November 30, 2025
Build a tongue, then play in it
Langjam Gamejam: Build a programming language then make a game with it
7-day dare: invent your own 'code' then make a game — hype, panic, and bragging rights
TLDR: Langjam Gamejam challenges devs to invent a new coding language and build a game with it in 7 days, with prizes for creativity on Itch.io. Comments split between “this is impossibly hard,” calls for a true gameplay-only language, and jokes about Advent of Code refugees flocking to the chaos.
Langjam Gamejam is pure chaos candy: a 7-day dare (Dec 14–20, 2025) to invent a programming language and then use it to make a game. The organizers say you set the rules, use any tech, go solo or team, write docs, blog it for bonus points, and submit on Itch.io. Prizes go to the most wildly creative, which has the comments buzzing like lunchtime at a hackathon.
The spiciest take? amarant calling the skill set “insane,” predicting instant legend status for anyone who goes solo. Meanwhile, Razengan unleashes a rant that gamers still code gameplay with “grandpa” languages from 50 years ago, begging for a language built just for game logic. Cue debate: is a domain-specific mini-language (a “DSL”) a real language or just cosplay? kderbyma flexes a screenplay-style scripting language for cutscenes, which pours fuel on the “does this count?” fire.
Then there’s comedy: macintux cracks that this jam is perfect for folks grumbling about the shortened Advent of Code — a holiday puzzle event — suggesting the meta-chaos crowd will migrate here. And munificent drops the line of the day: “someone discovered my kryptonite,” capturing the irresistible siren song of building tools to build games. The vibe is equal parts fear, flex, and FOMO.
Key Points
- •Event dates: December 14–20, 2025.
- •7-day hackathon to build a programming language and then make a game with it.
- •Participants define what counts as a programming language and a game.
- •Any languages, engines, libraries, and technologies may be used; solo or team entries allowed.
- •Submissions via Itch.io; documentation encouraged; prizes for creative entries and bonus for a blog post.