Overview Eevee Expo Game Jam 2025: Overview

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Welcome back to the game jam, fam!

For the uninformed: a game jam is an event where developers get together and make a game. It sounds simple at first glance, but making a good game is much more difficult and time consuming than you might think. Participating in one is a great way to challenge yourself, learn new skills, make connections, and polish your overall experience as a game developer.

This year, we've decided to drop the number from the title. So much has changed since 2015, including the changing of hands, that to me it feels disingenuous (in a way) to keep calling it "our eleventh" game jam. Still, I'm glad to continue the tradition and I hope you're excited about participating! Whether that's creating an entry, playing through the entries and providing feedback to the devs, and/or just cheering on everyone else! This community is an amazing place, and that's thanks to each and every one of you. Take pride in that, and your hard work! Let's make this game jam a special one!

A special thank you to @alioda for creating the graphics for this event!

Game Jam Details​

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A staple of our game jams is that there's no mandatory theme required for your entry. You're free to tackle any theme you'd like, or even forego a theme. Let your creativity shine! We have an optional theme that you can pursue if you so wish.

The main rule is, your game jam entry must be made DURING the game jam. You can collect free-to-use resources and include them in your entry, but anything you or your teammates create for the game jam must be created after the timestamp on this post!

You aren't required to make a game about Pokémon if you don't want to. You also don't have to use RPG Maker XP and Pokémon Essentials! A game jam is an exciting time to try out a new medium and experiment with creating something new in a short period of time, so don't feel you have to stick to the classics.

You aren't required to work alone. Feel free to organize a small team of friends to work on your game with you. Group entries are most definitely allowed, and encouraged. We allow a maximum of four people to work together.

As is tradition, we require that any graphics you create for your project be submitted as a Resource Pack in the Resources → Game Jam Packs section of the site. You must also include a credits list with your submission and include one bundled with your entry in a text file. These are a requirement. We do have some additional rules regarding resources, which you can check out in the Summary & Rules section, as well as in the Q&A.

This year, we are trying something new and limiting how updating your game jam entry works. We will only allow any updates to entries within a grace period of one week before updating is no longer allowed. Keep an eye on the calendar and plan accordingly so that you have time to playtest your entry, and possibly encourage other members of your team (if applicable) to try out the project on their machine. More details below! Make sure you're adding playtesting to your schedule, as we won't allow updates until the community spotlight vote has concluded.

By submitting your entry to us, you give us permission to promote it via social media and if it wins the Spotlight, be eligible for a brand new game badge, or be eligible for one at a later date. More details below about how you can help us promote your entry on social media!


As with previous game jams, we have another optional theme this time around. This has always worked rather well and we typically see a large amount of entries participate, so we're eager to include another one this year!

"Weather" has multiple ways to be interpreted, and I am excited to see what comes out of it! Is the player trying to survive a certain kind of weather? Or stop a weather disaster from occurring? Or are you thinking more obscure, is the weather controlling the mood of a scene (in a "pathetic fallacy" sort of way) with a tragic story happening on a stormy night? Or perhaps you're cracking open the dictionary and looking at "weather" as a verb... Is something being weathered, worn away by the elements? Does the player need a sturdy boat to weather the storm? Is the protagonist "under the weather?" I can't wait to see what you make!

For participating in this challenge theme, you'll earn an extra badge to go alongside a badge for participating in the game jam. Participating in this theme won't net you an advantage in judging, but putting a twist on this theme in an unexpected way could impress the judges.

Do your best to use this theme in an interesting way, as using it in a low effort or uninvolved fashion will likely not get you the badge. This is up to the judge's discretion.

Summary & Rules​

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• There is no mandatory theme requirement for your entry, but there is an optional challenge theme.
• Your entry does not have to be a fangame or use any particular program/engine.
• You may only submit one entry. If you submit multiple entries, only your latest is eligible for judging.
• Group entries are allowed, with a maximum of 4 participants per group.
• You may only be part of one group entry. Playtesting is to be handled by one of your 4 participants, so playtesters cannot be a part of multiple entries.
• Once the game jam entry period ends, we will only allow updates and bug fixes for one week. Make sure you're adding playtesting to your schedule, as we won't allow updates until the community spotlight vote has concluded.
• Graphical resources created for your entry must be bundled into a Resource Pack and submitted in our Resources → Game Jam Packs section for free public use. This pack will be evaluated and approved when the deadline for the game jam has passed.
• You may not use any material from your past projects, aside from public resources.
• You can only use public resources created before the entry period. If a public resource is updated during the entry period, it is still able to be used.
• List of credits must be included with entry post and bundled with the game in a text file. (credits.txt)
• Submitting an entry means Eevee Expo can promote it via social media and create a game badge for your entry should it win the spotlight, or be eligible for one later on if it does not win.

