Cool game, reminds me of walle for some reason XD
Perhaps you would like to try out my game :D
Play game
Rover Drift's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Innovation | #211 | 3.500 | 3.500 |
| Theme | #252 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Overall | #256 | 3.468 | 3.468 |
| Gameplay | #273 | 3.306 | 3.306 |
| Audio | #284 | 3.333 | 3.333 |
| Enjoyment | #346 | 3.361 | 3.361 |
| Visuals | #372 | 3.639 | 3.639 |
Ranked from 36 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
Rover Drift directly embodies the theme “Strange Places.”
The player explores a remote desert filled with anomalies, strange lifeforms, and unexplained signals. The goal is to locate and document these unusual areas, turning strange places into mapped and understood territory.
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
The rover was assembled using a mix of basic primitive meshes and pre-existing models (roughly 50/50 between parts created during the jam and assets I had previously collected).
The lifeform meshes, rock meshes, some rover textures (metal and solar panels from the Unity Asset Store), sound effects, music (royalty-free sources like Pixabay), and fonts were not created by me.
All gameplay systems, mechanics, physics setup, UI, photo system, menu, and overall game design were created by me during the jam. The entire map and environment layout were also built by me for this project.
***
EDIT: Regarding mouse & keyboard: the sensitivity issue comes from a scaling mistake on my end during development. A fix is ready, but it can only be published after the jam. In the meantime, I recommend playing with a controller if you can.
How many people worked on the game?1
Comments
Hey! Quick update since the jam: this little project has grown into LANTERN, and the game now has a Steam page.
If you liked the vibe, you can wishlist it here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4592540/Lantern/?utm_source=itchio&utm_medium...
Play and rated! I like the concept of playing with rover, the physics, the looks and the "drift" feels when moving it is nice too!
The controls using mouse and keyboard is pretty awkward for me cause I kinda expecting to be able to move the 3rd person camera using mouse but since the mouse is only used for the rover camera control it becomes kinda awkward to turn around. My suggestion would be using hold left/right click while moving the mouse to move the rover camera, so that the normal mouse movement could still be used to control the third person camera and make the movement less awkward. Although it seems that the current controls system is optimized more for controllers atm, so maybe next time I'll try it with a controller too hahah.
Oh and if there's an update where you can chase and take a picture of a moving target or maybe some kind of weird "lifeform" that would be sick too hahah, cheers!
Thanks a lot for playing!
You’re right about the mouse controls, the current setup is definitely more optimized for controller. I’ve already prepared a mouse sensitivity fix and will push it very soon.
And yes, chasing and photographing moving lifeforms is something I’m seriously considering for future updates 😉
Cheers!
I need a speedrunning game with that movement, but let me turn the torgue for every wheel ;)
Submitted
Long Live the ShroomLoved it quite refreshing to see rover's concept in the jam and love sci fi stuff so hehe
Submitted
Roswell InvitationHaha, oui c'est cool de voir qu'on est quelques-uns ici :).. Je suis développeur sur unity depuis 8 ans, sur des projets de serious games. Mais fin 2025, mon dernier contrat s'est fini et là comme j'ai du temps, me suis dit que j'allais faire des jams pour voir un peu ce que ça donne :). En tout cas merci pour les compliments, c'est top.
PS: la sensi de la cam du rover c'est pas voulu, comme je dev le plus souvent en utilisant le manette, j'ai complètement oublié de calibrer la sensi de la souris, c'est un peu con parce que ça va me couter quelques point de gameplay tout ça :D.. Et toi ?
Wow 8 ans , donc tu vis du dev ? Je me disais que pour un solo dev graphiquement c'était fou , alors personnellement je suis plutôt récent dans le dev car j'ai sans tutoriel 7 mois de codages , j'ai toujours rêvé dés que j'étais gosse de vivre du dev voir de faire pourquoi pas un studio et je me suis dis que pour me forger une main rapide et efficace , ce serait pas mal pendant une année d'enchainer une jam par mois voir trois si possible en même temps pour vraiment m'améliorer , je code de base sur game maker mais récemment j'ai switch sur Unity pour enfin toucher à du codages bien pro et plus de liberté (en plus de toucher à la création de musique et blender) . En tout cas si t'as des conseils à donner je suis preneur et heureux de faire ta connaissance !
Oui, je vis du dev.
Et bravo pour ta motivation, enchaîner les jams c'est une bonne technique. Ça force à finir, à prioriser et à prendre des décisions.
Si je peux te donner un conseil pour les jams : réserve toi toujours du temps à la fin pour les détails. L’UX, un mini tuto si la mécanique est compliquée, des derniers réglages pour optimiser le gameplay, les petits polishs, ça prend toujours plus de temps que prévu. Et c’est souvent ça qui fait qu’un joueur reste au lieu de fermer le jeu au bout de 3 minutes. Le cœur du jeu est important, mais la clarté et la sensation globale le sont tout autant. Voilà voilà ..et ravi de faire ta connaissance aussi :)
in love with the visuals! i also like anything that involves planetary exploration or that has a space setting. very well made game, good job!
Submitted
Whispers of the MonolithGreat exploration game. I collected all the samples and my playtime was 19:31.
Submitted
Abandoned TowerA really well polished submission! While a bit too bright, visuals look very good. The gameplay felt quite good though rover camera was kind of crazy at times, but i see you already addressed that. The core mechanics and premise of game are very creative and I have no extra remarks on them (as in positive). An overall very good submission. Good work!
Submitted
Dimensional Grocery HuntSomething I love: I love the "short circuit's, Johnny 5" looking head! I love how when you drive to a hot spot you begin to control the head and camera while driving around, It is kind of hard to do, BUT it's a super cool and immersive touch. So I like it actually LOL (I guess to make it not so hard you could give the player the option to turn down the head sensitivity or something). I love how you considered a controller! I love the driving feel!
