Where Florida’s Game Dev Community Comes to Play
Think you’ve got what it takes to build Florida’s best video game in just under 48 hours? Prove it. Whether you’re repping your university or your studio, you’ll face off for cool prizes, serious bragging rights, and the chance to stand out in front of industry pros and faculty from across Florida.
Join students and pro developers from across the state for a fun-fueled weekend where creativity, speed, and skill collide. The FIEA Collegiate Game Jam is bringing together top talent to Creative Village, a nationally recognized hotspot for game development and digital innovation.
January 16-18, 2026
UCF Downtown at Creative Village
Register a 4-person team in either the Undergraduate or Graduate & Professional division. Judges include faculty from other colleges and universities, and pros from the surrounding game dev industry. Judges and prizes for both divisions will be announced soon.
Past FIEA Collegiate Game Jams & Winners
How to Enter
1. Form your team
Gather up to four people on a team and select a team leader. There are two divisions:
Undergraduate: At the undergraduate level only, all members must be from the same college/university. Multiple teams from the same school can register.
Graduate/professional: At the graduate/professional level, grad student teams must be made of members from the same college/university. Professional teams can be formed from those currently working in the video game, film or related technology industries, regardless of company.
2. Register for the FIEA Collegiate Game Jam
Complete the registration form with your team’s information at the link below.
3. Pay the registration fee
Pay the $60 team registration fee, which covers some meals and facility/operation costs for your team.
4. Plan your trip for state domination
See information below regarding the Creative Village area, rules, prizes and other details.
SCHEDULE
Check in on Friday evening. Mingle with other game dev students and professionals from around the state and prepare for an intense and lively weekend. More info to follow. Schedule is subject to change.
Friday
- 5pm-6pm Registration, meet & greet
- 6pm Rules and theme announcement
- 9pm Doors close for the night (Teams may continue to work off campus)
Saturday
- 8am Doors reopen (continental breakfast)
- 12:30pm-2pm Lunch, tours and prizes! Pizza will be provided. Stretch your legs! Take a tour of FIEA guided by a student ambassador or faculty member. Enter to win a raffle prize!
- 5pm Doors close for the night (Teams may continue to work off campus)
Sunday
- 8am Doors reopen (continental breakfast)
- 12:30pm-2pm Lunch provided (subs/sandwiches)
- 3pm Development concludes. Teams must upload a 30-second video of gameplay footage to share in the final presentation.
- 3pm-5pm(ish) Judging: Judges will play each team’s games at their tables.
- 5pm-7pm Afterparty in the FIEA Soundstage (Food provided)
- 6pm Video presentation of all games and winners announced (1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each division) in the Soundstage
UCF Downtown & Creative Village
An Innovation District in Downtown Orlando
Orlando’s Creative Village was born in 2005 when the doors opened for 12 students to the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy, a unique graduate program established in partnership between the State of Florida, City of Orlando and University of Central Florida with a mission to create high-wage talent for the growing video game development industry.
Parking
Attendees can park directly on campus at UCF Downtown. There will be free parking available in the UCF Parramore Parking Garage (PG1).
FIEA Collegiate Game Jam Rules & Judges
Last updated: September 11, 2:07pm. Rules may be updated as we continually make improvements to the Game Jam experience.
Judges
Undergraduate Division – To be announced
Graduate/Professional Division – To be announced
Team Format
- Up to 4 participants per team (age 18 or older).
- Teams must be present in person on Friday (registration and theme announcement) and Sunday (judging and winner announcements).
- After-hours development is permitted within team members only.
- Each team will be provided a worktable and chairs.
- There are two divisions:
- Undergraduate: At the undergraduate level only, all members must be currently enrolled as undergraduate students from the same college/university. Multiple teams from the same school can register.
- Graduate/professional: At the graduate/professional level, teams must be made of members currently enrolled as graduate-level students from the same college/university. Professional teams can be formed from those currently working in the video game, film or related technology industries, regardless of company.
Equipment & Network
- Your team is responsible for computer or development devices.
- Wi-Fi network and internet access will be provided.
Rights & Communication
- You retain all copyrights to your game.
- You may utilize Discord or other communication devices within the team members only. No development support outside the team members registered is permitted.
- UCF retains the right to publicize the game contest and winners (including on social media), and share photos and videos taken during the event.
Platforms & Engines
- You may use any game engine/framework/language to make your game and build for any platform you like that is not proprietary or owned by others, including mobile and VR.
- Some acceptable engines/framework include: Unity, Unreal, RPG Maker, Gamemaker, Godot, Construct 2, Twine and others.
- We will not accept games that require external games/software to run (i.e. Roblox).
- We allow games utilizing interpreters (Python, some interactive fiction languages, etc.).
Submission Rules
- The game must be created and submitted within the game jam time frame.
- Your game cannot contain hateful, derogatory, or bigoted content.
- In the spirit of fair competition, you may not use pre-existing code and/or libraries.
- Asset packs are permitted, but cannot be more than 50% of the art content.
- You may not use AI art, writing, audio, or code in your game, even for ideation.
- You may not make NFT games.
- We have the right to remove any game or jammer for violating submission rules.
- A 30-second video of gameplay footage/screen capture must be submitted to be played at the final game presentation when winners will be announced. Games will not be judged by their video. This video may also be used by UCF for social/Game Jam marketing purposes.