Past Jams
Below is our complete list of all previous Themes and Wildcards for Godot Wild Jam.
The themes and wildcards are suggested by our community on Discord, then our staff chooses from the community’s favorites.
See a summary of that process here.
| Jam# | Theme | Wildcard 1 | Wildcard 2 | Wildcard 3 | Bonus Card | Number of Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolution | 16 | ||||
| 2 | Hidden Within | 29 | ||||
| 3 | Pick Your Poison | 15 | ||||
| 4 | The 12 Levels of Christmas, Lose to Win, Surprise!, Change a World, Accessibility: Games for the blind or color blind, Cats, Christmas Sucks, Delivery, Automation, Destruction/Reconstruction (Chose One) | 14 | ||||
| 5 | Natural Disaster or One Control (Pick one) | 18 | ||||
| 6 | Out of Place Cacti (Any combination of the phrase) | 32 | ||||
| 7 | Possession | 26 | ||||
| 8 | Black Hole | 21 | ||||
| 9 | Underworld | 23 | ||||
| 10 | Glitch | 28 | ||||
| 11 | Parallel Dimensions | 17 | ||||
| 12 | Chain • Destruction • Harvest (Pick two or more) | 30 | ||||
| 13 | Merge | 29 | ||||
| 14 | Shadows (First Jam with Wild Cards) | Palette Limiter Use no more than Four colors in your game | What the Cluck?! include at least one chicken-related sound effect in your game | Trick or Treat Make your game spooky (or spoopy) | 22 | |
| 15 | Floating Islands | Copy that Floppy! Include a floppy disk somewhere in your game | Wing it! Randomly/ procedurally generate part of your game | Phantom Sequel Make your game as though it's the sequel to a game that doesn't exist | 19 | |
| 16 | Short on Time | Flurries Include a particle system in your game | Vox Actors Include voice acting in your game | Jingle Bells Include bells in your game's soundtrack | 21 | |
| 17 | Second Chances | Lookin' Good! Implement some form of character customization | Clockwork Have your game use real-world time in some way | Agreeable Implement some form of multiplayer in your game | 23 | |
| 18 | Plague | 80's Baby! Recreate the visual style of 1980s media | Take a Chance on Me Create a system of chance in your game | I Wish it Would Rain Implement weather effects of some kind in your game | Willowcard Include Willowblade in your game | 42 |
| 19 | Discovery | Non-verbal Use Non-verbal communication in your game | For All Include accessibility features in your game | BOOM! Feature destructible environments in your game | 32 | |
| 20 | Every End is a Beginning | Egg Hunt Hide secrets in your game | Pacifist Make your game involve no death or injury | Dad Joke Tell a really bad joke in your game | 55 | |
| 21 | Connection | Move it! Make your game fun to speedrun | Juice it! Mark your game juicy | Two Butons Make your game playable with just two buttons | 87 | |
| 22 | Revolution | Make it Up! Use procedural generation in your game | Another's Shoes have your game feature multiple protagonists | Who are You? Feature NPCs you can interact with in your game | 72 | |
| 23 | Tiny World | Wherefor Art Thou? Let the player name the protagoinst | Dig it! Feature destructible terrain in your game | Seamless Make your title screen be part of the game itself | 53 | |
| 24 | Family | Pet the Dog Include a dog that the player can pet | Secret Passage Include a hidden shortcut somewhere in your game | Quip it Good Have a snarky narrator in your game | Watchmaker include the passage of time in your game | 69 |
| 25 | Change Yourself, Change the World | HUD-less Don't use a HUD: Have all the information be in the game world | Traditionalist Use (or imitate) traditional art styles in your game | Forbidden Fruit Put something in your game that the player is forbidden | 45 | |
| 26 | Bread, Spooky, Prehistoric Choose one, two or all three! | Hey! Listen! Feature a companion character in your game | Cheater! Put cheat codes in your game | Delightfully Mundane Put something fun and trivial in your game | 28 | |
| 27 | Books* | Tamer Make a game where you can turn enemies into friends | Stay Awhile Create a rich backstory for your game | Dramatis Non Persona Make a character out of an inanimate object | 28 | |
| 28 | Egg | Bamboozled Trick the player with a false start, end, or game over screen | Two Heads Have co-op mechanics in your game | D.I.Y. Add a crafting system to your game | 53 | |
| 29 | Nomad | Educational Make your game educational in some form | Don't Go Alone Feature a companion or pet in your game | Better, Faster, Stronger Have acquirable upgrades in your game | 46 | |
| 30 | HeartBeat | See No Evil Make a game without visuals | Flattery Have the player believe they're doing great even though they don't | Arcade Add a playable game inside your game | 84 | |
