DEV Community

Join the June Solstice Game Jam: $1,000 in prizes!

Jess Lee on June 03, 2026

We're excited to kick off the June Solstice Game Jam, running from June 3 through June 21 and ending right on the solstice itself! Whether you're ...

Read full post

FrancisTRᴅᴇᴠ (っ◔◡◔)っ • Jun 3

OMG OMG OMG IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED @embernoglow!

Thanks @jess @ben we needed this :D

Ben Halpern The DEV Team • Jun 3

Good luck! We think this is going to be one of the best challenges yet

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

i think the same

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Same here! Wishing you the same! 😃

EmberNoGlow • Jun 7 • Edited

Damn, who announces such important events at such a time? I missed everything. They couldn't have warned me in advance. Okay, I'll probably skip this event, I have no internet, no electricity, no strength, no energy... especially since with each jam I take a lower and lower place... Sometimes 229, sometimes 813 (out of 945) Well, I'll wait until next time! Thank you for not forgetting about me)

Klaudia Grzondziel • Jun 4

Wow, this is such an exciting challenge! 🎉 Not sure I will join, but I am super curious what others will create. Good luck, everyone!

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

taking inspiration is also good

OLALEKAN OGUNDIMU • Jun 3

I'm ready to cook up something

Really excited about this 🤩🤩

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

lessgoo i like your spirit

Vasyl • Jun 4

This is a really cool theme. Solstice + Pride + Juneteenth + Turing gives a lot of creative room. Excited to see what people build 🔥

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

indeed

L. Cordero • Jun 4

Love this challenge! Let the brainstorm begin. 🧠

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

bet

NEO-013 • Jun 4

It's my Birthday on 21st June and I am excited to build something fun. 😁

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

happy birthday in advance

NEO-013 • Jun 19

Thank You Bro

Gabriel Bachmann • Jun 4

Lets gooo

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

less goo

Jem The DEV Team • Jun 3

Can't wait to see what folks cook up for this one 🍳

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Did my best! Thanks for offering such a wonderful oppourtunity for everyone among us!😃

Comment deleted

Tombri Bowei • Jun 6

lovely 😌

Meas Vanny • Jun 8

php artisan server

Daniel Nwaneri • Jun 20

Hi @jess @ben my submission "Proof of Human" (published Jun 18, edited Jun 19) has all three required tags — #devchallenge, #gamechallenge, #gamedev but it's not appearing in the submissions feed at dev.to/t/gamechallenge. Can you confirm it's been received as a valid entry?? Link: dev.to/dannwaneri/proof-of-human-i...

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Hey, sir! 😃 Try deleting & reposting. Even I suffered the same, but this method worked quite well.

İclal Doğan • Jun 21

same here! i have tried what you said but again my post isnt there

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 21

Ensure that your post has this link on the top:

This is a submission for the June Solstice Game Jam

İclal Doğan • Jun 22

It has actually, thank you for advices. Right now i will just hope for jury to see it 😅

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 22

Ow 😯 Ok! Good luck! 🤞

Dhruv Jani • Jun 14 • Edited

@ben @jess - Hi! I updated my submission entry "The Imitation Game — A Reverse Turing Test Set on June 21, 1952" today to fix a terminal display bug, but the edit seems to have dropped my post completely out of the Latest feed timeline. Could you please manually verify and force-approve my entry back into the collection? Thank you!
Post: dev.to/dj29/the-imitation-game-a-r...

Abhishek Pawar • Jun 15

Hi ppl, if any dev with claude code and good react typescript knowledge can pair with me on this, I have a great game story and level design, I am currently have On call and wont be able to build it myself in the given time, I will pair in both programming, story and level design.

I wish I could really try this out myself, but would not be able to finish in time, still if no ones' up I'll post it later after completion of this

hit me up if anyone is up for a challenge.

instagram : heathcliff.03
discord : heathcliff3113

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Hi bro! I can help you in this, using AI. I could join, if you insist. But, I've already done my submission.

Om Shree • Jun 6

Need reviews on my submission
dev.to/om_shree_0709/i-built-a-bro...

Om Shree • Jun 6

THE IMITATION GAME

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

I'll give it out a try! And, best of luck for the jam!!😃

Om Shree • Jun 20

Thanks Sir!
Hope you like it!!!

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20 • Edited

No need sir! I'm too younger. Consider me as your bro. & Yes, I loved it. Awesome work 👏

Azalea • Jun 11

This sounds like a really fun challenge. I like that the theme is broad enough to allow both meaningful stories and silly experimental ideas.

The solstice angle could lead to some great mechanics too – light as a limited resource, changing day/night cycles, or a puzzle that shifts depending on time. Excited to see what people build for this jam!

Seth • Jun 24

My team decided the day/night cycle was the first thing we coded so you got it right for at least one! Likely more tbf.

FatimaZehra.Dev • Jun 5

Just officially submitted Solstice Sync! ☀️🌙 It's a fast-paced React alignment game powered by Gemini 2.5-Flash.

I managed to hit a high score of 100 points during my live testing—let me know if anyone can beat it! 🚀

Good luck to everyone who submitted their projects!

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

any tips for us fatima ?

FatimaZehra.Dev • Jun 8

Thanks for reaching out! If you mean tips for hitting that 100-point score: it's all about rhythm and anticipation—don't overthink the alignment, just trust your timing! ⏱️

If you mean tips for the challenge itself: focus on keeping the core gameplay loop simple and let Gemini 2.5-Flash handle the heavy lifting for the dynamic elements. Don't worry about making it perfect, just focus on making it fun.

Are you working on a submission for the jam as well?

