#interact-if game jam

[lapinlunaire-games]

Almost time for Anti-Romance Jam 2025!

18 May - 22 July, join an exploration of all the messy spaces and sensations that exist against and around romance! This jam exists in a deep and profoundly charged intimate rivalry with Smoochie Jam.

What is anti-romance? That, dear jammer, is up to you: 

The opposite of romance, the absence of it, or something else? Maybe more than one at the same time?

Does anti-romance require romance? Can they coexist? 

What's love got to do with it?

Is anti-romance a resistance, subversion, or reclamation?

That's right, over two months to work on a project! This jam is open to all kinds of games, art, and other media, including but not limited to: interactive & kinetic/dynamic fiction or poetry; visual novels; TTRPGs; essays; zines; scripts; fiction; visual art; etc.

Full rules + signup on the jam page here:

@interact-if

[amaregames]

Special Edition - Amare Games Festival Issue Release (2025)

Hello everyone!

The Amare Games Festival Bulletin is out now! 🎉

With 55 total submissions, this special edition compiles all the incredible games from Amare Games Festival into one easy-to-navigate bulletin. 

Inside, you’ll find:

✨ Fully released games – complete, self-contained experiences ranging from fantasy to slice-of-life romance ✨ On-going & episodic projects – visual novels, interactive fiction, and stories still in development ✨ Demo releases – sneak peeks at exciting upcoming games

Whether you're looking for a finished game or eager to support projects in progress, this bulletin has something for everyone!

Check out the festival submissions page and discover your next favourite Amare game. 💖

Download for free and start exploring today!

~ The Amare Bulletin Team

[kithj]

Announcing the second Queer Vampire IF Jam!

This is a month-long game jam that will run from January 10 - February 20th, 2025. The goal of this jam is to create more interactive fiction games about queer vampires, focusing both on queer relationships and queer experiences as told through a vampiric narrative.

Check out the entries from last year here!

JAM RULES:

Your project must focus on queer characters and vampires. Queer relationships, romantic or platonic, as well as other queer experiences, whether gay, lesbian, bisexual, ace, aro, trans and nonbinary - this is an inclusive jam. 

You can write from a human or vampire perspective (or both!)

This jam will accept any medium, so long as the work is an Interactive Fiction.

This jam will accept adult content as well as games covering heavy & uncomfortable topics, but please be sure to properly list trigger warnings either in-game or on the game page.

Entries that promote any kind of bigotry will not be accepted.

Games should not include any AI generated content.

You can submit as many entries as you'd like.

There is no language requirement; we will accept games in any language.

You are allowed to start working on your project early! That's why I'm announcing it now. This jam is unranked and it's not a contest, this is just for fun.

Submissions open midnight, January 10th EST. They'll close February 20th at 11:59pm EST.

Join the jam here!

hosted by me and @nyehilismwriting

Additional questions we got asked frequently last year, for clarification:

Do Visual Novels count?

Yes!

What is Interactive Fiction?

Personally, I find interactive fiction hard to define, and I’m not interested in policing it, so as long as it’s recognizably interactive fiction - ie, the game has a narrative focus primarily with text, and the player can interact (whether that be with direct choices, clicking through links, or allowing the player to choose how to move around and interact with the world/the game like in bitsy) then it counts. Parsers, visual novels, choose-your-own-adventures are some of the popular examples of IF, but there are plenty that don’t fall within any category. Check out the IF tag on itch.io and you can see just how varied it is.

Does it have to be horror?

No, any genre is accepted!

[yourtinybook]

activity template — let’s pick some stuff, animal jam theme! (request)

[dreamty-games]

After one month of work, @aoi1dee and I have the pleasure to announce that our new game just released for free on itch.io!

When your friend, Eiran,  left the country to go on a family trip for about three months, you weren't upset that he wasn't responding because, obviously, he didn't have service. But now he's been back for two weeks and hasn't responded to a single message you sent, and even left you on read?!

Now you're on your way to a party his family is hosting with your parents. And so help you, if you see him there, you are going to confront him. You want to know if you did something that might've made him uncomfortable or hurt his feelings. 

Or, worst case scenario, he found out you have a crush on him...

Left on read is a short fanntasy romance made in a month for Nanoreno jam.

Game features:

7.8k Words

3 CGs

1 Ending

1 male love interest 

Pronoun & Gender Options 

Customizable Doll 

Voice acting

[neointeractives]

Neo-Twiny Jam 2025

Returning for a third edition! Still fundraising for LGBTQ+ organisations! Come make a Tiny Game for charity!

The Neo Twiny Jam is an Interactive Fiction Jam with one rule:

Don't write more than 500 words.

Any type of Interactive Fiction is welcome, from any kind of IF system/format, regardless of genre/theme.

You are not limited to Twine only. Use any program you want as long as the output is interactive fiction.