| 31 | Something's Missing | Oregano Add oregano to your game. Everything is better with oregano | You Wot M8? Ignore the theme completely | Duck, Duck, Moose Have one object in your game that is of an entirely different art style | 80 | |
| 32 | Seven | Good Things Come to Those Who Wait Player standing idle helps their progression | Dare to Fail failure is just another path to victory | Roll a D20 Include some RPG mechanics in your game | 88 | |
| 33 | You aren't the hero | Fully Immersed Make your menus and UI be part of the game world | Transmutation You can't kill enemies only change them | Getting Rich Include a form of currency in your game | 88 | |
| 34 | Space | What's Up Doc? Add some carrots in your game (Health, Power-up, Ammo, etc.) | Game Time Player's real-world time affects something in the game world | No Place Like Home Include a home/hub area, level, or world in your game | 75 | |
| 35 | Lost Tech | Tradeoff You can negatively impact yourself to gain an advantage | Unreliable Narrator Include a narrator or guide who provides unreliable advice for the player | Redacted Include ____ __ in your game | 71 | |
| 36 | Uncontrollable Growth | Physician, Heal Thyself Implement a Clever health system in your game | Now you see me, now you don't Include hidden / camouflaged Elements | Competitive Spirit Allow for some Competition | 73 | |
| 37 | Inside the Machine | Time Dilation Manipulate the flow of time in your game | Hidden Tutorial Subtly teach game mechanics without an explicit tutorial | Forbidden Palace Where those inside can't go out & those outside can't go in by normal means | 59 | |
| 38 | Solarpunk | Spoopy Make a cute, comical, or silly Horror game | Who even reads? Don’t include any text in your game | Behold! Move the camera to something significant | 68 | |
| 39 | Inversion | Prithee, Speak! Have a system for talking to NPCs in your game | Kids These Days Have a character complain about everything the player does | Mobile Friendly Make sure your HTML5 build can be played from a touch screen | 31 | |
| 40 | Cozy | SEGAAAAA Have a splash-screen intro with an audio jingle and logo | New Game+ Add content that's only accessible after winning at least once | Overworked Your characters are not machines and need occasional breaks | 51 | |
| 41 | Ocean | Sound of Y'all All sounds in-game are made with your mouth(s) | Fishy Business Include a fishing mini-game | It's Treeson Then Include your favorite quote or Pun in game | 88 | |
| 42 | Ancient | Heavy Lies the Crown... Make the Player face an uncomfortable decision! | Gotta Go Fast Include a Speedrun timer | Mom, I'm on TV! Shoehorn in developer cameos | 61 | |
| 43 | Combine | Click me! Make something unexpectedly clickable | The More the Merrier Control more than one character | Roll with it Add an element of bad luck for the player | 58 | |
| 44 | Fragile | No Health Bar Add a Health System that's Not a UI Element | Boss Theme Intensifies Add Music that Reacts to Gameplay Intensity | Level Menu The Main Menu is also a Playable Level | 75 | |
| 45 | Underground | Breathtaking Include a Scenic View | Next! Have Your Character Change Visually After Death | Deal with the Devil Make a Trade that You'll Regret | 81 | |
| 46 | Orb | I Feel Small Make enemies much larger than the player | Fear of the Dark Make someone (or something) follow the player | Non-Euclidean Have a map that is impossible in the real world | 64 | |
| 47 | Symmetry | Unusual Look Use a weird art style in your game | Not twice Repeated mistakes cost more... | Inventory Limited Choose carefully what to keep | 49 | |
| 48 | Moon | Naptime Include the ability to rest in your game | Not another platformer Don't allow the player to jump | Been here before... Force the player to return to a previous zone | 60 | |
| 49 | Unstable | Overgrown Have part of your game overgrown by plants | Colossal Creature include a massive living thing in your game | A Blast from the Pastel Use a pastel color palette | 68 | |
| 50 | Ritual | Animism Give Life to Something Ordinarily Inanimate | Superstitious Add Elements of Superstition in your game | Stay in the Light/Dark You are Safe When in Light/Dark Areas | 72 | |
| 51 | Upgrades | Boom Goes the Dynamite Have some sort of explosion in game | Fury of the Storm Add weather related hazards | Bread Include bread as a vital part of your game | 51 | |
| 52 | Ghosts | We Got a Deal! Have a trade mechanic in your game | Take It Easy Have multiple difficulty levels in your game | Guiding Light Find your way in the dark | 54 | |
