Game Jams

I’m sure there have been/will be more, but here’s every Playdate game from a game jam I could find, in chronological order. Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @TheGameLlama if you know of any I missed and I’ll get them added!

I’ll keep this list updated so check back later!

Ludum Dare 49 - October 1-4, 2021. Theme: Unstable.

Submission: Bloom - The Playdate didn’t start shipping to the lucky 10,000 people in Group One until April 18, 2022, which means this Playdate game hit Ludum Dare 49 a full SIX MONTHS before the release of the Playdate. I’m not sure the simulator was even available on the Playdate website at this point, which means it was strictly to be played by other Playdate developers that had an early dev console. They knew when submitting that they wouldn’t get many jam ratings, and they really didn’t, but what a cool thing to be first on. The eventual full-game release is one of my favorite Playdate games ever – read about it here and here.

Pulp Dev Game Jam - November 15-21, 2021. Theme: Scary Heartbreak. Use Pulp! (Since the Lua/C-based SDK for Playdate didn’t exist yet!)

Started by Neven Mrgan, who helped make Pulp! (Here’s the rest of the team, if you were curious.)

Submissions: Pulp Game and I Was Dead, But…

Play.Date Jam! - February 5-27, 2022. Theme: Mystery Game.

Only one entry, but still very early on in the Playdate’s life. Only going up from here!

Submission: Glitched out!

Playdate Minigame Jam - April 2-8, 2022. Theme: use Mobware Minigame Engine from GitHub. Compilation of all jam games in one release here.

This batch of games also came out before the Playdate’s launch, but luckily there was a minigame engine on GitHub that everyone could use. They compiled all the games into one big collection so you can enjoy them one after another, WarioWare-style.

Winner: Catch the Thief

Other submissions: Sleeping Tanuki, Rock-Paper-Scissors, Voyage Phaser, Polar Wave, Dashing Adventurer, Plate Spinning, Labyrinth, Quick Draw, Key to Success, Parachute Grab, Smiling Savage, Gated Castle, Bong, Squasher

Goblin Bunker Game Jam May 2022 - May 20-22, 2022. Theme: Combination.

Twelve submissions but only one Playdate game. Always great when our favorite little console can make appearances in non-Playdate-specific jams!

Submission: Locksmith Playdate

PlayJam 1 - June 24-27, 2022. Theme: Something’s Missing.

The PlayJams have been hosted by the delightful PossiblyAxolotl (who I interviewed here!) and are the longest running Playdate jam series to date. Lots of great ideas and eventual Catalog games started here!

Winner: Avava

Other submissions: Herbtales, Shopping Spree, Absence makes…, Nana’s Words, Shrimp Boom, Plunge, Salt in an Open Wound, Redacted, Sail, The Missing Note

PlayJam 2 - December 2-5, 2022. Theme: Crank It Till You Make It.

Winner: Super High School Sports Day Crankathlon

Other submissions: A Deep Dive, Crown of Zephyr, Rocky Stairs, Honest Rod’s Rollback Rally, From Scratch, Idle Surge, BLACKBOX, U.F.O. NO!, Crankin Car, RocketBird, Wheel Runner, Crank Dat, Crank Hero, Can You Make It?, The Money Factory, infshot, Wax On, Wax Off, Vitality Cranker, Clock Game, Squirt the Clown!, Fish Finger, Ice Fishing at the North Pole!, Crank That Soulja Boy

Global Game Jam 2023 - any 48 hours (determined by local organizer) during jam week of January 30 - February 5, 2023. Theme: Roots.

Nearly 40,000 people in 108 countries made around 7,600 games for this jam. A few of those were Playdate games! Learn more about the giant annual event here.

Submissions: Root Bear, Tender Root, Cropbuster, Truffled Times: No Snout About It, Yoga Therapy

PlayJam 3 - May 12-15, 2023. Theme: Just Out of Sight.

