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Arcweave and IGDA Game Writing SIG logos above a progress bar labelled Loading Game Jam... On the right, a cartoonish illustrator of a bird wearing glasses writing on lapto.

The Game Writing SIG Arcjam is back!

Giannis Georgiou3 min read

72 hours. One theme. Hundreds of stories.

Last year's Game Writing SIG Arcjam was a gratifying experience that produced over a hundred games and bonded the game writing community through hard times. It spanned three days of creativity and solidarity: writers helped each other, pep-talked their colleagues, and persevered until submitting their entries.

This year, the jam returns in the same 72-hour format. It is organized by the IGDA Game Writing SIG and Arcweave, and it is open to writers, narrative designers, and collaborators who want to make a story-driven game in Arcweave.

The goal stays the same: create a personal interactive story you can put in your portfolio, with the help of an amazing community of creatives.

Sounds interesting?

Join the jam

Why join?

Three days are enough to finish a small, stand-alone narrative game. But the jam is more than that. After submissions close, the experience continues with feedback from peers and judges, visibility for your work, and a piece you can add to your portfolio, share with just a link, and be fiercely proud of.

Here is what taking part offers:

  • Publish a portfolio-ready piece in three days.
  • Grow your skills in interactive storytelling.
  • Collaborate with other writers, narrative designers, and devs, not to mention artists, animators, and music composers. Or work absolutely solo.
  • Get feedback and visibility from peers and judges.
  • Win prizes and promotion across the organizers' channels.
  • Showcase your award-winning project on the Arcweave website.
  • Connect with like-minded creatives in the IGDA Game Writing SIG community.

How it works

General rules

Create and submit: Every entry must be created in Arcweave and submitted through itch.io.

Team or solo: Arcweave's real-time collaboration allows you to work in sync with your team; and the organizers allow up to 8 people per team.

Text and assets: You can make a text-only game, if you like; audiovisual assets are encouraged but not required.

You don't need a paid Arcweave subscription or a paid IGDA membership to participate in the jam!

A few ground rules:

  • All submissions must be in English. Other languages are welcome as an option, as long as the game is fully playable in English.
  • Narrative content and audiovisual assets must be created solely by participants. Generative AI tools are not permitted.
  • If you use third-party assets, you're responsible for clearing rights and crediting them properly.
  • Games that contain sensitive content or aren't suitable for minors must clearly say so in their description.
  • Hate speech and discrimination of any kind, as well as bullying and trolling, won't be tolerated. The jam follows the IGDA Code of Conduct.

Prep-work

Here's how to get started:

  1. Join the IGDA Game Writing SIG Discord and follow the channels of the Game Jam Chat category.
  2. Create a free Arcweave account.
  3. Grab your free Arcweave Pro workspace trial code on the IGDA Game Writing SIG Discord.
  4. Create an itch.io account, so you can then upload your game.

The theme

The theme will be announced the moment the jam opens on November 20th.

You won't be disqualified if you ignore it, but organic incorporation of the theme is one of the voting criteria.

Don't be afraid to face it; see it as one more spark for your creativity!

Arcweave resources and perks

As co-host, Arcweave provides:

  • A Pro workspace project for every team, for the jam's duration.
  • Priority support in the Arcweave Discord.
  • Perpetual hosting for submitted projects.
  • Promotion for standout entries.

New to Arcweave? Our Basic Tutorial Series on YouTube and documentation will get you going right away.

Submitting your game

To submit your game, you'll need to:

  1. Make your Arcweave project's Play Mode public.
  2. Embed it in a simple HTML page.
  3. Upload it to itch.io.
  4. Submit it to the jam.

The full step-by-step instructions are on the jam's page.

Judging and prizes

Once the jam closes, the writers community will rate games on the following criteria:

  • Storytelling
  • Gameplay
  • Theme interpretation

Then, our team of judges, consisting of game narrative professionals, will rate the shortlisted games and give 1-on-1 feedback on how well they work as portfolio pieces.

Based on community and judge scores, the top three games will take 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize.

Our team of judges will also hand out three special recognitions:

  • Excellence in Writing Craft: for mastery of the prose itself
  • Excellence in Narrative Design: for games where gameplay and story meet
  • Innovative Use of Technology: for imaginative, skilled use of Arcweave

Judges and prizes will be announced soon!

Winners will be announced on December 8th.

Ready to write?

The jam welcomes both seasoned narrative designers and first-timers. No Arcweave experience is necessary: the app is very intuitive, and the Arcweave team will be holding your hand throughout the process. Just join the Arcweave Discord and the IGDA Game Writing SIG Discord for questions and support!

Join the jam

We'll see you at the starting line. Let the games begin!

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