Play game
Resource Vortex's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay / Fun / Engagement | #31 | 2.789 | 3.364 |
| Theme | #31 | 2.714 | 3.273 |
| Overall | #35 | 2.714 | 3.273 |
| Audio / Sound Design | #36 | 2.563 | 3.091 |
| Art Style / Visuals | #37 | 2.789 | 3.364 |
Ranked from 11 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Game Engine / Tools
Unity 6
How does your game fit the theme?
The game features a multi-layered resource economy:
Health ā Both the trash bin and the player have hit points that must be protected.
Trash ā Raw waste dropped from portals, collected and compressed into Compressed Trash (used as ammo or for disposal).
Score ā Earned by cleaning the area and defeating Krogs, then converted into Money at the shop.
Money ā Spent on upgrades, repairs, and defenses between waves.
Easter Egg Challenge
To the right of the sharp, tall mountain peak, you can find a small gorgeāthere lies the biggest easter egg.
If you run along the tops of the gentle hills to the right of the gorge, you'll spot several amusing drawings on the ground.
Behind the tall, jagged peak, you can find a reference to a well-known character from a certain iconic intro sequence.
If you locate the spot where the map's overview screenshot was taken, you'll encounter a tiny characterāthe protagonist of a legendary masterpiece.
Self-made & used stuff
Anything else you'd like to share about your game or development process?
This was a truly exciting first experience for our team! We faced many challenges along the way, but also managed to overcome quite a few of them. It was our first time working on a 3D project, and we loved diving into this new dimension.
We plan to keep participating in game jams, gaining experience, and sharpening our skillsāso that one day, our small projects can grow into something greater!
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
The game is fun and I imagine with some extra polish and work could turn into a solid game on steam however the significant ramp up in difficulty from wave 2 to 3 cought me twice and I couldnt really see how I would get past it.
The visuals look really nice although I imagine due to the deadline the enemies didnt get a custom model which might be a starting point for future improvements. Additionally I think possibly minor things such as the tutorial frame could get a bit more polish.
The sound design is really nice and I think currently it includes everything necesarry and a bit beyond.
The concept is nice however considering the theme is about everything being a resource I would have expected the rocks and possibly trees to also be a resource, and possibly the enemies in some way.
For future improvements I would suggest making so the enemies on death drop some sort of healing orb (or anything else to somehow turn them into a resource), to maybe add a warning for when the next wave starts and somehow making the larger amounts of enemies surmountable (possibly be adding a turret in some way made from the rocks and trees).
Thanks a ton for the thoughtful feedback — we really appreciate it!
Yeah, that wave 2 ā 3 jump turned out way harsher than we expected š It definitely caught players off guard. And you're right about the enemies — we had plans for unique models but ran out of time, so they ended up as placeholder humanoids. Same with the tutorial frame — very last-minute polish.
Funny enough, we did toy with the idea of making trees and rocks into usable resources, but couldnāt quite fit it into the scope. We love your idea of enemies dropping something useful on death. Turrets and wave warnings also sound like great next steps if we ever revisit the game.
Thanks again for the kind words and cool suggestions!
Fun concept—turning trash into bullets and protecting both yourself and the big trashcan.
The waves got tough pretty quickly though—I only made it to wave 3 once š
Audio was present, but could definitely be polished a bit more in a future update.
Visually, the 3D looked good!
The wall of text was helpful for understanding how to play, but if you continue working on the game, it might be nice to integrate that into a short tutorial arena—just to teach the basics before getting sucked into the main vortex game.
For a first 3D game, definitely well done. Keep it up! šŖ
Thanks so much! Really cool to hear you enjoyed our idea!
Yeah, the waves do get intense fast š We wanted it challenging, but maybe went a bit too far(but all the waves are passable). The audioās something we struggled with again — it keeps being tricky for us somehow š„² Youāre absolutely right about the tutorial. A brief introductory level would have been far more preferable than an overwhelming text dump. However, this is what we have.
Really fun experience and nice gameplay loop. I could only last for 2 waves though :D The Art was well made and the controls felt really smooth.. The basic mechanics of collecting, compressing and throwing felt good and polished. I think audio is one element which i felt would have definitely elevated the experience a lot. And the second one is some particle effects.
Apart from that it looks really good and plays well, great job on the game and i read that this was your first 3d game, so that is definitely impressive!
Thank you so much for playing!
You're absolutely right about the audio — we've actually had issues with sound in several of our past projects too š„². Itās something weāre still figuring out. And as for particles, we honestly didnāt think much about adding them — weāre still pretty new to that side of things, so thanks for the tip!