NSFW content is acceptable (NSFW themes must be clearly indicated in the submission).

Sounds, graphics and code are not included in the word count.

No AI/LLM generated content, incl. game cover/title card.

No Hate/Spam submissions.

You must credit any asset used.

The Neo Twiny Jam will run from June 1st 2025 (12:00 AM/00:00 EST) to June 30th 2025 (12:00 AM/00:00 PST).

This Jam is unranked.

The inspiration for this jam comes from Porpentine's Twiny jam, which ran in 2015. During the original three-week jam, creators were asked to submit a Twine game with no more than 300 words.

Like the previous years, I will be matching the number of entries into a donation to an LGBTQ+ charity - Trevor Project and SAGE. Please contact us if you would like to donate as well.

Join the Jam!

We will track entries on Tumblr with the #neotwinyjam, but you can also tag @neointeractives/@neo-twiny-jam!

Join the Neo-Interactive Discord 

[manonamora-if]

Back by popular demand!

The REALLY BAD IF Jam is a month-long unranked game jam where the goal is to make the worst IF game possible. Bring your terribly written, bug-riddled coded, nonsensical story - game along!

Why go through the troubles of making a good game anyway?

If you're looking for inspiration, here's the first RBIF. Do note: some games are actually good tho - it's not that easy to make a truly bad game.

[rexanesolo]

Adventures in Clairune is out!

If you want to:

Bully a dragon lord

Flirt with an elf

Trust an assassin

And most importantly romance them!! With perks such as:

he/she/they option for players

6 endings (good and bad for each love interest)

A 1 hour playtime (roughly)

Pretty art style & good music

FREEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

So go play my first vn! (I was inspired by the arcana and y'all might like this too :3)

[kitsuren]

DEMO // PLAYLIST

Flirting with Death is a 18+ Otome-like action dark romance in the form of an interactive fiction. The game focus will be mostly into character and relationships development, exploring how you interact with the world and the reactions to your decisions.​

Take charge of Eris, a newly (and forcibly) inducted operative of a shadowy organization, as she enters a world way more twisted from what she is already used to. 

The game will be released chapter by chapter and it will be entirely free after completion!

You died. For all your life, you have been making bad decisions after bad decisions and this time your luck ran out. During your years working with the wrong side of the law you had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. What you never expected was that your choices would take you into a maze of lies and backstabbing capable to bring countries to their knee. Something big is happening and you are not in the small leagues anymore. To bring down titans you will have to ally yourself with the shady HADES Project, a group with dubious objectives and even more dubious reasons. In a race against time you will have to do the unthinkable before it is too late. There is no right or wrong in this game and the stake is your second chance in life. The clock is ticking. Grab your power suit. Gather your allies. And remember: Trust no one.

Play as a female gender locked protagonist;

Customize your Eris: decide on your past, specialization, appearance, and attributes, bringing your character to life;

Romance one of the 3 initial ROs, each of them having their own unique route that explore the story trough different perspectives;

Make  decisions that impact the people around you for the good or the bad;

Use state of the art never-seen-before technology, including your very own power suit so you will never die (again!) during a mission;

Choose between 5 classes that will assist you during the various dangers that will follow you and your team as you try to solve the mystery;

Be a a righteous vigilante or a complete menace to society;

Kick a billionaire in the face (or not)!

This game is rated +18. Not only it will touch on heavy subjects, but it will also contain: 

Graphic depctions of violence; Strong language; Unhealthy coping mechanisms; Guns and gun violence; Manipulation tactics; Explicit sex (if chosen); Taboo relationship; Toxic relationship; Mature content; (This list will be updated if and when necessary!)

Yes, the protagonist is gender locked: This is my first time coding an IF and I didn't want to bit off more than I could chew. Not only that, I wanted to mix the otome/josei genre with the interactive format. Maybe it will work, maybe not.

This game is a ROMANCE first and foremost: You will not be able to opt out of it. I am aware that some people are not fond of this type of content and yes, you as a player will have the choice to have (or not!) sexual content/pda, but you will not be able to get out of locking into a romantic route.

Cold, cynical, and incredibly sardonic, Phobos is all objective, giving up on any and all distractions and not being afraid to do whatever it is necessary for the greater good. His no-nonsense attitude and his constant tries to intimidate anyone into submission​ turned him infamous in the organization. His morality is almost black and he doesn’t care about the sacrifices that he needs to do to obtain the desired result. Killing for him is second nature, but most of times he will let Deimos talk him down from his murderous rampage. At least until he decides that the more approachable way is not being efficient anymore.