Spotlight Entries & Judging​

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Each game jam, the judges pick several entries as the "spotlight entries", which are considered the most interesting and or highest quality entries. There is no first place, second place, and so on.

To do this, the judges will take a look at every game jam entry after playing them all and have a roundtable discussion internally on their thoughts. While there is no set criteria for the judges, you can be sure that they'll take into consideration how interesting each entry is, how fun they are to play, how well they're polished, and what not. It should be noted that the judges will not be publicizing their thoughts on each entry unless they choose to do so.

Developers that receive a spotlight will get an exclusive badge, a game badge for their entry, and a special vanity URL on the forums. We hope this encourages you to make the best possible entry!

The judges for this game jam are...
@catwithnojob
@luxdiablo
@King_Waluigi
@Pi25
...and maybe some surprise guests?

Badges​

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As with every year, we've got badges to be announced!

Jam 2025 Badge: This badge is given to those who participated in the game jam!
Spotlight Jam 2025 Badge: This badge is given to those who participated in game jam and had their game featured in the Spotlight!
Challenge Jam 2025 Badge: This badge is awarded to those who participated in the game jam and incorporated the optional theme challenge of "Weather" into their entry!

Submitting Your Entry​

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When submitting your game, please make sure that you've packaged your game correctly and optimized it by cutting our unnecessary/unused files. For example, Pokémon Essentials fangames have a guide on the wiki titled Finalising your game for release.

When the time comes to actually submit your game, take at least six screenshots, put your resources that you've used in a .zip file and upload your game and resource pack to Mediafire or MEGA.

Then post a thread in the Eevee Expo Game Jam 2025 forum section that has the following details listed below, and your resource pack (see the section below for submitting your resource pack). Feel free to spruce your thread up, it doesn't have to be barebones. Threads will be moved to the other sections (Completed Games and Released Games) when the game jam concludes.

• Game Title
• Game Screenshots (at least 6 screenshots, don't use Discord links!)
• Made Using (the name of the engine/kit you've used)
• Team (the list of the 1-4 users on your team, using @ to tag them if possible!)
• Download Link (discord links and URL shorteners not acceptable for downloads)
• Notes
• Resource Pack (a link to the resource containing your game jam pack)
• Credits (a list of credits, which should contain the same list as credits.txt in your game download. Don't forget engine/kit credits!)

[B]Game Title[/B]
[B]Game Screenshots[/B]
[B]Made Using[/B]
[B]Team[/B]
[B]Download Link[/B]
[B]Notes[/B]
[B]Resource Pack[/B]
[B]Credits[/B]

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Submitting Your Resource Pack​

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While you submit your entry, you should have also assembled a resource pack. You must submit your resource pack in the Resources → Game Jam Packs section.

When filling out the details for your resource pack, be sure to mention the entry name in the tag line and description, and link to your entry thread in the resource description. You should also provide a list of credits if people use your resource pack.

Giving your resource an icon is also ideal, but not mandatory.

Sharing on Social Media​

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New this year, we'd love to try a new format for sharing progress on social media! To augment your social media posts, you can download this layout (custom made for this year!) and use it to showcase your game by using the hashtag #EEGameJam on Twitter and Bluesky! As one of the biggest events of the year for Eevee Expo, participants like you are the bread and butter to making this event even greater this year.

You can follow along with us reposting EEGameJam posts on Twitter and Bluesky!

For your convenience, this resource comes with a PNG template for static images, and a special animated MOV template for clips, as well as tutorials for both! Thanks Alioda!

Download here

Calendar of Events​

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• Monday, June 30: Game Jam begins!

• Sunday, August 3: Game Jam forum is unlocked and entries can be posted!
• Sunday, August 10: Game Jam entry period ends and judging begins!
• Sunday, August 17: Game Jam entry updates are locked until the Game Jam is over!

