Idle Hands: RUN’s First Creator Jam is Here!
Join RUN's first creator jam celebrating idle games. Build with AI assistance, no coding required, for a chance to win $2,500 in prizes from June 5-15.
By RUN.team · June 3, 2026
Some of the best games in the world don’t demand your full attention. They work while you sleep, stack numbers while you’re in a meeting, and they somehow make you feel like a genius with minimal input. That’s the magic of idle games, and it’s exactly what our first creator jam is celebrating.
Idle Hands runs June 5-15 with a $2500 prize pool. If you’ve ever wanted to make a game but weren’t sure where to start, this is your official on-ramp. No code experience required!
So…what even is an idle game?
If you’ve played Cookie Clicker, AFK Journey, or Egg Inc, you’ve played an idle game, you just didn’t realize it. The core loop is simple: things happen even when the player isn’t actively doing anything. Resources accumulate. Numbers go up. You come back an hour later and something important has changed.
What makes idle games interesting to build is that they’re driven by systems, rather than reflexes. Instead of asking someone to dodge a projectile or land a jump, you’re asking them to understand a core loop, make a decision, and see what happens over time. That’s a very different kind of game design, and it’s a great way to dip your toe into the pool of game development as a first-time creator.
If you’ve ever built a D&D campaign, plotted out a story with branching paths, or spent too long optimizing a spreadsheet for fun (shoutout to all the excel nerds out there), you already think in systems and you’re closer than you think to a game designer.
How It Works
The Idle Jam Kit drops June 5 at noon PT and that’s your metaphorical starting line. Anything built before then doesn’t count, so use the time now and then to plan, find collaborators in Discord (optional), or just get comfortable with RUN Studio. We have a really helpful article about getting started with RUN HERE.
Once the kit is live, you’ve got 10 days to build and publish your game. No need to worry about completing submission forms; just build from the kit, publish it on the RUN platform before June 15 and your game lands on the jam leaderboard automatically.
Once you’ve submitted, it’s time to share your game with your friends, family, and social networks. Scoring is based on the average number of daily unique players from your publish date through June 16, so there's no advantage to rushing or holding back. Ship your game when it’s ready!
The prizes
What RUN brings to the table
Remember earlier when we said you can participate without needing to know how to code? We meant it. Just describe your idea, and RUN’s AI Assistant can build it. You’ll be given playable versions that you can refine with prompts like “add a store feature” or “add a sound when someone clicks”.
Build in the browser with RUN Studio (nothing to install) or scaffold from your terminal with the rundot CLI. Either way, when you publish, you're in front of RUN's players in minutes. There's also a free jam-ready asset pack if you need art to get started.
Winners are announced live on the RUN channel on June 16.
Ready? Kit drops June 5 at noon PT. Get in early at events.run.game/events/idle-hands.
Looking for help or information about RUN, Idle Hands, or our tools? Join us on Discord!