Something I wanted: I think a cool audio effect and "Locking" animation for the camera once you leave the hot spot would be nice since I felt it was off when I drove away and couldn't control the camera out of nowhere. It is a little hard to find the creatures (which I like, but I think maybe an upgrade you could call from NASAS or something to be sent to us as a ping radar or something like that to make it a bit easier would be cool!)
Overall: I really like your game! Keep up the great work!!
Submitted
Postcards to the AfterlifeThanks a lot!! I’m really glad you liked it.
Your ideas are really good. I’m getting a lot of cool suggestions like yours and it’s super motivating.
There is actually a sensitivity setting (it’s explained in the menu how to adjust it), but even at the lowest value it wouldn’t fully solve the issue because the scaling wasn’t correct. I’ve fixed that now, and I’ll release the sensitivity update along with other improvements after the jam.
Thanks again for the great feedback!
Nice work, I like the design of the rover and the head swivel. Controller movement was a bit awkward, having forward be accelerate limited the ability to turn as I could only put the thumbstick diagonal and felt like I was missing out on some turning ability (it makes me appreciate why games put the accelerate on a seperate input). It also made the turning circle quite big and slow when navigating in amongst the rocks at a slow pace. I was also sorely missing an invert y-axis option for the camera, as that's the way my brain has been wired since childhood.
Submitted
The CubeThat’s actually exactly the kind of input I was hoping to get. I hesitated between putting acceleration on the stick forward, like it is now, or mapping it to a separate trigger. Right now, pushing the stick diagonally (45°) gives both max acceleration and max steering angle. I intentionally kept the turning radius a bit wider to lean more into the drift feel. Personally I like it that way, but I don’t have a strong opinion set in stone.
Since the right thumb is already used for the rover camera, moving acceleration to a trigger (like RT) would make sense, and it would still allow analog control over acceleration because the trigger returns a value.
I think what I’ll do after the jam is publish a version with acceleration on a separate trigger and compare feedback. Your comment confirms it’s worth testing both approaches. And noted for the invert Y-axis option as well ;).
Thanks a lot for the feedback!
I really liked the ship controls, especially the slight drifting feel. The atmosphere is nice as well.
Aside from the feedback about the camera, I found that the creatures can be a bit hard to spot before you encounter them for the first time.
Submitted
When it fadesDamn bro!!!! THE GAME IS AWESOME (big fan of rover based games)....
The music hits hard, the driving feels great. The mechanics in game are simple and engaging. The physics, the particle effects, the skybox ..... I can keep on going. You did a wonderful job integrating all of them brother.
My feedback would be like the others mention, the camera angle on the rover. I would have loved to my rover do airtime from an angle I like and doing the slick drifts. The in-game camera is also very sensitive but manageable. I would have preferred a smaller map with some height added to the terrain and some ramp over canyons but with maybe 30% the size of the current map. I fell you could have made a tight game where you could really feel the speed of the rover. Also since the map is quite big with no indicators, I did not want to go to the hassle of exploring every nook and crook for the lifeforms.
But overall this is a game which I will definitely revisit if updated. Really loved your game. I hope you dont take the above remarks as harsh but just how much I want to play it again
Kudos!!
Have a nice day :D
Submitted
Residual WakeThanks a lot for the amazing message, I really appreciate the energy :)
Don’t worry at all, I’m not taking the feedback badly. On the contrary, I agree with many of your points. The camera angle, the sense of speed, and the lack of indicators are all things that can definitely be improved.
For now, a first run is meant to take around ten minutes on average, so that partly explains the current map size and pacing, but I agree there’s room to make the experience tighter and more intense.
I’m planning to continue developing the game after the jam. I still have quite a few ideas I didn’t have time to implement, and despite the camera technical issues, the overall feedback has been very encouraging. That really motivates me to push it further and polish the experience properly.
Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback :D
First of all, you finished a game that looks great overall — and achieving that in just 7 days and just by yourself is impressive. Great job!
Things I liked:
-
Driving the rover felt great. I really enjoyed the sensation of traveling across the dunes — the movement feels satisfying and immersive.
-
My team had a similar idea when we were brainstorming for this jam, and I think you executed it very well. With more development time, this could become a very entertaining and polished game.
Constructive Feedback:
-
I would suggest positioning the camera slightly higher behind the rover, as it sometimes clips below the ground when jumping over the dunes.
-
Introducing an energy system that gradually depletes over time and can be recharged by collecting scattered energy resources around the level could add tension and make the gameplay more challenging.
-
I would also revisit the rover’s camera controls. Even with the sensitivity set to 1, it felt overly sensitive. Personally, I would consider restricting the camera to a forward-facing view only, as the 360° option felt somewhat distracting while driving.
Submitted
DimenslideThanks a lot, I really appreciate the kind words!
I’m glad the driving across the dunes felt good, that was one of the main things I wanted to get right.
You’re right about the camera issues. The sensitivity fix is already ready and will be released after the jam. It would have been great if you could have tried it with a controller, which doesn’t have this issue.
Regarding the energy system, I had considered something like the rover charging in full sunlight and slowly draining at night. And about restricting the camera to forward-only: I actually had it that way at first, but I found it practical to allow looking backward too, especially to take photos without constantly repositioning the rover.
Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback!
Pretty cool concept and it’s very fun controlling the rover. I found the camera movement to be way too sensitive/hard to use (using the mouse), other than that it felt really good. Very well done for a week of solo work!
Submitted
Anomalous Warehouse
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.