GMTK Game Jam 2025

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A jam submission

Loop TheoryView game page

A loopy game that puts your drawing and reasoning skills to the test!

Submitted by iffalsepanic — 3 hours, 20 minutes before the deadline

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Loop Theory's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Creativity	#1531	3.853	3.853
Audio	#3411	2.882	2.882
Artwork	#3672	3.088	3.088
Enjoyment	#4745	2.706	2.706
Narrative	#5340	2.059	2.059

Ranked from 34 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
This game is all about the LOOP. It all starts by having you draw loops in the world. See if you can get a loop to live longer than a minute. Then see if you can get three different ones alive for that long. The main challenge: can you keep three differently colored loops alive for three minutes without touching the game ? Hands of mouse and keyboard ! If so you'll have won the Perpetuum Mobile award! Need more details ? Wait, you're not someone who actually reads the frikking manual, are ya ? Fine, you freak: The first loop you draw will be green. The second yellow. The third red. And then the colours loop back to green. Each loop will have a shape looping its perimeter: squares, triangles, circles and then the shapes loop back to squares. If you draw your loop in just the right way —hint: spikes are the key— they will start emitting shapes in a loop. These shapes will fly around the screen. Edges ? No worries, the shapes will loop round edges. Whenever a shape hits a loop a classic looping game of rock-paper-scissors happens, or rather square-circle-triangle (sorry no Spock or Lizards here). If the loop wins, it gets to live longer. If the the loop loses, it dies just a bit faster. And on a draw, the loop gets an extra shape looping its edge. Is this game fun ? Maybe. Is it on theme ? For sure!

(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
Sounds from freesound.org . Everything else made by us over 48 hours.

(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
two dads with something better to do this weekend

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Comments

SkuxlifeSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Looping hell! That's a wild game! So many loops. Had a few experiences lacking loopyness and you brought it all right back again. I feel like you're close to an idea like Katamari here. Perhaps slow things down just a touch, it gets a bit obfuscated when there's so much stuff on the screen I can't even see my loops anymore.

Great fun though! Well done!!!

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

The first versions of this were worse than a bullet hell game. :-) I'm working on an update which should hopefully make the game mechanics, and what's happening, more clear. That said... I do like the chaos quite a bit. :-D

Thanks for playing!

EchtraeSubmitted1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

Feels more like a tech demo than a game, but I like it anyway. Nice job! Insanely silly, but very good

Submitted

Serpent Circuit

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks!

GnarleyMidget1 year ago (1 edit) (+1)

That's really creative. I can tell that there's a compelling game there, but I haven't quite been able to figure out how to sustain a loop or what makes them start to fade away. I'm intrigued enough though that I'm going to bookmark it and come back to try again later. Nice to come across a genre busting entry!

Also, love the text display.

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks!

Some extra info (which we should have made more clear): loops basically have a timer which ticks down. If that timer hits zero they disappear. (You'll see them fade out as they get close to zero.) But if you feed a loop the right shapes (the ones they beat in our weird version of tick-tack-toe) that timer gets extended. So if you set it up that a loop gets the shapes it needs it will stay alive. The puzzle is that you need other loops to feed it, and then you have to keep those alive as well...

Hope that helps. Thanks for playing!

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Quick update for you: I'll upload a new version with some more feedback for the player once the Jam is over.

CzMuhammedSubmitted1 year ago(+2)

i dont really got the point but it is a good polished game i loved how satisfaying it is

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

Not your fault. I feel we haven't given the player quite enough feedback in-game to help them figure out what to do and what not to do.

Thanks for playing though!

Anya_MuskSubmitted1 year ago(+2)

Bro went hard on the aesthetics, game took some time to figure it out. I love the way conveyed the message. Not complicated at all. Very simple and elegant, Loved it, great job ;D

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks for the kind words!

DuqueLegumbreSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Very original. It takes a bit to understand the game but that is part of the fun.

Submitted

Knight's Stroll

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Glad you enjoyed it. :-) Thanks for playing!

fennfennSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

This game has such a cool aesthetic and I wish I wasn't so bad at it ;-; I got some loops to live for a very long time but whenever I tried to add in a different colour it would die immediately. At some points I wished I could select the colour I was drawing but I guess that's part of the difficulty. Really cool concept either way!