Friendly, good natured, and helpful. Everyone who knows Deimos has the impression that the man is not fit for this kind of work. He is well regarded by anyone across HADES and normally tries to resolve everything without violence, doing a really good work as a “face” in his Kerberos Unit. But don’t be mistaken, even preferring to not harm innocents, Deimos is a perfect killing machine, honed by his past to be the perfect assassin and torturer. He has an approachable personality, but when working he only focus on the job that needs to be done. Can be quiet work focused and hyper fixate on the mission, which feeds his insomnia.

With zero chills to give and almost always having and anxiety attack due to Phobos and Deimos shenanigans, his boyish appearance masks very well his personality and he constantly runs with the power of coffee and spite. As a handler he is extremely methodical and professional, being proficient with first aid, tech, engineering, and plan making, even if his ADHD tries as hell to hinder his plans. Being a genius, he mostly always lose patience with stupidity and prefer to work by himself. Chaos is the youngest handler in HADES history and by far one of the most respected, at least by name, since he is the only one capable to make Phobos and Deimos to actually shut up with just a glare.​ Can be a tad dramatic and fatalist, but he rarely is wrong. His favorite phrase is “I ain’t paid enough to deal with this shit” (Yes, he is.).

[kanderwund]

https://kanderwund.itch.io/factory

Surreal point-and-click exploration game inspired by Yume Nikki. 100+ rooms, a few mostly optional puzzles, and minimal text.

I guess this game is finished now or something. Play it if you want, or don't play it if you don't want.

[lapinlunaire-games]

ianthine (adj.) from the Latin ianthinus, "bearing the color of violets"

222 words of modular contrapuntal poetry about balmy summer nights and the differences between asymptotes, isolines, and imperfect collinearity. Or: you take a walk with someone and kiss goodbye instead of saying it. a submission to smoochie jam 2025

Play on itch.io

[amaregames]

In just over a week the 2025 Amare Games Festival will begin!

A celebration of love and diversity in story-focused games.

For this game festival we invite you to create or update an existing game.

Changes This year we have made a couple of changes to the festival to better suit the needs of the community. The main change being that the festival now takes place in February and runs for 6 weeks till mid-March.

For those who have participated in previous Amare Festivals, we kindly ask you to review the rules of the festival so you are aware of any changes that have been made.

Make sure to sign up on the festival page below!

[morbethgames]

Halloween Special, Current Projects, New Patreon Content

I am so sorry about the radio silence as of late. Between the stuff earlier this week (yes, that stuff), dealing with deaths of people, and university; I've been very busy and mentally drained. However, the good news is, you can play the mini game of The Bureau, "Witchy Woman" right now! The link is at the bottom of this post! Eventually I'll integrate it into the main game, or put it out as potential free DLC or something, but for now there are no stats and it's not tied to choices from the base game.

Tonight is a special case. The MCT has been called in as a favor after finishing up our most recent case. A friend of Kris's reached out, and the local P.D. has let the MCT take the lead on this one. A house party in the beginning of October up in Maine has turned sour. A party-goer has been reported deceased.

We just finished a job, but in this line of work, there's always another case to solve. So here I am, approaching the residence with my team, about to find out exactly what happened on this cold, damp night.

Because it's not part of a bigger game or story, and the only pacing I had to worry about was that of the investigation, this is much more freeflow than other investigations in the main story. Go back and forth between the crime scene, the perimeter of the house, interrogations, and more! The more you discover evidence, the more new options will unlock in conversations, and you have an evidence log in the stats section that updates every time you find out something relevant to the case.

I'm only promoting this now, even though it's been done for a couple of weeks, because it was part of a Jam and I didn't think it would be fair if I got votes from a community built over a few years when others in the Jam would not have had that same benefit. I wanted it to be an even playing field, even if it meant holding out for a bit. So, I apologize for making you all wait.

There are still things I'd like to do for this game, things I'll end up adding, but it is at the very least ready to play. It's 40k words, so have at it!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Right, next up, something I'd like to announce. I'm working on a serialized fiction that I'm (hopefully) planning to turn into a book. The first 3 chapters are going to be posted for free, both here on my blog and on my Patreon, though not quite yet. Chapters after that will be released on Patreon for the people who pay the $5 tier.

I'll be honest, it has been extremely cathartic to go from writing an IF where the chapters are all pretty much the length of a book themselves, to writing an actual book where a chapter is about 4k words. It's a very nice breath of fresh air, and it by no means, entails that I will stop working on Bureau. In fact, it may even help speed up rate of production, funnily enough. Having something to keep my mind turning while having writer's block about a scene in the IF will help me constantly generate ideas, and that's really nice to think about.

A small college town is rocked by a horrific murder. In wake of the events, a couple of friends begin investigating this personal tragedy, determined to get to the bottom of what happened at the Scribe City college. The lesson is quickly thrust upon them that loss leads to pain, but pain is temporary, and loss can be forever. So what comes after the pain? They need to explore that journey together, and in the process, navigate the complicated things feelings that have started to bloom.

