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GMTK Game Jam 2026

Hosted by Game Maker's Toolkit · #GMTKJam
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A jam submission

Bowling For HumanityView game page

A battle to defeat alien bowling pins
Submitted by Bailey Bridge (@BBridgeGames) — 1 hour, 21 minutes before the deadline
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Bowling For Humanity's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Narrative#10013.4553.455
Enjoyment#13033.6823.682
Audio#17463.3643.364
Artwork#31233.4093.409
Creativity#43373.3183.318

Ranked from 22 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?
You are given a countdown of number of pins you must reach to earn your freedom

(Optional) Please credit all assets you've used
see description for full credits

(Optional) What would you like to be called if GMTK features your game?
Bailey Bridge

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Comments

AetherboundSubmitted6 days ago(+1)

Definitely a very interesting concept, though it's really buggy and even with the upgrades going for a million pins is pretty tedious. Even with those flaws, it's still a fun game.

Submitted
Gladiator Norman
Reply
cachandlerdevSubmitted6 days ago(+1)

I started laughing when I saw the intro sequence! I'll admit that I didn't get anywhere near the 1 million mark (too many other games to play XD), but I think you did a great job of simulating a bowling arena here and the physics feel good too.

Submitted
Kill the Count!
Reply
LimokaSubmitted6 days ago (2 edits) (+1)

Really fun game, played for far longer than I planned for. My only complaints are:

  • After getting a strike I'm forced to play the second ball, but there's nothing to hit
  • Shop upgrades initially are great, but at some point I bought all of them and it kinda gets lame
  • I don't get the point of barrier upgrade, doesn't really give much
  • If I get a split upgrade, copy balls remain on field after the hit, and well into next rounds
  • In leaderboards if I already submitted I can't update my score (And I can't exit leaderboard because my own username is taken...)

Ah, and btw, that country detection is flawed. I'm not in finland, I'm just using a VPN

Submitted
Chrono Swapper
Reply
Bailey BridgeDeveloper6 days ago

Yeah there was a lot of bugs unfortunately. The barrier upgrade came around because my main playtester was my girlfriend, who got ALOT of gutterballs, which made me think it would be more helpful than it probably is. The split upgrade was a pretty late addition and was programmed to take the physics velocity of the ball that already rolling, but yeah clearly something went wrong with it. 
The biggest bug, was the vending machine not resetting. This was supposed to reset to zero after each 10 rounds, meaning like each game you could get a different set of the random upgrades and actually give it that rogue-like randomness. Because that didn't work it just becomes like a flat power curve with the upgrades and you run out of stuff to buy pretty quick. 
Either way, thank a lot for playing, and I really appreciate the feedback.

Reply
IndieGenSubmitted7 days ago(+1)

Very creative game with a Balatro style gameplay ! Needs to be polish (anims, delays, feedbacks) but huge potential ! Good job 👍🏽

Submitted
Lower Thoughts
Reply
Bailey BridgeDeveloper6 days ago

Thanks for the feedback. Whilst I definetly need to switch up the core gameplay loop, the core concept is definetly something I plan on working further. cheers!

Reply
OldPatSubmitted7 days ago(+1)

This was an unexpected experience HAHAHA! It was very fun especially after the upgrades! The music was also really really catchy. I enjoyed my playthrough! Well done!

Submitted
Gut Punch
Reply
AzroomSubmitted8 days ago(+1)

Alright the story got me. Giggled quite a lot. ui feels off with such cool graphics, font is nice though and music fits SO well. Had some fun but I suck at bowling :P

Submitted
In Due Time: Penguin Massacre Countdown
Reply
AlexMarano_StudiosSubmitted8 days ago(+1)

fun! i really enjoyed this game! the graphic is cool and the gameplay is good. nice work bro!

Submitted
30 seconds or DIE!
Reply
Procyon PulseSubmitted8 days ago(+1)

I had fun! Bowling with an upgrade/shop system is a unique concept. The music was also really groovy. Good job! I'll take 9th place anyday :)

Fun game! Great work.

