Register now for the Learning Labs 2026 Game Jam!
Theme:
The official theme for the jam is Growth and Decay! What does that bring to mind? The beautiful cycle of nature, a thriving city slowly crumbling to dust, mechanics that build up only to break down, or something else entirely? There’s no single “correct” way to interpret it, and we’re excited to see how this theme inspires you to create. Good luck!
Submissions will be accepted up until Sunday, April 12th, at 11:59 pm. Win cash prizes!
Submission Guidelines:
- Submissions open March 2nd – April 12th.
- Games must be submitted as hyperlinks to public games on Scratch or itch.io.
- Submissions are collected through Google Forms.
- Selected creators will be notified by Thursday, April 23rd, 2026.
- Game Jam Showcase and Award Ceremony at The Lawrenceville Arts Center during DTL CON-Quest on May 2nd from 11 am – 3 pm
Game jams are creative events in which participants race against the clock to design and develop a video game, often centered on a specific theme or concept. The 2025 Game Jam has wrapped up, but play and enjoy the winning games! The theme for this year was “A Delicate Balance.”
2025 Game Jam Winning Games
- Best Game Overall – Hog Heist
- Best Visual Novel – System Dive
- Best Action – Light Eater
- Best Other Genre – Forklift Frenzy
- Best Theme Adherence – Gravity Flipped
- Young Creator – Inverted
- Best Narrative – Hyphen
- Best Game Play Experience – System Dive
- Best Technical Execution – System Dive
- Best Sound Design – Hog Heist
- Best Art Direction – What Befell Orwell
- Great Start – What Befell Orwell
- Wild Card – Dragon Bachelors
Library Resources at GCPL for Game Developers and Designers
Gwinnett County Public Library’s Learning Labs have many free resources to help game developers and designers, including access to Adobe Creative Cloud, Blender, drawing tables, and audio and video recording studios. We also offer coding classes to help you get started in Scratch, Python, C#, or the Unity game engine. Access to our Learning Labs is free with a library card. Out-of-county patrons can purchase a full-access library card for $40 a year.
For more information on getting started with game design and development, visit our LibGuide: https://lib.gwinnettpl.org/learninglab/gamedev
Learning Labs Specialists are also on staff to help! Book-a-Librarian or make a reservation to use the labs at www.gwinnettpl.org/learninglabs/
Have a question? Send us an email at learninglabs@gwinnettpl.org