| 53 | Assembly Required | Four Color Limit Limit your palette to four colors | Wait, what? Include a plot twist in your story | Thermometer Use temperature as a Game mechanic | 174 | |
| 54 | Curses | Crumbling Location This place is falling apart, too bad you're in it | Faustian Bargain Make a deal with the devil | Do It For Me Use procedural generation | 79 | |
| 55 | Dreams | Disassemble Instead of lives, player loses parts | A Fork in the Road Have different paths or endings | Kaboom! Just pack your game full of explosions | 91 | |
| 56 | Monster | Collect ‘em All Include multiple Collectables | Thy Visage Allow character customization | Exposure Add environmental hazards of some kind | 56 | |
| 57 | Forgotten Knowledge | Navigator Include a map in your game | Checkpoint Save the player's progress for them | Under pressure Include some kind of pressure (time, mental, etc) | 45 | |
| 58 | Rain or Shrine | Textless Don't use any text anywhere in your game | Windy Wind is a part of gameplay | Mythical Mashup Combine different mythologies or folklore | 77 | |
| 59 | Train | Spit that out Have a consumable that can be eaten but really shouldn't | Find the frog Hide a frog somewhere in your game | And my Axe! Have a companion that follows and assists | 82 | |
| 60 | Malfunction | Uno Reverse any of the game's rules at any time | Mobius loop your game starts and ends at the same point | One Moment Have a bench to sit on and relax | 45 | |
| 61 | Ascension | Naturalist Control the environment instead of a character | Diplomatic Achieve goals without killing | Icarus Have a great power that can lead to doom | C SHARP Create your game in C# | 55 |
| 62 | Harvest | Carpe noctem Have a game mechanic involving night time | Autumn/Falls Add Dead Leaves, Pumpkins, etc... | One or two? Offer the Player a Choice | 103 | |
| 63 | Cats ! | To Travel is to Live Take the player to multiple distinct locations | Like the old days Implement 5+ cheat codes in your game | Arch-Nemesis Have a main antagonist who opposes the Theme! | 142 | |
| 64 | Illumination | White-out/Freezing out Winter Weather or Cold-related effects, graphical and/or mechanical | Blood is fuel Create a unique mechanic to restore health | Trash Everywhere Some actions leave the player with waste/junk | 116 | |
| 65 | Overload | The Good Ending Have more than one win condition | Unspoken Stories Tell a story through the environment, not through dialogue | Choose Your Fighter Allow the player to choose between characters | 156 | |
| 66 | Escape | Here Comes the Sun Give the player a reason to love or hate the sun | Think inside the box The game takes place within a single room | Betrayal Allow enemies and allies to switch sides | 158 | |
| 67 | Parasite | Gridlock Restrict movement to a grid | Roshambo What beats one is beaten by the other | Silliness Switch Googly eyes, Fake moustaches, Big head mode, etc | 152 | |
| 68 | Forge | Wah Wah Wah Waah Add a funny Game Over sound | Pay Attention, 007 Have cool gadgets in your game! | Hardcore Make the player restart on death | 153 | |
| 69 | VOID | Give Me a Minute Include cooldown timers in your game | Memory lane Show an earlier part of the game near the end | What's this? Hide an easter egg in the UI | 188 | |
| 70 | Folklore | Transfer Takeover Play as different characters | Actions have Consequences Player's actions persist between each playthrough | Turtles all the way down Use recursion in level design/story elements | 203 | |
| S1 | Support Wild and Proud Mini-Jam | Iconic Hide an editor icon in your game | Show your Colors Use a pride flag’s colors as the color scheme for your game | What's the T You tell us... (the Tea or what T means) | 51 | |
| 71 | Unintended Consequences | Zzz... Make rest an element of your game | Seasons Include the four seasons to affect gameplay | Not Dead Yet Make Game Over screen a mini game in itself | 138 | |
| 72 | Light and Dark | Dynamic Perspective Use more than One Camera in your game | Curses Difficulty increases with Powerups | What the Duck Include at least One Duck in your game | 156 | |
| 73 | Tower | Did you know... Provide fun facts whenever possible | Warp Speed Include a teleportation and/or fast travel mechanic | Wildcard Use the mechanics of or show old wildcard(s) in your game | 153 | |
| 74 | Haunted | It's Broken! The player needs to repair and/or restore something | Pursuer Include an entity that follows the player | Through the Teeth Lie to the player constantly | 112 | |
| 75 | Reflections | Memento mori Leave player corpses on map after death | Undo Allow the player to undo one of their actions | Why limit yourself? Be able to control more than one character/object | 97 | |
| # of | Total Entries | 5324 |