Submitted
TERMINAL VELOCITY
Reply
TheoTrexlerSubmitted8 days ago(+1)

Fun game!

Submitted
Tony Matrimony
Reply
Naberson265Submitted8 days ago(+1)

really fun game but its confusing at first. simple story and good visuals and audio except for some of the sounds. it gets very fun when you have all the upgrades and then choose the bomb ball and nuke the entire lane

main issues are that there's nothing outside the lane besides the gutters and a black void which doesn't look the best (though the actual lane looks good). also wish it was easier to open the main menu, i got confused and just started spamming space every time i shot. besides that great game, really fun.

Submitted
Gonna Be Sick
Reply
TOXUDIOSubmitted8 days ago(+1)

Fun bowling game with cool retro aesthetic/story! Won the lottery on my first playthrough and maxxed the upgrades. Good stuff.

Submitted
S3RUM
Reply
Rot SoftSubmitted9 days ago(+1)

Progression ends way before you hit a million, but still cool. Fun story and cool post process.

Submitted
T - Minus
Reply
KaciomSubmitted9 days ago(+1)

The visuals feel inconsistent and the gameplay is too punishing. I like the progression system though. Keep it up!

Submitted
Bombore
Reply
StarCoderSubmitted9 days ago(+1)

I personally really liked this game. The 3d to pixel art style is cool. I do think some of the sounds are annoying, especially the choosing upgrades one. Maybe make them a bit quieter or a different sound? I was also confused how to get different types of balls until it gave me the choice, so maybe add some kind of indicator showing that you'll get a new type of ball at the end. Overall, fun game!

Submitted
The Curse of Forever
Reply
Bailey BridgeDeveloper9 days ago

Thanks for playing and for the feedback, I definitely agree with the UI sounds, they were added last minute as an attempt to get some last minute polishing/improved feedback, but they get grating when you are in the shop so often. And yeah, I intended to have a screen early on with the balls greyed out with unlock conditions etc, but just couldn't find the time.

Reply
StarCoderSubmitted9 days ago(+1)

I personally really liked this game. The 3d to pixel art style is cool. I do think some of the sounds are annoying, especially the choosing upgrades one. Maybe make them a bit quieter or a different sound? I was also confused how to get different types of balls until it gave me the choice, so maybe add some kind of indicator showing that you'll get a new type of ball at the end. Overall, fun game!

Submitted
The Curse of Forever
Reply
snuffysamSubmitted9 days ago(+1)

It's a decent bowling sim. The story cutscene is really fun. I like the upgrades, though I wish there was some sort of upgrade randomization so it wasn't just the same set of upgrades (besides the vending machine) every time. I saw upgrades for adding multipliers when you use different bowling ball types, but I'm not sure how you get those different types.

The game got a little glitchy once I made my ball bigger and added more pins, the ball started hopping into the air as it approached the pins and there were a couple rounds where the ball seemed to phase right through the pins?

Submitted
Clocksbane v.s. The Totally Radical Soldiers of Procrastinitro
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Bailey BridgeDeveloper9 days ago

You get the new balls once you finish a game (10 sets). Honestly a mistake on my part not having a ball select on main menu with the unlock conditions or something for the extra balls. Unfortunately spent half the jam trying to get the physics to not freak out, so didn't get to polish a lot/lay things out like I'd have liked to. Cheers for playing and your feedback

Reply
snuffysamSubmitted9 days ago

Ah, I didn't see any notification that I got a new ball after I completed 10 frames, i just got a notice of how many pins were left to beat and then I got popped back to the main menu lol

Reply
Bailey BridgeDeveloper9 days ago

Damn might be a bug, its supposed to take you to a new menu, with the option to choose ball and submit your score to the leaderboard.

Reply
Gold Roingus StudiosSubmitted9 days ago(+1)

Didn't expect an alien bowling game in the jam but here we are haha - once the upgrades get building up it feels fun :)

Submitted
PIPOMANCY
Reply
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