The book (serialized fiction for now) , called Love In Stasis, is going to be a 'WLW romance small town college murder mystery'. You will explore the relationships that these characters have and continue to form, and just how messy things get when tragedy sparks love. I have almost 25k words done for it, about six and a half chapters, and I'm going to try to get 50k words done with it by the end of the month. A writing challenge that's totally not tied to the name of any organizations.

If this works out, I could reward patrons with static fiction while not having to worry about providing everyone with constant things tied to the IF itself, and I could work on The Bureau at a pace I'm very comfortable with.

I'm still learning as a writer. I'm still learning new things I like, and how I like to produce content. All I know is that I like producing art in the form of writing, and I most certainly will not stop doing that anytime soon, and now that the Halloween Special is done, I will be getting back to the base game.

Which will start with a complete recoding of the gender variables. I've already started on that process, so no more multiple versions of each chapter. One version. One set of gender variables. Much more condensed coding and script. So, people out there who said that wasn't going to change, I just have to say what I'd said all along. My coding was indeed bad. However I will also say something else I've said all along. I do take criticism.

That being said I'm never using multi-replace and you can't make me. I like being able to read what I'm writing.

More to come in the near future.

Stay Brilliant,

-Vi

https://cogdemos.ink/play/viisbae/the-bureau-halloween-special-witchy-woman

Patreon Link

[indiegameoftheday]

Indie Game of the Day

The Ballad of Light and Shadow

From a regular college student to a... uh... [checks notes] interactive fiction protagonist! Step into this epic, 63956 word-long ~dark romantasy~ (note: wordcount includes code)!

Created for the Really Boogaloo Bad IF jam, The Ballad of Shadows and Light is an extremely serious dark romance fantasy game created in Twine. It's free, runs in browser, and will have you playing for a massive five to ten or so minutes! Beat that playtime, Elden Ring!

Play this 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖞 here!

[ethersic]

PLAY HERE

17+ Through Death We Become — An interactive fiction story about grief. [Submission to Queer Vampire Jam — Other Entries]

Years ago, your life was taken from you, stolen by the teeth of a vampire. For a long time, anger at losing all you were had festered inside, building and boiling, threatening to pour out, but you had maintained it.

Until you heard that the vampire who turned you had shown up in some state, and it all came rushing forth.

Not wanting to lose your chance at revenge, you hunt him down, but before you get to him, you wind up in a random town with a stranger who wants to help you.

7.5k words

1 human (non-binary) love interest

Lots of angst

[neo-twiny-jam]

Looking to donate? LGBTQ+ orgs

This post will be updated as we get more links.

Every year, during the Neo-Twiny Jam, we feature LGBTQ+ organisations for our fundraiser. Donors often add to the list with causes they wish to support.

If you are looking to donate to an LGBTQ+ organisation, but don't know where to start, you can find below an incomplete list, organised by country.

Featured during Neo-Twiny Jam

Equality Florida (2023) raised $523 total

A4TE (2024) as well as Trevor Project and MermaidsUK raised $618 total

Trevor Project and SAGE (2025)

We're always looking for donors to pledge during the jam, matching the submission count or a set amount! Contact us if you'd like to be included!

Other Organisations to Donate to

If we missed an organisation or your country isn't included, let us know so we can add it!

Global

OutRight Action International

Human Rights Campaign

ILGA World

United States

Ali Forney Center

American Civil Liberties Union

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

The Attic Youth Center

Audre Lorde Project

Center for Black Equity

Family Equality

Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network

GLAAD

GLSEN

Hetrick-Martin Institute

It Gets Better Project

Lambda Legal - Lambda Literary - LGBTQ Writers in School

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center

LGBTQ Freedom Fund

The Marsha P. Johnson Institute

The Matthew Shepard Foundation

National Center for Lesbian Rights

The Okra Project

Out & Equal

The Point Foundation

Pride Foundation

Sylvia Rivera Law Project

Trans Lifeline

Transgender Law Center

United Kingdom

Affirmation Scotland

akt

Elton John AIDS Foundation

Kaleidoscope Trust

LGBT Foundation

LGBT Youth Scotland

MindOut

Naz and Matt Foundation

Pride in Gloucestershire (done)

The Proud Trust LTD

The Rainbow Project

Sparkle

Stonewall

Trans Aid Cymru

UK Black Pride

France

AcceptessT

ActUpParis

Collectif Famille-s

Fédération LGBTI+

Fondation Le Refuge

SOS Homophobie

Netherlands

COC Nederland

Belgium

Network of European LGBTIQ* Families Associations

Spain

Federación Estatal LGTBI+

Italy

ARCIGAY

Germany

Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland

Trans-Kinder-Netz

Mexico

Yaaj Mexico

Poland

Grupa Stonewall

KPH