The Indie Den Godot Jam

Hosted by Yannis Benattia (from The Indie Den) and StayAtHomeDev • August 20th – September 3rd, 2025 Sponsored by r/indiegames

A rising tide raises all boats. This jam is about celebrating creativity and supporting fellow devs. Have fun, and let’s build an unstoppable Indie wave — together💙 

Winners :)

Winners have been chosen for our first-ever game jam! We got some amazing submissions, and I hope all the participants enjoyed the jam! I had a lot of fun playing all the games and putting this together. 

In case you missed the live announce stream, the winners are:

1. **Orbis** by ProgrammerOnCoffee - itch.io

2. **Duck Shoot'Em: Wild Goose Chase** by notyme - itch.io

3. **Squid Duck** by pavelee - itch.io, and wasp_tennis - itch.io

Huge thanks to our amazing staff and the devs who participated! We hope to do another jam this winter (*with all game engines included*).

Highlight reel is in the works! In a meantime, a full recording of the stream can be found here:

LINKS:

Twitch Stream — Live on The Indie Den
Discord Link — Indie Games Discord

🦆🦆🪿  Theme   🦆🦆🪿

That’s right! The theme for the jam is Duck Duck Goose.

Background: Duck Duck Goose  is a classic children's game where a circle of children sit down in a circle while one of them walks or runs around it. They tap the head of each child in succession as they go around and say "duck" at each tap. The "ducks" are safe and can remain seated. The children in the circle are waiting to hear the word "goose" while being tapped, which begins a chase. The "goose" must tag the child that tapped their head before they run all the way around the circle and sit in their spot in the circle. 

Whether you go all-in and build a virtual version of the classic children's game with a fun additional mechanic or an aesthetic twist, or you take the words literally and make a game about ducking under a big goose trying to attack you, we encourage you to be as creative as you like with this theme. The intent is to encourage an interesting variety of games, and we expect everyone's game to be different, so make it unique to you! You will be required to explain how your game fits the theme with your submission.

• Jam Starts: August 20th @ 00:01 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
• Teaser Videos Due: August 29th @ 16:00 EDT — Required submission!!! See the Teaser Video section for details.
• Twitch Stream Teaser Feature: August 30th @ 17:00 EDT — Live on The Indie Den
• Jam Ends: September 3rd @ 23:59 EDT
• Community Vote/Winner Announce Stream: September 6th @ 16:00 EDT — Live on The Indie Den

• Games must be made in Godot.
• Teams of up to 3 are allowed.
• You must hold a license to use any assets, or use your own original work. 
  • Credit all licensed assets. 
  • Audio assets must be royalty-free with a commercial use license and no attribution required.
• Games must relate to the theme in some creative way.
• No NSFW content (excessive gore, sexual themes, hate speech, etc).
• Game must have a browser build.

• Feedback from expert panelists StayAtHomeDev & Seth Coster - creator of Crashlands and Levelhead
• Feature your game in a livestream showcase with community feedback and voting.
• Earn exclusive Discord roles
• Top entries featured in a highlight reel in the r/indiegames Reddit community
  • StayAtHomeDev feature video on his YouTube channel 
• VGMM coverage of the jam
• Meet teammates via our Discord #game-collaboration channel

There will be an initial closed round of voting with the judges. They will select the top 30% of game submissions up to a maximum of 10 games. The winner will be chosen by community and panelist vote during a live stream on September 6th. The following are the assessment categories:

• Fun
• Visual Art
• Music & Sound
• Creativity & Innovation
• Adherence to Theme
• Polish

*** REQUIRED ***

This is not a polished trailer, but a short video to show your game to the judges and the community (the major game mechanics/loop and aesthetic feel). In-engine video is OK, and is encouraged! Your teaser video will be previewed during our community stream. Submit a short teaser video by:

• Teaser Deadline: ---EXTENDED TO September 3rd @ 2359 EDT--- Friday August 29th @ 16:00  EDT
• Video should be one minute up to a maximum of two minutes in length. If you submit a longer video, we will only show the first two minutes.
• Upload your teaser to Google Drive — ensure access permissions are set to “Anyone with the link can view”
  • Alternatively, if you'd like you can create a project page for your game on itch and upload your teaser there. 
    
  • A YouTube video works great as well.
  • Just make sure whichever method you use, your video is accessible to watch online without requiring a download, and you provide the link in the form. 
• Submit the link using our form: Submit Teaser. Form is LIVE! Let us know in the community tab or on Discord if you cannot access it.

• Join the conversation and watch for updates on The Indie Den Discord
• Join us in the r/indiegames community for highlights, updates, and more!