Author Archives: FGJ

Finnish Game Jam created 325 games last year and the 2026 Global game jam is coming this January

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Finnish Game Jam 2026, the Finnish edition of the Global Game Jam, is taking place from 30 January to 1 February 2026.

Finnish Game Jam 2026 (#FGJ26) is part of the worldwide Global Game Jam (GGJ) where tens of thousands of participants design, develop and share games within a single weekend. In 2025 the FGJ united 1088 jammers at 24 sites across Finland, creating 325 games. Finnish Game Jam ry (FGJ) invites developers, students, hobbyists and partners across Finland to join FGJ 2026.

In 2025 the GGJ united 35,427 jammers at 805 sites in 98 countries, creating 12,100 games.

Finland consistently ranks first in games created per capita and has organised more GGJ sites and participants than all other Nordic countries combined.

Building on a record‑breaking 2025 event

The 2025 edition (#FGJ25) demonstrated Finland’s vibrant game‑making community: 1,088 jammers across 23 sites created 325 games. Jams were hosted from Helsinki to Rovaniemi and ranged from cosy forest cabins to elegant downtown offices. Earlier years show similar momentum: #FGJ20 (2020) gathered over 700 jammers at 32 sites producing 238 games, while #FGJ19 brought together 884 jammers who built 218 games. Finland’s dedication to nurturing creativity led the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture to award FGJ with the Suomi Award (Finland Award) in 2018, recognizing the organisation’s cultural impact.

Syncing with the world

#FGJ26 will run concurrently with GGJ’s 2026 jam week, allowing Finnish jammers to collaborate and share ideas with peers in more than 100 countries. Participants choose a local jam site or join online, form teams (or work solo), and develop a game from concept to completion in 48 hours. The jam welcomes beginners, hobbyists, students and professionals; past survey data from GGJ shows that 37 % of participants are first‑time jammers, highlighting the event’s accessibility.

Call for Finnish jam sites

FGJ is accepting site applications from universities, studios, libraries, community groups and companies interested in hosting #FGJ26 jams across Finland. Sites may be in‑person, online or hybrid, and organisers receive guidance from FGJ’s regional coordinators. In #FGJ26 the application deadline for Jam Site is early January, and we encourage prospective hosts to apply as soon as possible via the Global Game Jam site to ensure inclusion in official materials.

Confirmed partners and sponsorship opportunities

FGJ thanks its early sponsors for making #FGJ26 possible. Next Games: A Netflix Game Studio, Supercel, MiTale, Fingersoft and Visonist have already pledged their support, and additional partners will be announced.

About Finnish Game Jam

Finnish Game Jam ry (FGJ) is a non‑profit association founded in 2012 to organise game jam events and support game‑making culture in Finland. FGJ has organised hundreds of jams and training programmes and has collaborated with domestic and international partners. The association promotes inclusivity and experimental game development and was honoured with the Suomi Award in 2018. Finland ranks first globally in games made per capita during the Global Game Jam, reflecting the country’s thriving game community.

Contact

For site applications, sponsorship inquiries or media information, please contact:

Eduardo Reyes

Head of Communications & Partnerships, Finnish Game Jam ry

Email: eduardo.reyes@finnishgamejam.com

Emil Ekroth

Vice President of Finnish Game Jam ry

Email: emil.ekroth@finnishgamejam.com

Additional information and updates are available at finnishgamejam.com and FGJ’s social media channels.

About Global Game Jam: Global Game Jam® is the world’s largest game jam, bringing together tens of thousands of participants to create games around the same theme in a single weekend. The event fosters creativity, collaboration and experimentation and occurs simultaneously at sites around the world.

Pocket Jam returns 27-28 September 2022!

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Finnish Game Jam ry once again collaborates with Pocket Gamer in bringing mobile jamming to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2022. This year, the jam is an in-person event held at Cable Factory (Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki)

Whether you are an avid mobile gamer or simply want to try your hand at making bite-sized mobile (or other) games, we hope to see you at the jam! Game submission will be considered for an award both at the culmination of Pocket Jam, as well as the Finnish Game Jam Awards 2022.

We welcome both lone devs and already-formed teams! And, of course, we will help you find teammates as well. In addition to the jamming experience, participants will also receive full access to the conference, including expos, networking events, and other benefits.

More information and registration on Eventbrite
Also check out the event page on Facebook

Disclaimer: we reserve the right to make changes to the event schedule.

Pride Game Jam HKI 2022 is here!

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Today, Thursday 30. 6. 2022, the 3rd annual Pride Game Jam officially begins!

In honor of Pride Month, this four day event celebrates LGBTQIA+ people by creating a safe space where participants can create art, music, and, of course, games, by which they can freely express their gender, sexual, and romantic experiences.

