Dream Diary Jam

A Yume Nikki Fangame Game Jam celebrating Yume Nikki's birthday. Runs from May 15th to June 26th. Join us on Itch.io!  We track the tags #Dream Diary Jam & #Yume Nikki Jam, so post your jam stuff under those!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 10!

10 years of making dreams come true! A decade of discovering dreams!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2026 to June 26th, 2026. Much like previous jams, you can join before or during those dates!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 10, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s 19th anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ10 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 9!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2025 to June 26th, 2025. Much like previous jams, you can join before or during those dates!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 9, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s 19th anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ9 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 8

Our Tumblr's back, and since we weren't here for DDJ8, here is the link for us to have a retrospect on the jam! https://itch.io/jam/dream-diary-jam-8

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 7 has started!

A bit of a late reminder, but good luck everyone!!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 7!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2023 to June 26th, 2023. You can join before or during those dates!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 7, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s 19th anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ7 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!

[dreamdiaryjam]

this is such a cool idea, thank you for organizing the gamejam! i am so excited to play all of these fangames!

Thank you so much! And thank you to everyone who has joined and participated so far, we're glad to see so many people get into the spirit of making games (and not letting their yumes just be yumes)!

[dreamdiaryjam]

hey just wanna say there is a free version of gamemaker but sadly the free version your not allowed to upload exes unless you pay some bullshit subscription or if you buy the full version on steam or uh. other means

Thank you for the information!

[dreamdiaryjam]

hi! i noticed that the yumeresource blog is password protected. i was wondering if there's any way to access it, or if it's closed off for good? it's featured pretty prominently in the tutorial masterposts, so i thought it would be a really helpful resource. if there really is no way to access it though, that's okay. thank you for compiling so many resources, i would be lost without them

Unfortunately, we have no knowledge of how to access it at this time.

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 6 has started!

I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress!

[dreamdiaryjam]

hello! I recently fully realized that anyone can join a jam and it doesn't need to just be professionals doing it! So like... I've never done one before! I don't have the time or skills yet to enter this years jam but I would like to do next years! do the games need to use RPG maker? If not do you know any free and safe alternatives I could use!? I'm sorry if this has been asked before I looked around a bit but couldn't find out! Thank you so much for reading! I look forward to next year!

Yep, this jam is open to all skill levels! RPG Maker is a great way to get started in game-making as a matter of fact, many people worked on their first game projects thanks to these jams!

As for our guidelines, you can use anything you're comfortable with! RPG Maker tends to be chosen (2003 specifically) because it's fairly easy to pick up and it's what the original game was made in, so there's lots of documentation on how to make a fangame in it, but we've had Unity games, games programmed in Assembly, and so on!

As for free, GameMaker and Unity have a free version, I believe! RPG Maker also goes on sale fairly regularly if that helps (RPG Maker 2003 usually goes for $1.99 compared to the standard $19.99, so I highly recommend getting it on sale!) There's also programming from scratch through a programming language, but that requires a lot of prior knowledge

EDIT: Another free engine I forgot to mention was Wolf RPG! I haven’t used it myself, but I’ve heard many suggest it!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 6!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2022 to June 26th, 2022. You can join before or during those dates!

Our beloved Yume Nikki is turning 18 years old this June 26th… And to celebrate, it’s time for our annual Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 6, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ6 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 6!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2022 to June 26th, 2022. You can join before or during those dates!

Our beloved Yume Nikki is turning 18 years old this June 26th... And to celebrate, it’s time for our annual Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 6, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ6 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!

[dreamdiaryjam]

do you have any idea on how to make something like the nexus, where you can choose whatever level you want to play first, but when you finish the level you go back to the hub and the door is blocked off for the rest of the game?

Sure thing!

I'll assume you're using RPG Maker 2003, if so, my recommendation would be using Switches and Variables. You'll want whatever triggers the world to be completed to switch these ON, and probably a Teleport event to get the player out of the world if you choose.

Let's say there's World X. For the door sprite, there will be at least two pages in the event for it. The first page is the normal teleport event, with the normal sprite. On the second page, there'll be nothing written. There will also be a Condition to activate it. The Condition will be something like ( Switch "World X Completed" = ON ). So when the Switch is On, the door won't open anymore.

Now, how to trigger the Switch? There's a variety of ways, but basically, when you finish the stage, there needs to be something that turns the "World X Completed" Switch to ON. For example, if it's just finding an Effect, when you get it, turn the Switch ON and you'll be set.

If it's more complicated, like multiple objectives, I'd recommend Variables. If you need five Effects, for example, have each one you collect add +1 to "World X Completed" Variable. And instead of a Switch on the second page, you'd want the Variable conditions to be met- say, equal to five in this example.

[dreamdiaryjam]

And that’s a wrap!

Thanks to all our participants this year!

[dreamdiaryjam]

Happy 17th Anniversary, Yume Nikki!

Less than 24 hours remain to submit your entries this year, dreamers!

[dreamdiaryjam]

THE FINAL WEEK

Seven days remain, dreamers!

This is it, the final stretch! Be sure to do your best, but don’t push yourself too hard!

[edevweiss]

Progress:

Nexus worlds: 2/3

Current effects: 5

Deeper worlds: 3