I'm entering my evil jam host era where YOU make stuff SPECIFICALLY for ME!!!

I'M TIRED OF LOOKING UP "[MEDIA THING] WITH TRANS MASCULINE CHARACTERS" AND SEEING THE SAME SANITIZED BULLSHIT. NONE OF THEM ARE FOR SMART SICKOS LIKE ME (AND PROBABLY HOPEFULLY YOU).

What is this?

Trans Masc Protag Jam is a new niche interest jam hosted by tofurocks that encourages the creation of any sort of media that centers a trans masculine protagonist. This year, we're interested in the type of protagonist who takes an active, dominant, or assertive role in the story. We welcome all sorts of projects commonly hosted on itchio, such as: digital games, novels, comics, physical games, voice drama or ASMR, etc.

We welcome creators of all skill levels to join us and make something that centers trans masculine people. At this time, three cash prizes will be awarded to the host's (hi) top 3 favorites:

First Place: $120

Second Place: $100

Third Place: $80

Okay, but who are you and why should I make something that specifically caters to your interests?

Hello again, I'm BáiYù and you may know me better as a previous co-host of the Only One of Any Asset VN Jam or an organizer of mutual aid bundles, particularly The Power of Pride Bundle. I'm also the lead guy at tofurocks, an indie games studio which has been putting out a lot of games about the gay trans masculine experience as of late. I can't cook all my own food though, so that's why I'm hosting this jam!

There's a growing trend of media that prominently depicts trans masculine characters, but sometimes the representation is relegated to side characters or those stories focus on "cis grieving" (aka Some Real Bullshit™). Quite honestly? I'm tired of asking nicely. Make me stuff that has that secret ingredient that makes me go feral!!!

Rules

To participate, you must meet the following criteria:

• Due to payment details, every member involved in the jam must be legal adults (AKA, over the age of 18)
• Winning participants must be able to receive prizes either via itchio payout or PayPal. Judges are not responsible for splitting cash prizes among winning teams, so please handle those conversations before entering

For your submission, do:

• Have the main protagonist be trans masculine (games where the protagonist's gender can be customized will not count for this jam)
• Have the main protagonist play an active role in the story, relationship, etc.
• List relevant content warnings for your submissions on the project page

You can:

• Create a digital game, physical game, book, comic, etc. Basically, if you can upload it to itchio, then you can submit it to the jam!
• Work in a team or by yourself
• Use pre-made/Creative Commons assets that allow commercialization (in other words, please avoid using assets that have NC in the license)
• Monetize or commercialize (aka sell or open Pay-What-You-Want Donations starting above $0) your submission. If access to the base of your submission is monetized, please provide a key to your project page for judging purposes
• Submit an erotic/NSFW entry. Please keep thumbnails SFW and free of genitalia, per itchio guidelines
• Submit your entry to other jams, as long as you follow the rules for those jams

Don't:

🚫 Use Generative AI, NFT, and other Web3 technologies in your entries
🚫 Create fanworks based on IPs that you do not have permission to use, due to the presence of cash prizes
🚫 Encourage or promote bigotry, including racism, sexism, gender essentialism, transmisogyny, anti-transmasculinity, transmedicalism/truscum, pro-life/anti-choice rhetoric, fascism, authoritarianism, etc. Remember that depiction does not equal endorsement!
🚫 Encourage or promote fetishization of trans masculine bodies, especially in erotic entries. As the jam host, I will be scrutinizing entries that look like it's intended to be porn for chasers/trans masc misery. I can't tell you what criteria separates that from a genuine exploration of that subject matter because it's highly subjective, but don't try to be funny about this
🚫 Submit spam or bad faith entries

For this year only, we're open to accepting submissions that have been previously worked on but were unfinished prior to the jam, but would like to ask that such projects opt out of judging for cash prizes. We'll be using the honor system here, and when you submit, there will be a field for marking your entries for judging eligibility.

Additionally, entries that disregard the rules will be removed from the jam. We are not obligated to inform you if this occurs.

Theme

The official 2026 theme is: Personal Autonomy

An optional sub-theme of 🔮 Magic 🪄 is also encouraged but not required.

From the Disability Rights California page, personal autonomy includes the right to:

• be independent and make life decisions, including decisions others may believe are not in the person’s best interest;
• quality of life;
• give informed consent for treatment;
• refuse treatment unless the person cannot make their own treatment decisions;
• appoint someone to make decisions when the person cannot make their own decisions;
• a guardian ad litem (court-appointed special advocate for minors when their wishes differ from the parents);
• a guardian ad litem when an adult isn't able to make decisions alone;
• be a parent;
• marry;
• be in consensual sexual relationships in alignment with their sexual orientation;
• express their gender identity;
• vote; and
• have information about their rights.

Please feel free to interpret this theme as you please!

What is the definition of trans masculine?

A person who is assigned female at birth and now identifies as masculine in some way, shape, or form. This definition includes identities such as nonbinary trans mascs, genderfluid trans mascs, binary trans men, trans masc and he/him lesbians, etc. and is meant to be broadly interpreted as I have no interest in gatekeeping this label. We're open to seeing trans masculine characters who have not transitioned medically (often called pre-op), are non-op, post-op, and every stage of transition in-between.

Judging Criteria

Since the jam currently has one judge, submissions will be evaluated based on a combination of:

• Relevancy to the theme
• Overall quality (Writing, Art, Audio, etc.)
• Execution of ideas
• Intention
• Some secret fifth thing

If we have more judges join us, we'll let you know all know if we update the Judging Criteria!
 

Interested in Sponsoring or Becoming a Judge?

We'd love for this jam to become an even bigger thing! We're looking for folks who can contribute to the prize pot to become part of our judging panel, or to nominate someone to the judging panel. If this sounds like you, please send an email to projectenso.games@proton.me with the subject line "Trans Masc Protag Jam Judging" so we can work out the details!

What can I do before the jam starts? Where can I find other participants?

The jam follows the "standard" jam protocol. You can:

• make notes/outlines, jot down ideas, brainstorm
• design your characters, game flow, etc.
• browse and select already existing / Creative Commons assets
• look for team members

All the mental efforts, working out the logic of your submission, calculating time needed and other preparations are fine. Finalized assets that appear in the actual submission as a direct result of a team member's effort should not be done before the start if you intend to compete for prizes.

Join our new Fluxer Server for direct support, sharing progress, and talking to other participants!

Credits

This year's promotional art and logo was drawn by loom and is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.

We thank our friends Fiendish Fiction and DarkChibiShadow for sponsoring the jam!

We're also highly inspired by the girlies over at TOXIC YURI JAM, be sure to play some fucked up visual novels about fucked up girlthings 💖💖💖