EdenSpark Game Jam #2 Winners: The Double Triumph of Hypnojab
The judges picked the top three, the community chose its favorite ā and this time both categories landed on the same game. Meet the authors of the best entries of the second jam.
The second monthly EdenSpark Game Jam on the theme of "Mass Control" has reached its finale. The platform's jury played through every submitted entry, jam participants cast their votes for their community favorite ā and this time something rare happened: the winner of the Best Game I category also took the Community Choice. Let's meet the authors of the three best games of the jam.
š„š Dev's Choice I + Community Choice ā Hypnojab
Prize: $2 250 + $1 000 = $3 250 ā Team: Moodneys
An incremental game about a frog cult, a hypnotic toad, and the rescue of frogkind from digital slavery. The player recruits workers, sends them out to gather experience for the Hypnotoad, and gradually upgrades its abilities, all wrapped in a polished retro aesthetic that channels the spirit of pixel arcade cabinets.
"A genuinely addictive gameplay loop: you have to keep feeding workers to the toad so it can grow new abilities. We played through several times, comparing different upgrade strategies. The retro graphics are lovely, you can really feel the spirit of arcade cabinets in them."
"A strong incremental-game loop, charming graphics, a well-thought-out setting, and a neatly designed upgrade window. A bit simple in places and not perfectly balanced, but overall it leaves a really good impression as a short, complete game with clear potential. Push the content out to about an hour of gameplay, and you'd have an excellent standalone project." ā The EdenSpark team
Hypnojab is one of those rare cases where the jury and the community converged on the same pick. This is especially valuable, because it speaks to two things at once: the coherence of the game experience, and the fact that the game "sells itself" equally well in a quick glance and in deeper play.
š„ Dev's Choice II ā Split Blob
Prize: $1Ā 000 ā Author: yuva01
A soft-body puzzle platformer in which you control a sentient blob that can split in two and merge back together. Split to squeeze through tight spots, swap between blobs to trigger switches, push boxes onto pressure plates, ride pulleys, and brave wind zones. Just remember: a level only counts as cleared when you're back in one piece.
"An interesting platformer with pleasant music and a very neat, stylish art direction for the genre. The mechanic is interesting and the execution is solid. Worth a special mention: the quality of the soft-body physics implementation, especially given that we don't natively support it. There's room for criticism in the core gameplay: the controls feel awkward in places, and the puzzles lean too often on the same 'split ā rise ā unify ā push ā repeat' pattern, which starts to wear thin. But the underlying idea and presentation are both on point." ā The EdenSpark team
Split Blob is a great example of how one strong physical idea can carry an entire project, even when the content layer still needs work.
š„ Dev's Choice III ā Rush Express
Prize: $750 ā Author:Ā Flyber
An arcade delivery game where physics plays a leading role. You don't just drive the truck, you stack the cargo yourself through a free-form placement system. Build a tower too tall or too unbalanced, and gravity will show no mercy on the next corner. Master the Auto-Drift mechanic, feel how the cargo shifts your vehicle's center of gravity, and try to become the best courier in town.
"Genuinely fun arcade racing where you also have to avoid losing your packages along the way ā a sort of 'Carmageddon for delivery couriers.' The box-stacking is really well done, and on the technical side, special respect: it's all built without a native vehicle controller (which, by the way, we shipped only recently). We'd note that the car handling could be sharper, because the steering feels stiff for the short streets on the map, and the game runs a bit long overall. But the core loop and how it's served absolutely land." ā The EdenSpark team
Rush Express is the case where the "Mass Control" theme reads literally: the mass of the cargo, the center of gravity, the physics of turns.
What's next for the winners
We'll reach out to the authors of all three games directly via the contacts they provided in their itch.io submissions. If you're among the winners and haven't heard from us within a few days, give us a ping in Discord or Telegram and we'll get back to you.
A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the second jam, both those who made the podium and those who tried their hand at a new theme for the first time. Every submitted game keeps the program alive.
The third jam is on the horizon
A reminder that the the third EdenSpark jam kicks off on August 1 and will run for a full month instead of the usual two weeks. That means more time to develop your ideas, more rest between jams, and room for more ambitious projects. The total number of jams in the program and the $250,000 prize pool stay the same, but the program just stretches out over more time.
We'll announce the theme of the third jam in early August. See you then!