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

I wanted the colors to loop, as it fit the theme for the game jam more. And also, because it would force you to plan a little.

Trying to add shapes: for any loop there will be one shape which keeps it alive, one shape which it will absorb and have loop as well, and one shape which will hurt it. It is possible to draw the loops in such a way that you could get a positive feedback loop going over them. That's the puzzle part. I admit, it had to click for me too; at first it was just a mess of flying shapes. :-)

Thanks for playing!

aragon789Submitted1 year ago(+1)

Took me a while to understand the gameplay fully - I thought that the shapes were loops you had to draw (maybe reading the instructions on the game page would help haha) - but then it's a really cool idea, very unique! Honestly, haven't seen anything like it. To me it seems like a very cool combination of a tower defense game (but the only enemy is yourself) and a nice drawing minigame. I also love the background text, it's really mesmerizing!

Really well done, full points for creativity!

Submitted

All Aboard the Loop Line Express!

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Thank you for the very kind words! I hadn't thought of it as a tower defense game, but that's a cool comparison. I like the casual feel of drawing and seeing what happens, with the puzzle side of trying to get your drawings to stick around. But I should really look at TD games to see if there's anything that could help improve that "survival" aspect.

Thanks for playing!

drowning fishSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Nice aesthetic that reminded me a bit of MGS2 for some reason. It is interesting to try and create a nice loop. Good job!

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

MGS2 ? I wasn't expecting that comparison, but I'll take it. ;-)

Thanks for playing!

danfeketeSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I enjoy the drawing and shapes flying aspect! Pretty cool!

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks for the kind words !

hkmgSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

It's fun to draw different shapes and see them flying everywhere. I think it should restrict us to only draw shapes in each color once and show the time of survival as the score.

Submitted

Loop + Loop = Loop x 2

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

I do like the freedom of drawing as much as you like, though I have also been thinking of having a limited "ink pool" which would need refilling somehow before you can draw more. Your idea certainly fits in the same category, and it could be an interesting (maybe optional) challenge.

Thanks for playing!

tesseralisSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I'm not sure how to think about this as a game but it's a fantastic stim/simulator and it's fun to just watch the little colors and sounds fly around.

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Oh, I have been trying to find the game inside the sim all week-end, so it's not just you. :-) Thanks for playing!

TalpalSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

The scrolling text is very aesthetically pleasing. I might not understand what's going on, but I will accept my Perpetuum Mobile award nonetheless!

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Perpetuum Mobile ? Nicely done !

m0shenSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I'm not sure I know what I'm doing, but am I looping? Absolutely! Then shapes start flying, then I'm still looping and I don't know how I got here. Nice.

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago(+1)

If it left you loopy, well... it's still on theme... ;-) Thanks for playing!

Axsolus0001 year ago(+1)

Once the tactical approach failed and I started drawing tens of small circles then the game starting going wild and it was awesome haha, looks real stylish with the minimalist look and the sounds were satisfying!

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Thanks for the kind words. And for playing!

jsonmSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I'm not sure what I played, but I loved it. And you game is made with circles, triangles, and squares which is objectively the best artwork you could choose, and putting all three in your splash image? :chef's kiss:

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

:-D

I felt like adding a "not affiliated with Squid Game" disclaimer all week-end. :-)

volts_alpacaSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

I'm a dad that freaking loved it. Am I a weirdo? Maybe.

Submitted

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

According to my kids we're all weirdos. ;-)

Thanks for playing!

cantibizkitSubmitted1 year ago(+1)

Is this game fun ? Maybe.

Is it on theme ? For sure!

:p

I think I broke your game by drawing really small loops. Interresting experience.

Submitted

Crazy Cardboard Chicken Coop

iffalsepanicDeveloper1 year ago

Yeah... it doesn't cope well with really small loops. I considered disallowing them, but then... who knows what someone might use them for ? If it's a loop, it should loop, no ?

Thanks for playing!