What happens when a genie's lamp ends up between a sailor and a Norse dragon, or when Greek and Norse rings turn up in a traditional Emirati village?
That was the question behind Mythos Collide. Developers had one weekend, from Thursday 15 October to Sunday 18 October 2026, to take two or more mythologies, put them in the same world and ship a playable game.
Here are the three games the judges picked, followed by the honorable mentions. Every game is free to play in your browser
Who won Mythos Collide?
Place | Game | Developer | What it is |
1st | Awaiz Ahmed | Psychological horror puzzle game, playable in the browser and in VR | |
2nd | Ahmed and Eman Alshekhaili | Top-down pixel-art shooter mixing Egyptian and Norse myth | |
3rd | Aysha90 | 2D boss fight between a genie and Fáfnir, the Norse dragon | |
Honorable mention | Manal Alteneiji | Narrative adventure blending Gulf folklore with Norse and Greek ring legends |
1st place: The Twelfth Stamp by Awaiz Ahmed
You are Saeed, back from the Festival of Passports with eleven stamps from eleven countries. Your passport also has a twelfth stamp, reading HOME: ENTRY GRANTED, and you never earned it. It was forged by the Passenger, a figure of smoked glass that copies the places you remember, and it followed you home wearing your shape.
Your passport is your only tool. Tear open its seams to pull light and sound from the countries you visited. You can drag Egyptian sunlight into a rainy Paris night to drive the Passenger back, or hide the sound of a tear under London's midnight chime. Every tear lets something through, in both directions.
- The mechanics keep changing. The game builds as you move from one country to the next, with Easy, Medium and Hard levels and a Free Roam mode on top of the main story.
- You can play it in VR. It runs in the browser on a laptop, or in a Meta Quest 3 through the Quest Browser.
Expect scares. It's psychological horror with jump scares, so wear headphones. A Gentle setting turns the scares down.
2nd place: Dawn Eater by Ahmed and Eman Alshekhaili
Every night, the sun god Ra sails his barge through the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, to bring back the dawn. Now the wolves of Ragnarök are hunting the sun, led by Sköll, the Norse wolf who chases it across the sky. You steer the barge down the underworld river and keep the light burning until morning.
- Your light is your health and your ammo. Every shot spends some of it, and every monster that reaches the barge drains more. Destroying enemies wins it back, so every shot is a choice.
- Two mythologies share the river. Apep's serpents, scarabs and mummies rise out of the Egyptian underworld, while ravens and wolves come down from the north.
- It never lets up. Enemies spawn faster and grow stronger the longer you survive, and Sköll returns as a boss who circles the river, calls his wolves and then charges.
- You get stronger too. Leveling up raises your light, fire rate, speed and beam strength, with a double shot at Level 3 and a triple spread at Level 5.
3rd place: Lampwake by Aysha90
A sailor rubs a brass lamp and makes one wish: get my ship home. The trouble is that the ship's hold is full of gold, and Fáfnir, the dragon of Norse legend, has caught the scent of it. You play the genie from the lamp
- It's one fight, with two jobs. Shield the ship by blocking Fáfnir's venom with your own body, then dart in and strike his soft belly.
- The art is beautiful. It's the most visually striking game in the jam, with flawless 2D animation over a pixel-art sea.
- It's quick to play. A run takes a few minutes, and it gets properly tense as the dragon nears defeat. The developer's tip is to fight up close.
Mythos Collide honorable mentions
- Beyond Gold by Manal Alteneiji follows two Emirati children, Sheikah and Rashed, who carry three legendary rings from Norse myth and Plato past Bu Salasil and Baba Daryah, two guardians from Gulf folklore. Manal built it solo, with narration in English and Emirati Arabic, and it plays on mobile. Play Beyond Gold
Thank you to every Mythos Collide team
Thank you to everyone who took part in Mythos Collide. Seeing the range of ideas that came out of one weekend was amazing. We had Egyptian sunlight pulled into a Paris night, Emirati children carrying Norse and Greek rings, and a genie protecting a ship from a dragon. Every team took the theme somewhere of their own, and we hope to see these games, and the people who made them, keep growing!
Mythos Collide FAQ
Who won Mythos Collide?
The Twelfth Stamp by Awaiz Ahmed took 1st place, Dawn Eater by Ahmed and Eman Alshekhaili came 2nd, and Lampwake by Aysha90 came 3rd. Beyond Gold by Manal Alteneiji received an honorable mention.
Are the Mythos Collide games free to play?
Yes. Every winning game is free to play in your browser on itch.io. The Twelfth Stamp also runs on a Meta Quest 3, and Beyond Gold plays on mobile.
When was Mythos Collide?
The jam ran online from Thursday 15 October to Sunday 18 October 2026, and the winners were announced on Monday 19 October 2026.
What was the Mythos Collide theme?
Combine two or more mythologies in one game. Read the full brief, rules and judging criteria in our Mythos Collide game jam guide.
About Mythos Collide
Mythos Collide is an online game jam in which developers had one weekend to take two or more mythologies and turn them into a single playable game. It is part of GameForward and is run in collaboration with the Dubai Films and Games Commission and GAMES.GG.
About GameForward
GameForward is a gaming initiative anchored by Dubai SME, part of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, and powered by Antler. It supports game studios and developers through game jams, an accelerator and the Champions program. Learn more at gameforward.ae.
