: You must have the legal right to use all software, resources, and tools involved in the game’s creation. All borrowed or purchased assets must be properly credited in a text file included with your submission.
6. Team Size: You may work solo or in a team of any size. However, any prizes will only be awarded to the individual or team account that submits the game.
7. Submission Limits: Contest participants may be involved in up to two submissions. This can mean creating a solo project and collaborating on another team, contributing to two different teams, or even submitting two solo projects. However, if a team uses your resources but you weren’t directly involved in development (similar to a commission), that does not count toward the two-game limit.
8. Submission Requirements: All files required to run your game must be included in your download (such as RTP resources, libraries, or dependencies). If your game fails to launch due to missing files, it will be disqualified.
9. Content Guidelines:
   • Your game must be PG-13, meaning no graphic sexual content, extreme violence, or offensive material. If you're unsure, please follow ESRB Teen (T) guidelines.
   • No Generative AI Art is allowed for visuals, text, or audio. All assets must be manually created or sourced legally.
   • Games must be available in English, though additional language options are welcome. The default language must be set to English.
10. Platform Requirements: A Windows-compatible build must be provided so that judges and the community can evaluate your game. Additional platform versions (Mac, Linux, Web, etc.) are welcome but not required.
11. Bug Policy & Disqualification: Minor bugs are expected and will not be penalized. However, any game-breaking bug that makes a submission unplayable within the first 10 minutes will result in disqualification.
12. Cheating & Plagiarism: Plagiarism and any form of cheating (such as using stolen assets or AI-generated submissions) will result in immediate disqualification. Let’s make this a fair and creative competition for all participants!
13. Judges' Rights: Contest judges reserve the right to penalize or disqualify any entry that violates the rules, contains inappropriate content, or is deemed unplayable. All judging decisions are final.
14. Publishing First Offer: Prize Winners are required to submit their game to Gotcha Gotcha Games before contacting other publishers if they wish to commercialize their game. Gotcha Gotcha Games will make a decision within 10 business days, after which the winner is free from this obligation.

Prize redemption methodology will be delivered electronically to the email associated with the account that submitted the game. Winners are responsible for any taxes or fees associated with their prize. If submitting as a team, it is the team’s responsibility to decide how to split the winnings before winners are announced, as the organizers will not handle prize distribution among team members.

No purchase is necessary to enter the contest. Participants must be at least 13 years old to register and submit entries. Additional age or nationality restrictions may apply based on local, state, or national laws. Creators retain full rights to their respective works.

Thank you for pushing beyond expectations with us. We can’t wait to see the incredible worlds, stories, and mechanics you’ll create. Good luck and have fun!