Submissions open from 2026-04-18 16:00:00 to 2026-05-03 00:00:00
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Overview:

The Unicorn Castle Jam is being held in conjunction with the UNICORN Castle Student Congress on Medieval Studies and Medievalism, which will be held asynchronously from May 3-6, 2026. 

Participants will have roughly two weeks, from Saturday, April 18th to Saturday, May 2nd, to create medieval-themed games that align with the theme of the game jam, which we will release on Monday, April 18th at 12:00pm here and by email. The finished games will be featured during the UNICORN Castle Student Congress on Medieval Studies and Medievalism.

How to Participate: 

It's simple! Create an itch.io account and register for this game jam.

Theme:

We will release the theme of the game jam on on Saturday, April 18th at 12:00pm. We will post it here and email it to all registered participants.

Rules:

  1. Game jam participants may work alone or in teams of any size.
  2. Participants can submit a digital game using any game engine, a tabletop game, or a card game. Tabletop and card game submissions should include gameplay videos of the game as well as a design document or rulebook that details the game's rule and play.
  3. All submissions must relate to the game jam's theme, which we will release here and by email on Monday, April 18th at 12:00pm.
  4. All submitted games must be appropriate to academic audiences. 
  5. Paid third-party assets are not allowed. You can use third-party premade assets and audio as long as they are free and open source. All  third-party assets used should be credited in the game.
  6. Participants are not allowed to use generative AI tools this game jam. 
  7. All video game submissions must be playable on a MAC or a PC and must be able to be uploaded to the Game Jam's itch.io page. 
  8. All submissions must be submitted through the itch.io game jam page by the Saturday May 2nd 8:00 PM deadline and should be playable at the time of submission.

Evaluation Criteria:

Coming soon!

Prizes:

Participants can win prizes based on how well their games are ranked against the evaluation criteria listed above. Winning games will be announced during the UNICORN Castle Student Congress on Medieval Studies and Medievalism.