• Sunday, September 21: The Judge Spotlight Vote is announced and the Community Vote begins!
• Sunday, September 28: The Community Choice Spotlight Vote is announced and the Game Jam is officially over!

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
06-29	06-30 Game Jam begins!	07-01	07-02	07-03	07-04	07-05
07-06	07-07	07-08	07-09	07-10	07-11	07-12
07-13	07-14	07-15	07-16	07-17	07-18	07-19
07-20	07-21	07-22	07-23	07-24	07-25	07-26
07-27	07-28	07-29	07-30	07-31	08-01	08-02
08-03 You can now post your entry!	08-04	08-05	08-06	08-07	08-08	08-09
08-10 Last day to post your entry! Judging begins!	08-11	08-12	08-13	08-14	08-15	08-16
08-17 Last day to publish updates!	08-18	08-19	08-20	08-21	08-22	08-23
08-24	08-25	08-26	08-27	08-28	08-29	08-30
08-31	09-01	09-02	09-03	09-04	09-05	09-06
09-07	09-08	09-09	09-10	09-11	09-12	09-13
09-14	09-15	09-16	09-17	09-18	09-19	09-20
09-21 The Judge Spotlight Vote is announced! Community Spotlight Vote begins!	09-22	09-23	09-24	09-25	09-26	09-27
09-28 Community Spotlight Vote ends! The Game Jam is officially over!	09-29	09-30

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Q&A​

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Q: Why is the game jam going on for so long?
A: We've found that a longer game jam yields better results overall. If the game jam was only one or two weeks, you can expect to see much smaller entries by the end. A shorter duration could also conflict with someone's schedule and they could miss it entirely.

Q: Why is the theme optional and not mandatory?
A: Game jams with a focus are great, but we don't want to restrict anyone's creativity. You're free to enter what you like.

Q: Why do I have to include my resources?
A: We want to encourage people to use public resources, showing that you can make a really cool game with them. You're free to make resources for your project, but you have to release them as you submit your game. This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone and get some more resources out there. This also discourages people from using private resources from an existing project.

Q: Can I use resources I've released prior to the game jam for my entry?
A: Of course. You're free to use any publicly available resources. Resources released during the entry period that were created by anyone outside your team are not to be used unless they are an update to an existing resource.

Q: Can I use things from some of my past projects?
A: No, not unless you released it as a resource prior to the game jam.

Q: Can I release the things from past projects that I want to use as a resource and use them for my entry?
A: No, not while the game jam is underway. Please see the previous two questions!

Q: I can only have three other people working with me on my entry, but what counts as working with me?
A: Anyone who has created resources or helped with playtesting for your entry is counted as working with you. Existing public resources don't count towards this.

Q: Am I allowed to seek feedback for my entry? What about play testers?
A: You're more than allowed to seek feedback from outside sources (even publicly!), but your team should be handling your playtesting.

Q: When should I make my game thread?
A: You should post your game thread once your game is complete, and preferably before the deadline has passed. For your game to be approved, it must contain a valid download link in the thread (which will be hidden by staff).

Q: Are ROM hacks permitted? Are fangames permitted? Are original games permitted?
A: Of course! There is no rule that you must use a specific engine, genre, or the like. ROM hacks must be provided in a patch, though. No ROM uploading!

Q: Why aren't you judging all the entries on a set criteria?
A: While competitive game jams are fun, it's very difficult to grade them all on an even scale without more restrictions such as a mandatory theme. We have chosen not to judge them this way and instead choose some of the best entries for the Spotlight. It is also very time consuming to do so, and we want to get the Spotlights wrapped up as soon as possible.

Q: Can judges enter the game jam?
A: Yes, they can. Any projects they've contributed to will be ineligible to win a judge chosen spotlight, however. They are still eligible for a community chosen spotlight.

Q: Can we update your game before the game jam has completely concluded?
A: This year, we are allowing a grace period of one week for any updates! After this one week, we won't be allowing any further updates until the game jam has completely concluded at the end of September. This is to keep it fair, as the entire challenge is creating your game jam entry within the 40ish days! Balancing your time and playtesting before you release your project is an important skill to "jamming" so don't forget to keep an eye on the calendar.

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For any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch or comment in the Discussion Thread!