ThinkyCon 2025 has (mostly) concluded — our 2nd annual three-day long extravaganza of presentations and talks from thinky game developers and enthusiasts of all kinds was a great success, and you can still watch all three days for free on our YouTube channel. (The talks will be broken up into individual videos in the near future.)
But the festivities aren't quite finished yet: the ThinkyCon Game Jam 2025 has started up immediately following the end of scheduled talks. This is a relaxed, community-oriented jam (no prizes or rankings) that gives you a little over a week to make something small and thinky. As for a theme, keep that YouTube link handy: this jam is focused on the talks that were shared during the event this year, and we want you to make a game somehow inspired by one of the presentations.
It's not just us here at Thinky Games who are interested to see how the talks this year have influenced game developers: we're partnering with researchers from the University of Utah who are interested in learning how an event like ThinkyCon shapes the way creatives work, how the sharing of ideas ripples outward and changes the field. Here's Professor Craig to explain:
The fun result of running a jam with a big institution like a university is that, as long as you opt in and allow your game to be part of the study, you're eligible to receive some compensation in the form of a $40 USD digital gift card. (Must be 18+ years old to be eligible.) It all feels like a win-win to us: get together and give people a reason to be creative and make some games while also potentially receiving a little something for your efforts.
The game jam runs until November 16th, so just over 7 days from the time this article is going up. We don't at all expect people to work on their games that whole time: whatever free moments you get during the week is totally fine. We hope you'll join up and can't wait to see how people have been inspired by ThinkyCon. (If you need some help or advice about making a game for the first time, joining our Discord is a great way to get some friendly answers.)
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.