Winner: Digscovery

Other submissions: Beat Fish: Prototype, Hidden, Dog Knowse Chapter 1: The Dame, Sonar, Lights Out, Sight Blight, Mornin’ Joe!, Subby V Squid, Stalk the Giant, Bacdex, glasses i ges, 1-BIT Living Being Finder, Beyond the Black, Untitled Bunny Jam, Shot in the dark, Ripple Synth

Go Long! Playdate Jam - July 7-21, 2023. No theme.

Sole Submission/Winner: Montgolfier

Yellow Square Jam - October 1-29, 2023. No theme! Win a Playdate!

From what I can tell, this was the first Playdate game jam to offer a prize? That is: a brand new Playdate of your own! The winner eventually got their award-winning game onto Catalog with global leaderboards, so seems like they put it to good use.

Winner: What the Crow?!

Other submissions: Koko & Kebi - Crank Harrier, Palm Reader, War is Hare, ICARUS, Raise the Flag, Angel Pop, Suddenly Bird, Easy Godding, Vacuum, Maki Maker, Piece by Piece, Crystal Daze, Foot Cats (and dogs)

PlayJam 4 - November 10-13, 2023. Theme: Your Time Is Up.

Winner: Snooze or Lose

Other submissions: LiftUp!, List-Runner, 60 seconds barriers, Runaround Reaper, The Art of Clocktower Maintenance, Time Shared, Solo Tower, queue simulator, Stuck Like a Stone, Time Climber, Tic Toc Shoc, Time Flies Like An Arrow, Bubble Catch, Counterglass, Gotcha Number, Supernova, Scythe Shepard, one last sunset, About Time, The King of Alzoria

PlayJam 5 - April 19-22, 2024. Theme: You Forgot Something.

Winner: Discontrolled

Other submissions: I Forgot The Level!, Lighthouse, First in…Line?, Quiz·zi·cal, Froggotten Recipes, The List, Memory Match, name, Did It, Shred It, FORGOT SOMETHING, Crank Defense Force, DeAndre Says, super sunburnt siesta snoozer, Double Check, Tiles Memory

Uncrank’d Game Jam - May 3-11, 2024. Themes: “reflective” and “float”

This jam is hosted by friend-of-the-site Uncrank’d Magazine, which you can and should buy here (issue #3 is shipping now!). This jam will have two themes and also offer a Playdate as the grand prize. A neat twist on this one is that it’s eight days long and will have a panel of judges, including Panic’s Neven Mrgan, who literally invented Pulp. Try to impress them!

Winner: Dragon Flagon

Other submissions: Boatload, Cloudly Aware, Masterworks Inc., Safety Diver, House, Obol Trobol, Floaty McFloatFace: Just Keep Floating, Thought Bubble, Montgolfier Brothers’ Test Flight, Rorschach, Pappyshow, Shield Arena, Torpedo Trouble, DUCK GAME, Siege of Syracuse, The Crystal Bay, One Man Threat Ops, Prop of the Class, Jelly Float, Number One Fan, Reflektor Jam, Cooking for CrabTopia!, Lake Hero, Life’s Too Short: On Reflection, Quack Magic, Blown Away

Go Long! Playdate Jam: The 2nd One - June 8-22, 2024. No theme.

Two weeks to make something fun! Four times as many entries as the first. No ratings/winners, just a nice time!

Submissions: Under the Radar, Wing Squadron, Lathe Hero, Revolver

PlayJam 6 - October 11-14, 2024. Theme announced at start of jam.

Hosted by PossiblyAxolotl, the latest in the longest-running series of Playdate game jams!

Submissions: Sweetstakes Spooks (for Playdate), Tricks For Treats, Tricky Tracky Road, Treat Feat, Picky Treats, Trick QR Treat (Playdate), Treated, Quick Or Treat (Playjam 6), Bona Fido, Trick treating, Trick or treat by Samplay (Playjam 6), The Greatest Trick, Pentagram, Trick’s Treat