Event Details

Who, What & Why

The BCI Game Jam series is the premier game development event focused around building new interactive experiences designed specifically for use with brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. Run annually by BCI Games, this event leverages expert knowledge of cutting-edge BCI technology with the creative minds of game development communities around the globe.

Our mission is to build brand new ways to play and create games that are accessible to everyone.

The BCI Game Jam 2022: Minigame Mania will challenge participating developers to incorporate social concepts and ideas into their 48-hour game jam submission. Cooperative experiences and social connections are deeply rooted in gaming history. We hope this theme will inspire developers to draw from their fond memories of playing games with friends to provide new players, regardless of physical barriers, opportunities to connect and play.

If you’ve never worked with a BCI before – don’t worry! We have you covered. Our network of expert engineers, computer scientists, clinicians, player panels, and families can help you in planning your game, understanding how to design a game with a BCI controller as an input and even provide you some simple tools to get you started with development. Check out our resources page to get started!


Where & When

All of this kicks off on December 2nd – where we will have a ‘Day 0’ with talks from BCI experts and actual BCI-users, families of children who use BCI daily, intros to tools and solutions you can use to build your BCI dream game, team formation, and more! The competition officially starts at midnight on December 3rd and will run for 48 hours. We look forward to having a ‘near-after party’ on the evening of December 4th where we will check in with teams, demo submissions, play games and celebrate with the teams.

This event will be partially held in person (in accordance with current COVID-19 guidelines) at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The entire game jam will also be available via live stream for any participants unable to attend in person and for participants outside of Calgary or USC. Details for the in-person sites now available at bci.games We welcome participants from anywhere around the world, of any level of experience!

We can’t wait to see what you come up with and for you to get your head in the game!


Game Jam Requirements

  1. Your game must be BCI-enabled. This means using one of our BCI tools for Unity or have a single-button control scheme.
  2. This game jam is focused on providing some great new experiences for children of all ages so please, keep your games appropriate.
  3. The games will be rated by a panel of children who routinely use BCI devices and our expert judges. Click here to see the judging requirements and submission guidelines.
  4. We encourage submissions at any stage of development. If you don't finish your game in 48hours, we still want to see what you have come up with!