Game Off 2026 returns with "SHIFT" theme for November jam

Game Off 2026 is back for its 14th year this November as GitHub's annual month-long game jam returns with the theme SHIFT. Thousands of developers have joined the event over the years to create everything from polished platformers to wonderfully weird experiments, and organizers are inviting creators of all experience levels to participate.

The theme encourages participants to shift gears, perspectives, dimensions, bits, work the night shift, or make a game where the only buttons are the Shift keys. Organizers emphasize that how you interpret the theme is entirely up to you, with submissions due by December 1, 2026, at 13:37 PST.

Concept ideas for your jam entry

To help spark creativity, the organizers provided a list of specific concept ideas ranging from mechanical puzzles to narrative adventures. Participants can choose any interpretation that interests them without overthinking the process.

• A one-button (or two-button) game where the Shift keys are your only control.
• A racing game where shifting gears changes more than your speed, such as second gear reversing gravity or fourth removing 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 to access broken bridges or avoid monsters.
• 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 customers get progressively stranger.
• A comedy detective game where you must shift the blame onto increasingly unlikely suspects without contradicting evidence.
• A programming puzzler: Use bitwise shifts to manipulate the world, shifting left to double size or right to halve it.
• An adventure game about convincing somebody to cover your shift so you can attend the final boss battle.

Organizers also noted that participants could build games about shifting tectonic plates, shape-shifting aliens, shifting alliances, shifting sands, or a particularly ambitious stick shift. For those needing another perspective, GitHub Copilot is suggested as a brainstorming tool with prompts like "Act as an indie game designer. Suggest 10 original game concepts inspired by SHIFT."

How to participate and submit

You can work alone or form a team using whichever programming languages, engines, frameworks, libraries, and tools make sense for your project. The process involves creating a GitHub account if you do not already have one, then following these steps:

1. Join the jam on itch.io to access the Game Off 2026 page.
2. Create a public repository and store your game's source code on GitHub.
3. Push your game before December 1, 2026, at 13:37 PST. Note that pushing code to GitHub does not automatically submit your entry; you must also submit on itch.io.

Voting will occur after submissions close, with entries evaluated in categories including Overall, Gameplay, Graphics, Audio, Innovation, and Theme interpretation. Voting ends on January 1, 2027, at 13:37 PST, and winners will be announced via the GitHub Blog and social channels shortly thereafter.

Light rules and resources

Game Off is intentionally relaxed regarding technical requirements, though there are guidelines to ensure fairness. Your game must live in a GitHub repository, licensed however you like (open source is encouraged but not required), and built by flying solo or joining a team using any tools or assets you prefer. AI-assisted development is allowed, and participants will be asked about their use of AI when submitting.

For those new to game development, the organizers emphasize that there is no single correct way to play and suggest exploring various engines and frameworks such as Godot, Unity, Unreal Engine, Phaser, Pygame, Bevy, LÖVE, Flame, Ebitengine, Defold, libGDX, HaxeFlixel, raylib, PICO-8, and TIC-80.

Looking for teammates or a place to share progress, the Game Off 2026 Community is available on itch.io, along with a friendly community-run Discord server. New users can also consult Git documentation, GitHub Docs, or the GitHub Community for learning resources and support.