Game Off is an annual game jam challenging individuals and teams to build a game during the month of November. Use whatever programming languages, game engines, or libraries you like. 

The theme for Game Off 2026 is SHIFT!

Shift gears. Shift perspectives. Shift dimensions. Shift bits. Work the night shift. Or make a game where the only buttons are the Shift keys.

How you interpret the theme is entirely up to you.

Need inspiration? Here are a few concept ideas

• A one-button (or two-button) game where the Shift keys are is your only control.
• A racing game where shifting gears changes more than your speed. Second gear reverses gravity, third slows time, and fourth removes the brakes.
• A perspective puzzler where rotating the camera turns walls into floors and shifts shadows into platforms.
• A puzzle-platformer where you shift between two overlapping realities. That broken bridge might exist in the other world. Unfortunately, so might the monster standing on it.
• A shapeshifting adventure where you transform into creatures and objects, inheriting their abilities and weaknesses.
• A night-shift horror game set in a convenience store where the customers get progressively stranger, and whatever’s in aisle seven definitely isn’t covered by your training.
• A comedy detective game where you committed the crime and must shift the blame onto increasingly unlikely suspects without contradicting the evidence.
• A programming puzzler: Use bitwise shifts to manipulate the world. Shift left to double an object’s size, shift right to halve it, and discover what happens when you run out of bits.
• An adventure game about convincing somebody to cover your shift so you can attend the final boss battle.

Of course, you could also build a game about shifting tectonic plates, shape-shifting aliens, shifting alliances, shifting sands, or a particularly ambitious stick shift.

Don’t overthink it. Pick an interpretation that interests you and see where it takes you.

Pro tip: Start with one mechanic and one playable level. Get those working before adding the multiverse. Future you (and your bug tracker) will thank you.

1. Sign up. Create a free GitHub account if you don’t have one.
2. Join the jam. Hop onto the itch.io Game Off page. If you don’t already have an itch.io account, you can sign in with your GitHub account.
3. Create a public repository. Store your source code on GitHub—open-source magic at its finest. Push your game before December 1 at 13:37 PST.
4. Submit your game on itch.io. Once submitted, you’ll be able to play other entries and cast your votes!

After the submission period ends, participants will vote on each other’s games. Entries will be evaluated in the following categories:

• Overall
• Gameplay
• Graphics
• Audio
• Innovation
• Theme Interpretation

Voting will end on January 1, 2027, at 13:37 PST. 

New to game development?

Game jams are a great excuse to build your first game, play with a new game engine, or learn a new language. There are plenty of free, open source and “source available” engines to explore. Here are a few suggestions for some popular languages:

• JavaScript: you might be interested in Phaser or Sprig.
• Python: check out Pygame or Godot (Godot uses GDScript, which is similar to Python).
• C++ or C#: look at Godot, Unity, and Unreal Engine.
• Rust: you might like Bevy.
• Java: take a look at libGDX.
• Flutter: take a peek at Flame.
• Go: you might want to look at Ebitengine.
• Lua: check out LÖVE or Defold or LIKO-12 (especially if you like retro games)!

The Game Off 2026 Community is a great place to ask questions or look for teammates. There’s also a fantastic and friendly community-run Discord server

New to Git or GitHub?

Game Off is the perfect opportunity to check it out (version control pun intended)!

• Git Documentation: learn everything about version control and how to get started.
• GitHub Help: explore tutorials and FAQs about GitHub.
• Any questions about GitHub? Visit the GitHub Community Forum.

Good luck and have fun! Can’t wait to play, err, test all your games! <3