The event is a hybrid one, meaning that jammers can join us in-person in Helsinki, as well as through Discord from anywhere else in the world. Everything you need to know about Pride Game Jam can be found on PGJ’s website, including schedule, information for our jammers, and a list of this year’s amazing speakers.

The event will be streamed on the Finnish Game Jam Twitch, and you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

You can also follow us through our official hashtags, #PrideGameJamHKI22 and #FGJ. Use these when posting about the event!

And finally, huge thank you to our sponsors: Metacore as Platinum sponsor, Skunkworks Games as Gold sponsor, Ubisoft RedLynx as Silver sponsor, and Boom Corp as Bronze sponsor!

Happy jamming everyone!

Thank you for attending Jam Jam 2022!

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“Woah! What a weekend! Thanks to everyone who attended this year’s Jam Jam festival! We hope to see you back next year! The weather this time treated us well and the warmth wasn’t too unbearable. The food was tasty and not too much of it went to waste. The hot tubs were warm and only one terrace got broken. Overall we feel this was a huge success!

We’ll send the feedback form out to the participants really soon and we really want your thoughts and suggestions. We especially hope to hear from you if you are interested in organising or volunteering next year.

Finally, huge thanks to our volunteers who made the event possible. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Thanks again!“

– Joni Finne and the rest of the organising team.

Pride Game Jam Helsinki 2022 registrations are open!

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It’s time for the third annual Pride Game Jam HKI! This year we start by having a workshop day on the June 30 and by jamming all weekend July 1 – July 3 of 2022!

Pride Game Jam HKI – is a four day event that celebrates LGBTQIA+ people by creating a safe space for expressing one’s gender, sexual and romantic experience through art, music and of course games!

The event is part of Helsinki Pride Week 2022, and is organized by Finnish Game Jam ry in partnership with Helsinki Pride ry. This year our jam will run in hybrid mode! Meaning you have a venue to come to and jam with your buds, but also you’re free to stay cozily online – all workshops and speakers will be streamed directly to you through Twitch! Be ready to celebrate with us, and get delighted with another brilliant ✨care package✨ to set the jamming mood (please sign up by June 21 if you want the care package) !

NB! Venue is not available on June 30 for jamming.

Pride Game Jam HKI is taking place on June 30 – July 3 of 2022. The event aims to educate on LGBTQIA+ experiences, and help budding game devs to learn key skills in teamwork, design, and familiarize with relevant software! Everyone is welcome, including allies, regardless of skill level and background!

Registrations and more information at Eventbrite

Welcome to Jam Jam 2022

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Jam Jam is a two-day summer festival and retreat for game jam organizers and anyone interested in learning, discussing and sharing ideas on game jams.

Jam Jam 2022 consists of a workshop day and talks on game jams and jam games. During your visit you can decide what you work on – bring your jam organizing team and work with planning or debriefing your jams or come without an agenda and talk with all other jam organizers and jam-organizers-to-be, brainstorming new jams and sharing lessons on organizing events.

Retreat in a cozy cabin environment

The event is located in the middle of a Finnish forest, on top of a mountain called Sappeenvuori – about 2 hour car ride from Helsinki (see details from Sappee.fi). The venue consists of eight well-equipped cabins with saunas and hot tubs surrounded by the beauty of a Finnish forest and the power of the midnight sun of the Northern summer.

Join the team of volunteers

Right now we are looking for volunteers to make the event possible to organize. Please fill the forms below if you are interested to be involved in one of the greatest events in Finnish Jamming Summer!

  • Volunteer Applications here
  • Early Bird Tickets on sale here
  • Workshop Apllication (for participants) here

Thank you FGJ22 Sponsors

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Hello this is Chris Castro, the treasurer and sponsor lead in Finnish Game Jam. I want to personally thank the continual support of Skunkworks as our Gold Sponsor. Thank you Supercell for becoming our Silver Sponsor. Many thanks to Lightneer joining as our Bronze Sponsor. The FGJ22 became a success because of your support.

Chris Castro, FGJ Treasurer & Sponsor Lead

Greetings from Tampere Site

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In Finnish Game Jam 2022, Tampere is one of the biggest sites! They’ve managed to gather 74 participants online. Tampere Site Organizer Pekka Nordlund, how’s it going so far?

“Warmest greetings from Tampere! We started this year with two ice-breaker evenings, filling the pre-jam anticipation with some good old laughter over online gaming.

Our site is nice and busy with jammers joining us all the way over from Oulu and Rovaniemi, and with us being online, we’ve even heard a game pitch live from a grocery store! Today we organizers will be hosting a pizza draw to follow the Tampere pizza tradition with the help of our local sponsors (Tampere Game Hub and 10tons Entertainment) so it’s safe to say that games will be made!”

Pekka Nordlund, Tampere Site Organizer