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Thanks! Wish you the same!😃

Tracy Oppermann • Jun 9

Hi DEV Team,

I'm working on a browser-based narrative game called Solstice for the June Solstice Game Jam.

While building it, I realized the core engine could support multiple themed journeys. My current structure looks something like this:

Lumavel Journeys (hub/collection)
- Solstice (light, darkness, time, choices)
- Pride (authenticity and self-discovery)
- Turing (logic, perception, and problem solving)
- Juneteenth (agency, freedom, and action)

Each journey would use the same underlying engine, but have its own events, choices, endings, theme, and presentation.

Before I go too far, I wanted to clarify how this would fit within the jam rules:

Should each journey be submitted as its own DEV post with its own demo and game page?
If multiple submissions share an underlying engine/codebase, how much differentiation would you expect between entries?
Is it acceptable to host the games under a common hub/collection page as long as each submission has its own standalone post and playable experience?

Thanks for any guidance. I'm excited to participate and want to make sure I'm approaching the challenge correctly.

One additional question:

If multiple themed experiences are accessible from a single game or hub (for example, separate journeys that share a common framework but offer different stories, choices, and endings), would you prefer that as:

A single submission with multiple playable paths/modes, or
Separate submissions with separate posts and demos for each journey?

I want to make sure I'm structuring the project in a way that best aligns with the intent of the challenge and the judging process.

Ado Daniel Nj • Jun 12

there's a template just above, please take a look at the whole post first

riley • Jun 5

Can I submit a game even if it doesn't have code/github repo?

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

i dont think so

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

What about website link? Can I send my game's website link?

Jeffery Kachukwucide • Jun 10

Nice

Isaac Sam • Jun 8

I'm super excited yet nervous, but I know I'm gonna win! 🤗

Aditya • Jun 5 • Edited

Exciting challenge 🔥🐦‍🔥

Spring Tofigh • Jun 7

I hope the participants of this competition are successful👍️🚀

ابو جراح • Jun 4

I want to participate in the challenge with great enthusiasm I don't know how to enter the challenge, please help.

Abhineet Singh • Jun 8

Lesgoo excited to start this journey

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Best of luck!!

mohamed karim • Jun 17

Thank for sharing good luck everyone

Yahya Said • Jun 3

Best of luck

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Wish you the same! 😃

Sujala Vasanthasena Nelavai • Jun 8

Really an amazing challenge

Aashita • Jun 17

Just submitted my entry for the June Solstice Game Jam! ☀️✨ Had a lot of fun building it and exploring the theme. Looking forward to checking out everyone else's projects!

Hima Kartikeya Naidu Ch • Jun 20

Same! Best of luck!!😃

pheroMona13 • Jun 6

Wish I could have participate too, but apparently I'm not eligible according to the rules. Good luck to everyone though, can't wait to try your games at the end of the jam.

Adeniji Olajide • Jun 22 • Edited

Submitted my entry The Imitation Game.

The concept is Turing's 1950 thought experiment turned into a real-time online multiplayer survival game set in 3026. Rogue AI robots called Quanbit can't fight at night, so they survive by infiltrating human settlements and mimicking human speech perfectly. The game is the humans' attempt to catch them before sunrise.

This is a fully online, real-time multiplayer game real players connect to a shared room over WebSockets, chat live with each other and with a hidden AI opponent, and race against a countdown timer. No bots standing in for players, no turn-based simulation, actual humans in the same room at the same time, trying to figure out which one of them isn't human.

Two modes:

Eyefold: 1-on-1 Turing Test: you interrogate two anonymous players simultaneously across split chat panels (one is human, one is the AI), vote after the timer runs out
Nightfall — group imposter survival: a full settlement group chat with one or more hidden Quanbit among the players, public voting, mid-round eliminations (eliminated players become silent spectators), and a daybreak reveal when time runs out

The AI opponent runs on the Gemini API with a persona system instruction and native function calling it controls its own response timing via a typingDelayMs field, decides when to stay silent (because replying too fast is a tell), and can cast votes against real players in Nightfall mode. All AI calls are proxied server-side through a BullMQ worker so timing is fully decoupled from the socket layer and the API key never touches the client.

Stack: React, React Router, Socket.IO, Node/Express, BullMQ, Redis, Prisma, Gemini API.

Submitting for Best Ode to Alan Turing and Best Google AI Usage. The Turing connection isn't just thematic, the interrogation mechanic, the anonymous identities, the text-only constraint, the time pressure, it's Turing's original paper as a live game loop you play with other people.

Post is live here → dev.to/quantumweb/the-imitation-ga... 🖤

Vishal Kumar • Jun 4

Nice

lvupupui • Jun 4

patij212 • Jun 24

Same issue with submission not showing up in the feed.

It was really fun to participate in the challenge. This was my first Game Jam and my first ever game. I'm already looking forward to the next one 😁

I would also really appreciate any critique/feedback on my game

JSON-LEE • Jun 6

I'm getting really exciting about this news!

Anuj Bajaj • Jun 15

Nice

İclal Doğan • Jun 20 • Edited

Waaa people have really done some amazing things! It was so much fun being in this competition-- I'm here even though I have 3 projects to finish xd but hey, I just posted my submission and it disappeared when I viewed it, I deleted it and reposted it and five minutes later the same thing happened-- It's on my Dashboard but I hope you guys can see it. And! I'm really curious about your thoughts on it!

Thoughts and comments are always welcome!
dev.to/iclaldogan/residues-a-termi...

İclal Doğan • Jun 22

I'm writing this to be on the safe side, hope you are well @jess and @ben , I submitted my entry for this competition but it's not showing up in the feed, I hope you guys can see it, here's my submission: dev.to/iclaldogan/residues-a-termi...