Vampire Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (open in new tab) may be just a distant, fading dream, but that doesn't mean you have to live a life deprived of undead fun. World of Darkness has announced the winners of the 2022 Vampire Game Jam: The Game Jam (opens in new tab) is a competition of 28 games, from RPGs to dating sims, all free to play.

The first Vampire Jam was held by Itch.io (opens in new tab) to celebrate the launch of Bloodlines 2 to much fanfare and excitement. Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as hoped, but the Vampire Jam survived and is now an official World of Darkness sanctioned event. [The most recent Vampire Jam took place from October 30 to December 2, 2002, and featured three themes (open in new tab): "Love Among Monsters," "Unbounded Terror," and "The Hunt and the Hunted.

The winners of the 2022 Vampire Jam will each receive $500 and, more importantly, will be able to release and monetize their games royalty-free through the World of Darkness Unbound program until September 2023. Developers will also receive "release marketing and creative consulting" from the World of Darkness team and promotion through World of Darkness social media channels.

Well, the results are in:

Sunset Chronicles: Sin City Blues has obvious appeal as an RPG, and Nosferatu playing politics has very interesting storytelling potential. But my favorite of the bunch is "Bitter Nights: Case of the Bleeding Heart": the neo-noir Malkavian detective story may be the best game idea I've heard in years.

(For those unfamiliar with the lore of Vampire: The Masquerade: The Malkavian clan is uniquely perceptive and insightful, but also completely insane. in Bloodlines. Playing as a Malkavian is a very interesting and surprisingly unique experience (open in new tab). Bring this kind of gameplay into a grim and gritty series of murder mysteries and it becomes brilliant madness.)

But these three games are not the only ones to come out of the 2022 Vampire Jam: there are 28 entries in all, and among the runners-up are "The Outsider," "Vampire Frenzy," "Friday Night," and "Riding the Wave." Each looks very interesting: The Outsider, Vampire Frenzy: Riding the Wave, Friday Night Speed Dating, and Barbed Lands Genepil. Itch.io's Vampire: The Masquerade Jam 2022 page (opens in a new tab) to see them all.