I usually use an asset pack for both sound and vfx theres some great ones on the unity store
Really enjoyed this one—fun concept and solid execution. The whole trash mechanic is clever and gives the game its own flavor. Some rough edges here and there, but honestly, it has that charm that makes you want to keep playing. Nice work overa
Thanks so much! Happy to hear the trash mechanic gave it a unique feel! There are definitely a few rough edges, but weāre glad the overall vibe kept you playing!
Great project for a first attempt at a 3D game! Iāve also been wanting to try a third dimension at some point (maybe sooner than I thought).
The concept is really interesting—the idea of using trash in a recyclable way was very creative. Iād say it turned the game into a tower defense with a unique and intriguing concept, making us want to see how far we can go or how much the story could be expanded.
The fact that we have two health bars to protect sets the difficulty at the right level, since we not only have to defend the trash bin but also ourselves. It was a good decision—it made the game challenging without being frustrating.
The tutorial is simple but effective. The only thing that slightly bothered me was the fact that it repeats and appears to be mandatory even after we've already read it once before dying. Maybe adding a variable to identify if the player has died before, which then enables a kind of "special button" to skip the dialogue and start the game, would be a good alternative to keep the flow steady.
I didnāt manage to get very far—maybe due to my limited skills haha—but I had fun with what I was able to play. One interesting addition would be to change the color of the shop text when we select something. For me, it was a bit hard to buy an item without being sure I was hovering over the right option, since all the text remained white (I know the crosshair is precise, but the more visual cues in situations like this, the better—especially since the enemies donāt stop attacking).
Another point, which might be more of a personal thing, is that the button to turn trash into ammo (the 'F' key) felt a bit uncomfortable for me. But again, maybe itās just a matter of habit—I wouldāve preferred to use 'R'. My reasoning is that since 'R' is closer to 'W' than 'F', Iād be able to move in all directions while converting trash into ammo, since I could just walk forward and aim with the mouse.
Great work on the game! I wish you success in your future 3D developments and hope you publish many more games in this style.
Wow, thank you for such thoughtful and detailed feedback — it really means a lot! š
Weāre thrilled you enjoyed the core concept and gameplay loop. Balancing the dual-health system was definitely something we debated, so it's great to hear it added the right kind of challenge for you.
We honestly didnāt think much about skipping the tutorial — mostly because itās super short and can be clicked through quickly š . But you're right, a proper skip option wouldāve helped with replay flow.
As for the shop — yeah, selection feedback was tricky. We actually ran into some UI issues that occasionally broke the color change on hover, so we decided to keep it simple (even if itās not ideal). Time constraints didnāt help either!
We had a lot of ideas we wanted to polish further, but jam time is a wild ride. And yeah, keybindings like 'F' vs 'R' — thatās one of those things we kept switching around during development!
Really appreciate your insights — and best of luck on your own projects too!
Pretty cool wave defence game! I enjoyed the world building with the intro story. Not too long but gave enough detail to spark interest. Controls were easy to figure out. It reminds us a lot of a game prototype we made. Good Stuff!
Thanks a lot! Glad the story and controls landed well — we tried to keep it punchy but clear. Curious, what kind of prototype did you make? Would love to hear how it compares!
The main character might give you nightmares in our game XD ahhah you can play here https://splashy-inc.itch.io/splashy-fish-2-moonshine-madness. We worked really hard on it. But 3D games are really hard for us. So we decided to make a ton more 2D mini games before opening that can of worms again. Great job on your submission!
Yooo, love that, this is straight fire. The character is awesome, and the cube system looks really cool.
Yeah, there are some rough edges, but itās clear a lot of effort went into this.
Totally get the 3D struggle, itās a whole different beast. Best of luck with your 2D adventures, and thanks so much for the kind words!
Interesting concept! It was hard to get through the waves.
Audio/Sound Design was okay
Art/Visual was okay,
What stand-outs is the use of theme I'd say
Thanks for playing and sharing your thoughts! We're glad the concept stood out, and yeah — the waves can be brutal. Appreciate the honest feedback!
The game is really fun and very impressively made even though I only made it up to wave 2. The concept of collecting trash as it falls to the ground and compressing it either to use bullets or to throw it in the trash bin is amazing and fits in with the theme of the jam in a very clever way.
Thank you! We're really glad the concept clicked with you — turning trash into gameplay was a fun challenge. And hey, wave 2 is just the beginning!!!
It's fun and entertaining, I really liked the concept of converting trash into ammunition to shoot, it is very well applied the concept of recycling and has good difficulty, well done!
Thanks a lot! Glad you liked the recycling mechanic — it was a core part of our idea. Great to hear the difficulty felt right too!
It lloks quite impressive.
Thanks a lot! We're glad it caught your eye — weāve put a lot of effort into making something unique. If you have any feedback or ideas, weād love to hear them!