Retro Game Jam is a rapid result driven game development event where teams create various experiences over the course of 1 week at Spelkollektivet in Sweden. It’s an in-person game jam which aims to gather over a hundred game developers from all over the world.

The game jam themes for this event is focused around targeting a retro console with additional contraints and requirements. Even though a retro console is targeted, the game must not run on that console, it's more about capturing the vibe.

You may participate online or on site. If you're attending in person, we'll provide accommodation and food through the week for free.

The target hardware this year is Super Nintendo.

Resolution: 256x224
Colors: Max 256 at the same time from 15-bit color palette
Controls: D-pad + A/B/X/Y + L/R + Select/Start
Controller is not required, but mouse is not allowed.
Performance: 60 FPS cap + Fixed time step
Features: 3x save slots + saving at fixed checkpoints
Vibes: Title screen with "Press start"-text + End credits/outro at completion of game

The theme for this year is Secrets.

Check out our website!

Join us on Discord!

The game jam is located at Spelkollektivet in Sweden, in the small village of Väckelsång outside of Växjö. It’s quite easy to travel to the house with public transport from any of the major airports and cities.

In general, if we recommend people to fly to Copenhagen Airport. Once there, you can take a direct train to Växjö (~2 hours and 30 minutes) and then from there a bus to Väckelsång (~30 minutes). The train and bus will cost you roughly 390 SEK (~39€, ~$39) if you use any of the recommended apps below. You don't need to buy a train ticket in advance, simply get it via the app when you land and you know which train you'll be able to get to in time. Some trains will split in two half way, so make sure you're at the front end of the train heading all the way to Kalmar.

Typically, the last bus from Växjö to Väckelsång leaves at 22:00, which means that the absolute last train you can take from Copenhagen Airport (if there's no delays, which there usually are) is at 19:30.

Android

iOS

Make sure you buy a ticket for the whole trip, CPH Airport Kastrup to Väckelsång centrum.

We provide food and accommodation for the event. If you’d rather make your own food, there is a kitchen as well as microwave ovens you can use. We always serve vegetarian food, and sometimes there's a carnivore option available. Coffee & tea is also available throughout the event.

There’s various options available for accommodation, and we recommend one uses earplugs and/or a sleep mask, to make it easier to share accommodation with others.

Want a private bedroom?
We’ve got ~50 private bedrooms. If you’re interested in this for the event, reach out to James Newnorth (james.newnorth) on Discord. The rate is 320 SEK per day.

You may use any legally acquired tools you want.

You may use any legally acquired assets you want.

Each team shall showcase the game they’ve made during the final playtest session.

Each team shall create a video presentation of the game they’ve made, 30s of gameplay followed by 30s of gameplay with voice over talking about the game.

Each participant shall come ready to be part of a social event, and participate in the official activities.

Each participant should have read and agreed to follow the Code of Conduct for being at Spelkollektivet.

Code of Conduct

2026-02-07
Arrival

2026-02-08 20:00
Team announcements

2026-02-09 00:00
Game jam starts

2026-02-09 23:45
Midnight walk

2026-02-13 24:00
Game jam ends

2026-02-14 10:00 - 18:00
Playtest session

2026-02-14 18:00 - 20:00
Pizza, presentations & voting

2026-02-14 21:00
Award ceremony

2026-02-15
Departure

Breakfast is between 06:00 and 09:00, lunch is served at 12:00 and evening meal is served at 18:00.