It feels a bit like déjà vu: I can't believe it's been a year already since I was writing about the last Thinky Puzzle Game Jam, but here we are with another June fast approaching, and that means one of the biggest community jams centered around the genre of games we love is right around the corner.
The 6th annual Thinky Puzzle Game Jam (not actually an event we're officially affiliated with, although you'd be forgiven for any confusion there) is running from the 20th to the 28th of June, and it's bound to once again be filled with puzzle enthusiast pouring out their brains and their hearts in the spirit of friendly creativity and mutual motivation.
Previous installments gave us some wonderful bite-sized crunchy games to chew on, lots of developers opting for easy play-in-browser engines for small games such as PuzzleScript to help them get a puzzle game off the ground quickly. As is always the case, this game jam doesn't feature big prizes or awards or even a competition: unlike some jams that have grown into something more like marketing opportunities for launching expanded Steam products, this is a small, community-centered event that's really all about appreciating the form of tiny puzzle games, experimenting with new ideas, and finding some inspiration or a reason to make something alongside others.
The TPGJ runs over the course of a week, but in true "don't stress about it" fashion, the rules ask you to spend only 48 hours during that window actually working on your game. Whatever time in your week works best for you to devote to a just-for-fun activity. There will be an optional theme revealed on the page when the jam kicks off, and people always have fun with them, but you're also free to ignore it if you've got other creative inspiration flowing.
The Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 6 starts on Saturday, June 20th and runs until June 28th. Either we'll see you there, or we'll see you afterwards playing lots of new free games. I know that's where we'll be.
Disclaimer: Thinky Games is a Carina Thinking Games Initiative and may have professional relationships with individuals and businesses related to the subject of this article. Please see our Editorial Policy for details.
