ghost word jam

https://ghost-word-jam.vercel.app/

created for idosyncratic games at boshi's place where we focus on an idosyncratic game dev every 2 weeks

this one is inspired by Michael Brough, a game dev known for innovative game plays in often tight grid spaces, allowing the player to have creative control but with limitations (sometimes even self-destructive as in Corrypt).

so in this grid-based word jam, i want the player to have the freedom to rearrange words from existing poems and verses by my peers (thanks droqen!) and myself, but also throw in some randomness and restrictions (especially in the ghost mode) so they must choose each step/word wisely.

i've never been a poetry person, but making and playing this game gave me some new perspectives on how words work, or not, and what makes a word or a series of words expressive.

oct 5, 2026

from nyc to santa fe