October Jam

No. Games are the main track: build a playable game from an official starter kit in Game Studio, from the Adventure Studio, or with the CLI, and it competes on the Game Votes leaderboard and for the 5 Game Editor's Picks. Story Studio and Video Studio entries are welcome too, and compete on their own Story & Video Votes leaderboard, ranked by community votes the same way as the Game track. Whatever format you build in, your entry is also eligible for all four Special Categories. You can publish as many entries as you want; each one competes on its own.

Practice and plan all you like, but your entry must be built during the jam, which opens October 8 at noon PT, the same moment the theme drops. Anything started earlier won't count. Use the wait to get comfortable in Game Studio, Story Studio, Video Studio, or the Adventure Studio with a throwaway project.

Automatically. The moment your game is public and approved, it's added to the leaderboard, with no form and no submission step. Entries usually show up within about 5 minutes of being approved to public. One requirement: games have to start from one of the official jam templates. The starter kits drop with the theme on October 8; use one in Game Studio or with the CLI, or build in the Adventure Studio. A game built outside the provided templates isn't eligible, even if it's public and on-theme. Games are ranked by community votes, which can be cast from October 15 through November 6, so publishing earlier gives your entry more of that window to collect votes. Publish early, get feedback, and keep refining; updates never reset your entry or its votes.

For Game Votes and the Game Editor's Picks: any original game built during the jam that fits the theme, once it's revealed, built from an official starter kit, the Adventure Studio, or the CLI. For Story & Video Votes: any original Story Studio or Video Studio entry made during the jam and published to RUN before submissions close, no kit required. For the Special Categories: any of the above. All four are open to every format. Full theme and eligibility details drop with the reveal on October 8.

Yes. An Adventure Studio build is a game entry: it competes in the Game track, on the same leaderboard as entries built from an official starter kit in Game Studio or the CLI. Whether you start from a starter kit in Game Studio, use the CLI, or build in the Adventure Studio, it all counts as a game. Just keep it original, on-theme, and published to RUN before submissions close.

Awards chosen by the RUN team rather than by votes: 5 Game Editor's Picks ($15,000 down to $800), drawn from Game entries. They're separate from the vote-based ranking, so a game can place on Game Votes and still take an Editor's Pick.

Four extra $500 awards on top of everything else, chosen by the RUN team. They're format-agnostic: a game, a story, or a video can win any of them. Most Sticky goes to the entry with the best reason to come back tomorrow: a loop, a streak, a cliffhanger, anything that earns a second session. Best Monetization goes to the entry whose purchase or upgrade feels genuinely worth it rather than a wall in your way. Best Social Features goes to the best reason to pull someone else in. Best Use of Theme goes to the entry that does the most with the theme once it's revealed. These stack with everything else, so taking one doesn't affect your standing on any leaderboard or in the Editor's Picks.

Now you gather votes. Voting is open from October 15 through November 6, so once it opens, everyone who plays and loves your entry can vote for it right away. Grab your entry's share link and post it everywhere it fits: the jam Discord channel, Reddit, X, your group chat. Early fans become votes that count toward your score right away. Point people at the leaderboard too. Watching the standings move is half the fun, and it pulls in more attention. Keep refining. You can keep improving your entry until submissions close; updates never reset your votes, and a sharper idea wins more of them.

For games: no. Game Studio in your browser or an AI desktop app on your computer let you build a game by describing it in plain English. The AI writes the code; you steer and test. Story Studio and Video Studio work the same way: describe what you want and the AI builds it.

Yes. Solo or team, no size cap. Just credit every member on your entry.

No. You pay $0 to enter and build. AI generation has a real cost to RUN, so we use credits to track usage. We'll email you a promo code for 100,000 free credits when the jam opens. More ways to earn free credits turn up as the jam goes on, and we announce them in the Discord.

Pencils down Monday, November 2 at noon PT. Judging runs through November 6 at noon PT, and winners are announced live after it closes.