Meet the HEJ Collective - Hungary's new indie game label launching its first season
Havi Egy Játék (HEJ), the Hungarian game development collective, has been bringing together developers through monthly game creation challenges since 2019, pushing the boundaries of what small teams can build in a short time. Alongside the monthly challenges, HEJ supports the Hungarian indie game development community through local meetups, livestreams and gaming expos.
Now the collective is taking the next step - publishing games.
About the HEJ Collective
HEJ is excited to announce Season 1 of the HEJ Collective, a seasonal label that publishes the best games emerging from the collective's monthly challenges. Each season, only two to three titles are selected to make the journey from game jam prototype to commercial release.
To get them there, HEJ runs the HEJ Collective Mentoring Program. Over a focused 4- to 6-month development period, participating teams receive mentorship from experienced Hungarian game developers, designers, artists, and QA testers, gaining practical experience in preparing and releasing games on Steam.
Season 1
The two titles making up Season 1:
Grapple Bear (releasing July 17th 2026)
A fast-paced competitive platformer with more than 40 handcrafted levels and a weekly procedurally generated challenge where players compete on Steam leaderboards for the highest score.
Weather Dragger (out now)
A strategy and simulation game where players grow and protect a village by directly controlling the weather.