Synergy Games Jam 2026
Turn real-world actions into new gameplay mechanics. Build, play, test, engage.
The challenge
About this event
Can real-world actions make your favorite game more engaging?
Create a new game or add a mechanic to an existing game that reacts to a player’s Synergy Status through Synergy Login.
We provide the real-world signal.
You decide what happens inside the game.
Your game does not need to be about electricity or sustainability. Use Synergy Status as a new gameplay input to make the experience more engaging, surprising, rewarding or fun.
How Synergy Login Works
Synergy Login tells your game the Synergy Status of the player’s device: how green the electricity powering it is, verified by ThingsApp. The player chooses to share it.
- Active (green): the device runs on renewable-backed electricity. Suggested: the strongest Synergy benefits.
- Limited (amber): its emissions stay within a carbon budget, but the electricity is not verified as renewable. Suggested: limited Synergy benefits.
- Paused (red): neither applies. Suggested: Synergy benefits paused.
You decide what each state does: boosts, abilities, resources, progression, missions, environments, characters, multiplayer mechanics, narrative, rewards or feature access. Finding out which mechanics are fun is the point.
How to Participate
Choose one of two paths:
Adapt an existing game
Add Synergy Login and connect the player’s Synergy Status to a meaningful game mechanic.
Create a new game
Build a new playable experience and integrate Synergy Login into its gameplay. You can also use our AI Playground to get started.
You focus on the game experience. Synergy OS handles the real-world signal.
Who Should Join
Game developers, indie developers and studios, students, programmers, game designers, creative technologists, AI and vibe-coding developers, startups, and anyone who wants to experiment with gameplay.
Players are welcome too: during public play you can test the games, rate them and give feedback.
Prizes
€3,000 total prize pool
🥇 Overall Synergy Game Winner · €1,500
Awarded to the eligible game with the highest Overall Synergy Score.
🥈 Overall Synergy Game Runner-up · €750
Awarded to the eligible game with the second-highest Overall Synergy Score.
⚡ Action Rate Efficiency Winner · €750
Awarded to the eligible game with the highest Action Rate.
Awards are evaluated independently. A team may win more than one prize if its game leads in multiple award categories.
Key Dates
- 9 October 2026: Kickoff & Build Session · 16:00–18:00 · Innovation Center, Saarland University + Online
- 9–30 October 2026: Public Play · Play · Test · Improve
- 30 October 2026: Final Showcase & Awards · 16:00–18:00 · Innovation Center, Saarland University + Online
Synergy Login & Privacy
Players can explore and test available games without an Umweltify account.
Synergy Login is optional and permission-based. When a player connects through Synergy Login, the game receives only the player’s Synergy Status signal.
The game does not receive the player’s electricity contract or tariff details.
One Simple Principle
We provide the signal. You create the experience.
Build something players want to play.
Use Synergy in a way that makes the game better.
Then see whether better gameplay can inspire real-world action.
Questions for the Sessions
Submit your questions here, and we’ll address them during the sessions.
Sessions
Where and when.
Kickoff and Build Day
Fri 9 Oct 16:00–18:00 (UTC+2)
Innovation Center · Room 00.01 · Universität des Saarlandes · Online
Final Showcase and Judging
Fri 30 Oct 16:00–18:00 (UTC+1)
Innovation Center · Sitztreppe · Universität des Saarlandes · Online
Rules
Before you start.
What We Measure
Synergy
Synergy measures qualified gameplay from players connected through Synergy Login.
It is the total number of qualified game sessions during the competition. Meaningful repeat sessions count because returning to play is part of engagement.
Unique Synergy Players
The number of distinct players who generate at least one qualified Synergy Play.
Unique Synergy Players are also used to calculate the game’s Action Rate.
Actions
Actions measure verified real-world green-electricity actions completed by players through GEMS and attributed to the originating game.
Qualifying Actions include:
- Verifying an existing eligible green-electricity status
- Switching to an eligible green-electricity tariff
For competition scoring, a maximum of one verified Action per household is counted. An Action can be attributed to only one originating game.
Action Rate
Action Rate measures how effectively a game converts engaged players into verified real-world Actions.
Action Rate = Actions ÷ Unique Synergy Players × 100
Overall Synergy Score
The Overall Synergy Score combines gameplay engagement with verified real-world action:
40% Synergy + 60% Actions
Both components are normalized against the highest-performing eligible game.
Normalized Synergy Score
Game Synergy ÷ highest Synergy among eligible games × 100
Normalized Action Score
Game Actions ÷ highest Actions among eligible games × 100
Overall Synergy Score
40% × Normalized Synergy Score + 60% × Normalized Action Score
Minimum Eligibility for Prizes
To qualify for a monetary award, a game must achieve at least:
- 30 Unique Synergy Players
- 3 Verified Actions
Games below these thresholds may still be published, played and showcased during the Synergy Games Jam, but they are not eligible for monetary prizes.
Tie-Break Rules
Overall Synergy Score Tie
If two eligible games achieve the same Overall Synergy Score:
- The game with more verified Actions ranks higher.
- If still tied, the game with higher Synergy ranks higher.
- If the tie remains, the jury decides based on the quality and creativity of the Synergy mechanic.
Action Rate Tie
If two eligible games achieve the same Action Rate:
- The game with more verified Actions ranks higher.
- If still tied, the game with more Unique Synergy Players ranks higher.
- If the tie remains, the jury decides based on the quality and creativity of the Synergy mechanic.
What Counts as a Qualified Synergy Play?
A qualified Synergy Play must represent genuine gameplay while the player is connected through Synergy Login.
Page refreshes, repeated reloads, automated traffic, accidental openings and rapid restart loops intended only to increase the score do not count as additional Synergy Plays.
Suspicious or artificially generated activity may be excluded from the competition.
Fair Attribution and Leaderboard
A verified household Action can be attributed to only one originating game.
Synergy OS measures the competition KPIs and publishes the results through the leaderboard. The leaderboard will show:
Synergy · Unique Synergy Players · Actions · Action Rate · Overall Synergy Score
Timeline
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Event starts
9 Oct 2026
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Event ends
30 Oct 2026
Entries
Participants
Questions about taking part?