Welcome to ShroomJam 2026!

Another year, another Vinesauce game jam. Hopefully you know the drill by now, but if not...

You and a bunch of other participants will have 1 week to make a game based on a theme. Said theme is related to the stream, and will be revealed when the jam starts. The games will then be played by our expert team of judges, who will put them into a bunch of packs to be played on-stream! Your fellow participants will also be able to vote on various aspects of your game.

vvv Scroll down to read the rules and see more info! vvv

What's the theme?

It'll be revealed when the jam starts! Check that nice big timer at the top of the page to see when that is. There will also be a "curveball", an object that you need to include in your game, revealed at the same time.

Rules

Here are the rules your game needs to follow. If your game is found to be breaking one or more of these rules, it will be disqualified until the issue is fixed. Certain rules are subject to mod discretion.

1. Read the rules. 
2. Follow the Twitch Community Guidelines and Itch.io Terms of Service.
3. Don't start work on your game before the jam starts.
4. Provide a freely-downloadable Windows 10/11 version.
5. Maximum team size is 3 people. The only exception is play-testers.
6. Utilise the theme and include the curveball.
7. Don't submit your game to any other jams. This rule is mainly to catch out spam submissions.
8. Original videogames only. Mods, board games, stories, music, etc will not be accepted.
9. Text in your game must be in English by default, excluding purely decorative text.
10. Make sure your game can be properly captured by OBS.
11. Limit any changes during voting to bug fixes and rule-compliance only. For bigger changes, make a separate "post-jam" version.
12. Credit any outside assets you use.
13. Don't include any AI-generated assets in your final game or game page.
14. No NSFW content is allowed. This includes sexually suggestive content and extreme gore.
15. Keep it fun! Avoid particularly political, divisive or distressing topics and content.
16. Don't include any ads, sponsorships or other paid promotions.
17. Try not to go too far with jokes, especially ones that involve other people/streamers.
18. If needed, include a loud sound and/or flashing images warning.

If you need clarification on any of these, ask about it in the community page and a mod will get back to you.

Judging Criteria

The judges and your fellow participants will rate your game out of 5 on the following criteria.

Entertainment

How fun is your game? How fun will it be to watch on-stream? Does it get some good laughs? The entertainment rating is determined by how much your game was enjoyed by players, and how much they think it will be enjoyed by stream viewers. This is the most important criteria and weighs slightly more into the final score.

Creativity

Any interesting and original ideas? What about some cool mechanics? The creativity rating is determined by how unique and interesting your game is.

Visuals

Nice lighting? Good visual direction? Well-drawn art? The visuals rating is determined by how good your game looks.

Audio

Are the sound effects nice and punchy? Maybe there's some good atmospheric sound? How fitting is the music? The audio rating is determined by how good your game sounds.

Theme

How deeply is the theme incorporated into the game? Is it used as part of the gameplay, or just slapped-on? The theme rating is determined by how well your game utilises the theme.

Curveball

The curveball rating is determined by [REDACTED].

These ratings get averaged together to make your game's final score, which then determines it's position in the overall ranking. The ranking doesn't indicate what games make it into packs or what order they'll be in, but it's a decent indicator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a web build required?

No, but it's recommended. Since they're safer and easier to access, games with web builds get judging priority.

Is there a prize?

There's not currently plans to offer any sort of prize, although that might change at some point.

Can I submit late?

Yes, but try to avoid it. After the submission window ends, a post will be created in the community tab where you can post a link to your game, at which point you'll get a link that lets you submit late. It'll stay up for about 12 hours.

Where do I talk about the jam?

We have a community tab right here on Itch! It's essentially a big forum for asking questions, building teams, showing progress and more. Please don't use the Vinesauce Discord for jam stuff.

How long does judging take?

The default voting period is about 2 weeks, but it might be extended depending on how many submissions we get. After that, some extra time is needed for vetting and pack-making before games end up on-stream.

Is this jam about Vinny specifically or all of the Vinesauce streamers?

This jam is specifically about Vinny and his streams. That being said, you can still reference other streamers and their bits if you want, just keep in-mind that these are mainly for Vinny and his audience. Joel has is own jam in the form of FrenJam, which runs in early April!

Why only 1 week?

We've found that a 1-week development time is just about right for people to make little short-and-sweet games. We don't want people to submit anything too long or complex, as that would take way too long to judge, plus they might outstay their welcome on-stream.

Will Vinny play every game?

Probably not. While we'll try to get as many played as possible, we get a lot of submissions, and playing them all would take an extremely long time. Plus, after a while both Vinny and chat get a little burnt-out on jam games.

Partnerships?

We are not currently accepting sponsors/partnerships relating to the jam.

Isn't there a risk of viruses?

Of-course, but we check and monitor everything before it gets downloaded to the best of our ability. Still, if you're downloading games to play yourself, scan them first!

Are you looking for judges?

We won't allow just anyone to judge, but on a jam this size we can always use more hands on deck. If you've worked with Vinny in the past or otherwise think you'd be a good fit to judge, send Joe a Bluesky DM or contact one of the jam mods.

Links

Vinesauce.com | Vinesauce Linktree | PotaJoe.page | ShroomJam 2025

Credits

Hosts

PotaJoe
Vinesauce

Judges & Moderators

beeswithchainsaws
Madclown55
McDanooj Joey
ShrineFox
SinCityAssassin
Wrinklynewt

Page Design

Page Design, Graphics, CSS - PotaJoe
Logo Font - Typesauce by Maxi Gamer