The third Manifesto Jam concluded on June 14 after a week of submissions from indie developers. Participants shared pointed manifestos addressing game industry trends and personal frustrations. The event, which began in 2018, continues to serve as an outlet for tough critiques.
Manifesto Jam opened this year with a call from host Cecile Richard for entries that reject polished corporate language. Richard wrote that the manifesto should be awkward, clunky, and defiant in an ecosystem she described as increasingly professionalised.
Notable contributors included Rami Ismail, Robert Yang, Droqen, Anna Anthropy, and Mike Cook. Cook’s entry, titled NO-ONE IS GOING TO BUY YOUR GAME, argued that the pursuit of hits harms the medium. Other submissions examined the overuse of terms like slop and found humor in references to Coach McGuirk from Home Movies.
Richard’s own piece, Against Gratitude, criticized algorithmic pressures on artists. The jam accepted entries through June 14, giving participants one final day to share their views.
