Season 19 (2025-2026) - Journeys

At its core, a journey describes the events that occur when moving from point A to B. While the beginning and end of a journey may be clear, the path taken may take many forms, and is often much more complex than simply travelling from one place to another. For some stories, a journey may be describing a desperate trek across a massive desert, where every step is key to survival. For others, it may describe a team exploring a vibrant, undiscovered planet and the unique challenges they face. Many journeys may be less rooted in movement, describing instead the transformation of friendships or finding one’s place in their school or community.

Journeys aren’t only for people. A classic example is the migration of animals. Each year, monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico to escape the cold. Many birds also make long trips, flying south for the winter to find food and warmer weather. Salmon have a remarkable journey, swimming from the ocean back up the same rivers where they were born to lay their eggs.

Plants, which can’t move on their own, also send their “offspring” on journeys. Some seeds, like those from dandelions, have feathery parts that let them float on the wind to new places. Others, like coconuts, are built to float on water, traveling across oceans to land on new shores. Some seeds, with their sticky burrs or tasty fruits, hitch a ride on animals, traveling far before they’re dropped off to grow in a new location.

Even natural elements have journeys. The water in a river begins its journey as a small trickle from a mountain spring or melting snow. It grows as other streams join it, carving out a path through the land. The river twists and turns, carrying soil and rocks, until it finally reaches the sea, completing its long trip.

The Oregon Game Project Challenge theme for 2025-2026 is Journeys.

Teams should be creative in their interpretation and attempt to represent the theme in all parts of a submission - gameplay, story, art, and sound design.

Main Event

The Season 19 Main Event is still to be scheduled. Check back November 2025!

Documents For Season 19

Final Season 19 documents will be available November 2025 however are not expected to be much different from Season 18 below:

  • The Competition Manual for the season. This has the full theme description as well as rules and guidelines for the competition.
  • Achievements guide. These are specific things judges will be looking for when scoring your project.

Getting Started

New to OGPC and trying to figure out how to get started? Here is a checklist:

  1. Check out the Competition Manual to learn about the theme and how the actual competition works.
  2. Form a team. (The Competition Manual lists the requirements.) If you are a student, you will need to find an adult who is willing to be the team Coach.
  3. The create an entry in the Team Management System (TMS) (Click the Help link at the top of the TMS page to see a video of the process). This involves:
    1. The Coach makes an account and creates a Team.
    2. They then invite students to join.
    3. Students each make an account and accept their invite.
  4. Do some research on the theme. (You will share this research in your Game Portfolio document as part of completing one of the achievements.)
  5. Decide on what you want to build - fill out the Game Design Document portion of the Game Portfolio (See Competition Manual for details.)
  6. Register for the Main Event. (See Competition Manual for details.)