20 Second Game Jam 2025

Hosted by Akzidenz, marc, xenobrain · #20SecondGameJam

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A jam submission

Don't Look AwayView game page

Are you ready for your shift at the terminal?

Submitted by Tonweight (@tonweight) — 14 days, 7 hours before the deadline

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Comments

MindreamSubmitted301 days ago(+1)

Really liked the vibe here, which immediately evoked The Stanley Parable and Severance. Loved the little references scattered all around, saw in a comment below that you were curious to see how much people noticed so :

1984, Animal Farm, Blade Runner, Ghost In The Shell, Half-Life, Portal, Papers Please, Alien and... Severance haha.

The two first messages on screen weren't visible long enough for me to read, I only managed to read from the third one. I got optimal compliance whether I entered one or two right commands so not sure if there's more to do. Finding those references was fun though !

Submitted

AkzidenzHostSubmitted304 days ago(+1)

I wasn't able to solve it like everyone else, by the looks of it but I'm loving the whole workplace nightmares thing you have going on with this and the frog machine. I'm pretty certain that you could expand this universe into something bigger, with multiple mini-games and, while a lot of people would hate it, some people would love it to death.

Submitted

A Big Impertinent Face

TonweightDeveloper304 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

There’s not a lot to unpack in this experience, but what’s there is fairly densely packed, hidden, and oblique (even by my standards).

If you literally stare at the screen, you’ll experience more of it than if you’re “busy” (which was the point, naturally). Sidequest: see if you can identify the literature/media from which much of “the scroll” derives. ^_~

I appreciate the expansion thoughts, though I wonder if I’d have to decrease the information density for it to be less of a slog for a longer session. Maybe a candidate for the 20Ms jam… heh heh.

AkzidenzHostSubmitted303 days ago

I did see the subliminal messages but I wasn't able to read anything in the short amount of time they were visible for. How many ticks is it on-screen for?

TonweightDeveloper302 days ago

3/5/9/12 ticks, depending on which message it is. Definitely “quick” bordering on (as intended) “did I actually see something there?”

I wonder if it’s worth implementing a multiplier on replay… “this player never appears to’ve ‘participated,’ so let’s multiply all of the ‘glitch’ ticks by two.” That would make it pretty obvious that something’s happening (and make it easier to read the first time you see it).

AkzidenzHostSubmitted302 days ago

That might help. For sure, people will have different experiences depending on their age, computer performance and monitor refresh rates. Adding a multiplier that's based on previous plays is a little outside the scope of the jam but if it fixes an issue that's preventing people from playing the game, have at it.

amptompSubmitted314 days ago(+1)

love the font, thanks for sharing it!! was able to see some of the messaging, but not sure if there was more to experience. in any case, enjoyed the eery atmosphere of this:)

Submitted

how to walk out the door

Amir RajanSubmitted319 days ago(+1)

Loved the visual effects. I could tell there was some kind of word + keyboard key association game (with some words in parenthesis). It wasn’t immediately obvious if I was doing good or not.

It reminded me a lot of the office work ediquitte that was depicted in Snow Crash. I could definitely see this as a fun experience for people that like games such as job simulator :-)

Submitted

Castle Ifrit 33

TonweightDeveloper319 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks, Amir! I read a while on the thresholds for subliminal messaging to calibrate the timing. Because it’s you, I wanna give away the whole store, but I’ll maybe save that for the DR discord. Nah, who’m I kidding… ^_~

I’m fond of things - stories, games… - that leave the consumer wondering. Wondering who was right or wrong, good or evil. In a game, “did I do the right thing?” Should I have saved that character? Should I have saved that character? Tried to hit those kinds of notes here.

Thanks for the nod to Snow Crash: there’s some Stephenson in the scroll, some Orwell… definitely curious how much folk noticed. Wasn’t about to ask you to bake in eye tracking or other sousveillance though!

friskayunSubmitted323 days ago(+1)

I like the concept. It's really hard to read the white text, and i couldn't really understand why most of the time after pressing X to confirm it still said i failed

Submitted

TonweightDeveloper322 days ago(+1)

Without giving too much away: this was made in response to chat in the jam discord:

“you should make a game where you stare at a screen for 20 seconds” “there are nearly 200 of those already, with more incoming 🙂” “Now theres an idea. Corporate drone simulator. Add office ambience and occasional cough sound effects. Fluorescent buzzing noise”

I did precisely that, but with my own dark twist (from someone who has drunk from the firehose of the dystopian pretty much from birth). ^_~

XedSubmitted325 days ago(+1)

I think this is a good start to a game. I was able to type at the keyboard, which was neat -- but I was unclear on the objectives.

Submitted

Gimli vs. Grimly

TonweightDeveloper324 days ago (2 edits) (+1)

The Overseer sighs. He says, “I have a feeling you were maybe a bit distracted by your lovely keyboard, deskrider. Perhaps if you more closely watched the figures on your screen (as stated in your Diligent Operator Instructions)…”

“I am required by Subsection 14 of Chapter 9 to state that your inattention was noted, and your pay docked accordingly.”

The Overseer points dismissively toward your cubicle, having said this to many others.

DON’T LOOK AWAY

^_~

GeekyNickiSubmitted327 days ago(+1)

Visually, this is great! I love the responsiveness of the keyboard and really like the Aperture Science references! I wasn't too sure what to do, though, I saw something flash up on the screen but it was too quick for me to read!

Submitted

Draw, Roll, Flick

TonweightDeveloper327 days ago

Curious if anyone’s experienced any of the “microstory” baked in just yet. ^_~

DefixientSubmitted327 days ago(+1)

Wow, the visuals are really great! I love that the keyboard keys respond based on what key we are pressing. Good job !

TonweightDeveloper327 days ago

Thanks so much!

JonathanPironeSubmitted327 days ago(+1)

This is certainly an interesting entry for the game jam. This is really well done and everything looks awesome. The UI and gameplay of typing away is amazing. I found it amazing that you can use the mouse to click or your keyboard to type. Very well done! :)

Submitted

20 Seconds To Oblivion

TonweightDeveloper327 days ago(+1)

Thanks for the compliments! I’m glad you enjoyed it. ^_^