Every year puzzle fans have something to look forward to around the end of June: the Thinky Puzzle Game Jam! This event, born out of the same puzzle-loving community as the annual Confounding Calendar, has just been announced for June 28th - July 5th, marking its 4th year running.
The spirit of the jam is always a relaxed and friendly one: it runs for a week, but the recommendation is to spend something like 2 days working on your entry, finding time whenever works best for you within that window. It's definitely an event that's more about a community coming together to make and play stuff, mutual creative motivation, rather than prestigious awards or prizes.
You can expect to see lots of small, playful puzzle games, many participants often opting to use the easy and free browser-based PuzzleScript to make their submissions. Some kind of slightly silly, tongue-in-cheek theme is always revealed right at the start of the jam to give all the games a nice thematic thread tying them together.
Checking out the entries from all 3 previous years (2021, 2022, 2023) is a great way to get a feel for the whole thing, and they also happen to be treasure troves of cute and interesting little games that are pretty under-the-radar.
Whether you make games, have wanted to make games, or just want to play a bunch of new free puzzles, I hope you'll join us when the Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 4 kicks off on June 28th. Everyone's welcome and it's always a great time. You'll definitely be hearing more about it from us, both when the jam starts and once we're diving into this year's games.
Disclaimer: Thinky Games is part of the Carina Initiatives and may have professional relationships with individuals and businesses related to the subject of this article. Please see our Editorial Policy for details.
