Theme: "The Centre That Cannot Be Held"

Greetings, developers and maze-weavers!

You are cordially invited to The Labyrinthine Lockdown, a game jam dedicated to the art, anxiety, and absurdity of the maze. Your challenge is not merely to create a labyrinth, but to infuse it with meaning. This jam’s theme asks you to consider: What lies at the heart of your maze? A treasure, a terror, a truth? And more importantly, why is it slipping away, impossible to grasp, or too dangerous to keep? Let your imagination run through twisting corridors and dead ends.

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Official Rules & Guidelines

1. Core Dates & Duration

*   The jam commences: 14th Febuary 2026, 00:00 BST.

*   Submissions close: 14th Febuary 2027, 00:00 BST.

*   This is a 1-year jam. Planning ahead of time is permitted and all designs and code must be made after 1st October 2025.

2. Core Principle: Originality & Theming

*   Your game must incorporate the theme, "The Centre That Cannot Be Held", in a meaningful way. This can be literal (a shifting core, a protected relic), narrative (a lost memory, a fading hope), or mechanical (an objective that changes or escapes the player).

*   Your game must be a maze game at its heart. This is open to interpretation—traditional 2D grids, first-person labyrinths, topological puzzles, or social mazes of dialogue are all welcome. But the player should feel the experience of navigating complexity, making choices at junctions, and confronting the unknown.

3. Team Size & Collaboration

*   You may enter solo or as a team of any size.

*   Collaboration is encouraged! Use the jam's community tab to find composers, artists, and fellow designers.

*   Teams can submit a max of 2 games.

*   Solos can submit a max of 5 games.

4. Permitted Tools & Assets

*   You may use any game engine or framework (Unity, Godot, GB Studio, Twine, etc.), HTML prefered.

*   Code snippets and public domain scripts from your own libraries or reputable sources (e.g., Stack Overflow) are allowed, provided their use is reasonable and credited.

*   Asset use is restricted: You may use royalty-free/CC0 assets or tools only for:

    *   Sound Effects & Music (if not created by you/your team).

    *   Fonts.

    *   Visual art (sprites, textures, models, UI elements) must be 90% original or created for this jam. Minor use of generic placeholder graphics is acceptable during development, but the final submission should be predominantly your own work. This is a jam about creativity, not asset collection.

5. Submission Requirements

*   Submit your game to the Labyrinthine Lockdown Itch.io jam page before the deadline.

*   Your game must be playable, either via a Web build (HTML5) or a downloadable executable for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

*   Your submission must include:

    *   A clear title.

    *   A description explaining how your game interprets the maze concept and the theme.    

    *   Credits for all team members and any external resources used (music, sound effects, fonts, tools).

    *   Content warnings where appropriate (for flashing lights, horror, mature themes, etc.).

6. Judging & Community Rating

*   After submissions close, there will be a community rating period.

*   Participants are strongly encouraged to play and rate other games. Please provide constructive, kind, and thoughtful feedback.

*   Games will be rated on the following criteria (optional but encouraged):

    *   Innovation & Theming: How creatively is the maze and the core theme used?

    *   Gameplay & Atmosphere: How does it feel to play? Is the maze engaging, tense, or thought-provoking?

    *   Presentation & Polish: Consideration of audio, visual style, and overall completeness within the jam timeframe.

    *   Fun & Originality: The overall enjoyment and uniqueness of the experience.

7. Code of Conduct

*   Be respectful and supportive of all participants. Harassment, bigotry, or submitting offensive content will result in removal from the jam.

*   Games containing excessive violence, hateful imagery, or unmarked sensitive content may be disqualified at the organisers' discretion.

*   This is a celebration of game design and creative problem-solving. The goal is to make interesting things, learn, and be part of a friendly community.

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FAQ

Q: Does my maze have to be top-down or first-person?

A: Not at all! Your "maze" could be a network of subway lines, a branching conversation tree, or a circuit board. If the player experiences traversal, choice, and potential disorientation, you're on the right track.

Q: Can I use an AI-generated game?  

A: No. The use of generative AI (LLMs, image generators, etc.) for creating core content (code, narrative, art, music) is prohibited. This jam is about human creativity. AI may be used for minor, non-creative tasks (e.g., code formatting, debugging suggestions).

Q: What if I don’t finish?  

A: You may still submit an unfinished build. The jam is about the process and sharing what you've made, even if it's a prototype. You might be surprised by the feedback you get.

Q: Who runs this jam?  

A: This jam is community-organised by INTJT2. For questions, please use the Itch.io community forum.

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Now, off you go! Unspool your thread, sharpen your wits, and design that impossible centre. We can't wait to get lost in what you create.

Best of luck, and mind the minotaurs.

— The Labyrinthine Lockdown Organiser.