The js13kGames 2026 results are in: Spectral Horn by Filip Paulů won the overall ranking of the fifteenth js13kGames, ahead of Panzercorn and HueCorn. Every one of the record 317 entries is a complete browser game that fits inside a ZIP file of 13,312 bytes, and all of them can be played free on the official site.
Whether you just want a few clever games for a coffee break or you build HTML5 games yourself, the winners of this year’s “Unicorns and Rainbows” competition are worth a closer look.
js13kGames 2026 at a glance
| What | Yearly web game competition with a 13 KB size limit |
| Edition | 15th, held every year since 2012 |
| When | 13 August, 13:00 CEST – 13 September, 13:00 CEST 2026 |
| Theme | Unicorns and Rainbows |
| Entries | 317 games (a record) |
| Overall winner | Spectral Horn by Filip Paulů |
| Categories | Overall, Desktop, Mobile, WebXR, Online, Wavedash |
| Price to play | Free, in the browser, on js13kgames.com |
What is js13kGames, and why 13 KB?
js13kGames is an online game jam for web developers. For one month, from the 13th of August to the 13th of September, participants build a game on a theme announced at the start. The twist is the size limit: the zipped game, with its code, graphics, sound and data, must not be larger than 13 × 1024 = 13,312 bytes.
That leaves no room for an engine download, a sprite sheet or a music file. Developers draw graphics with code, generate sound at runtime and squeeze every byte out of their JavaScript.
The official rules also say:
- The ZIP must contain an
index.htmlat the top level and run in the browser as soon as it is unzipped. - No external resources: every asset, library and piece of data must be inside the ZIP.
- The game must work in the latest Chrome and Firefox, with no console errors.
- Each author also submits a readable, unminified source repository on GitHub, which the organisers archive as a learning resource.
That last rule is what makes js13kGames so useful for web developers: hundreds of finished games, each with its full source code, released every year.
The top 13 games of js13kGames 2026
These are the thirteen best games overall, as published in the official winners announcement:
| Rank | Game | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spectral Horn | Filip Paulů |
| 2 | Panzercorn | Chris Subagio |
| 3 | HueCorn | Ryan Tyler |
| 4 | Gjallarhorn | Dan Prince |
| 5 | PRISMHOOF | BeluBruh123 |
| 6 | At Both Ends | Abdallah Alwarawreh |
| 7 | Unicorn Fireball | Grzegorz Tańczyk |
| 8 | SEVEN CUSHIONS | sonjebeen |
| 9 | Swinicorn | Kushagra Gour |
| 10 | SUUPAA YUNIKOON | Almar Suarez |
| 11 | Rainbow Rescue | Curtis Robinson |
| 12 | Unifrost | Benjamin |
| 13 | SP13KTRA | Frank Force |
The authors of the top 100 games overall also receive a free js13kGames t-shirt, a wristband and stickers, shipped worldwide.
Five winners worth playing first
Spectral Horn: a light-physics puzzle with a unicorn prism
The winner takes the theme literally and scientifically. Instead of a glass prism, you aim a crystal unicorn horn into a beam of light and split it into colours. Drag the unicorn to move it, drag the ring around the horn to rotate it, and fine-tune the angle in 0.5° steps until the right wavelength hits a sensor and charges it to 100%.
Under the hood, the author simulates real optics: refraction with Snell’s law, colour dispersion, total internal reflection, lenses and additive colour mixing (yellow can be a pure 580 nm beam or red plus green). Spectral Horn also ranked first for innovation, and it works on mobile with touch controls.
Panzercorn: a WebXR rail shooter on a magic carpet
Panzercorn is a first-person arcade shooter: you fly a magic carpet through valleys and fire rainbow beams that lock on to up to five enemies at once. It was built for WebXR headsets with hand tracking or controllers, but it is also playable on desktop and on mobile in landscape. Getting a full 3D VR game under 13 KB is the kind of feat this competition is known for.
HueCorn: a tight platformer about colour
HueCorn is the most immediately fun pick for casual players. Your unicorn runs through seven levels collecting rainbow crystals, and each colour changes the level: blocks appear or vanish, platforms start moving, portals open. Double jumps, wall jumps and a countdown that starts when you grab violet keep it tense. The game tracks your time and deaths, and it placed first for gameplay.
Gjallarhorn: a Norse card puzzle with a level editor
Gjallarhorn is a strategy puzzle in 26 levels. You drag Norse gods from your hand onto the board to attack giants or use special powers, and a level is cleared when no giants remain. It even ships a level editor that stores the level inside the URL, so players can share their own puzzles by link.
PRISMHOOF: one move, thirteen courses
PRISMHOOF builds a whole speedrun platformer around a single action. Hold a key and your unicorn sprays a solid rainbow: on flat ground it clears the gloom, at the edge of a drop it becomes a bridge, during a jump it becomes a ramp, and in mid-air it lifts you. Falling into lava costs time, not lives, so you always keep moving. The author lists zero libraries and zero asset files: every pixel and sound is generated at runtime.
Best pick for phones: Unicorn Tycoon
If you play mostly on a phone, check the Mobile category, which has its own ranking. Its winner, Unicorn Tycoon by Naeliah, is a cosy park-builder: you have one carousel, a green field and thirteen days to build rides, snack stands and benches, keep visitors happy and reach the Grand Parade. Worn-out rides are fixed with a zap of a rainbow beam.
What web game developers can learn from 13 KB games
The winners are not just small; they are well designed. A few lessons travel well to any HTML5 game:
- One strong mechanic beats many weak ones. PRISMHOOF and Spectral Horn each build the whole game around one verb. Small scope leaves time for polish.
- Generate instead of loading. Procedural graphics, Canvas drawing and Web Audio synthesis replace image and audio files, which also means faster first load on mobile networks.
- Design for touch from day one. Several top games, including Spectral Horn, list full touch controls; the Mobile category rewards that.
- Share by URL. Gjallarhorn’s level editor saves levels in the link, a free and server-less way to get user content.
- Read the source. Every entry has a public repository, and many authors publish post-mortems explaining their size tricks. It is one of the best free libraries of browser game code you can find.
| Technique | Seen in | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural art and sound | PRISMHOOF, Spectral Horn | No asset files to download |
| Single core mechanic | PRISMHOOF, HueCorn | Clear to learn, easy to polish |
| Touch-first controls | Spectral Horn, Unicorn Tycoon | Works on phones without changes |
| Level data in the URL | Gjallarhorn | Sharing without a backend |
| WebXR with fallback | Panzercorn | VR, desktop and mobile from one build |
How to play the games and what comes next
All 317 games are free to play on the js13kGames 2026 site; each game page shows the controls, the categories, the score breakdown and a link to the source code. Some authors also publish a “Director’s Cut”, a post-competition version without the size limit.
For developers who want to join next time: the competition runs every year from 13 August to 13 September.
FAQ
Who won js13kGames 2026?
Spectral Horn by Filip Paulů won the overall ranking, followed by Panzercorn by Chris Subagio and HueCorn by Ryan Tyler.
What was the js13kGames 2026 theme?
The theme was “Unicorns and Rainbows”. It is a rating criterion, but each author could interpret it freely.
How big can a js13kGames entry be?
The zipped game must be 13,312 bytes or smaller (13 × 1024), with all code and assets inside the ZIP and no external resources.
Are js13kGames games free to play?
Yes. All entries run in a desktop or mobile browser for free on js13kgames.com, with no download or account needed.
Can I see the source code of the winners?
Yes. Every entry must include a readable GitHub repository, and the organisers archive it as a learning resource.
