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A jam submission

Recycled Dreams (SummerTime Game Jam 2026)View game page

A tiny game for grown-up kids who remember afternoons at the beach, collecting all sorts of things from the shore!
Submitted by Defrog — 8 hours, 13 minutes before the deadline
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Recycled Dreams (SummerTime Game Jam 2026)'s itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Creativity - Unique features, gameplay or other cool stuff!#53.1003.100
Theme! - How well the themes were used!#53.3003.300
Visuals - Was it pretty to look at? Did they have a lot of original assets?#72.9002.900
Fun! - Did you feel excitement? Were you engaged? Were you compelled to play?#72.3002.300
Audio - Was the audio original? Well integrated and immersive? Enjoyable?#82.8002.800
Overall#82.6672.667
Execution - Is it reasonably polished? Do all the bits come together well?#91.6001.600

Ranked from 10 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Were all assets created by you?
Everything is listed on our game page under the “Third-Party Resources” section, but the only assets actually used in the game are the font, the skybox, the ropes around the hot air balloon, and the fire effect. All other resources are just tools to help design the environment. Everything else was created from scratch by the team during the Jam. I hope you enjoy this prototype!

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Comments

HostSubmitted(+1)

So, let's get the unfortunate out of the way first: it kept crashing. This happens. It's a jam. I tried multiple browsers and all work, until they don't. 

On to the good! I love the light atmosphere and think you nailed the speed and feel of the balloon! It controls nicely and is just fast enough to not feel slow but also not so fast that it makes the world feel small. Good balance.

I would love to see this developed further! I got inspired with lots of fun ideas, like allowing the player to use momentum created by spinning the claw around to throw animals far! Alternatively, use that mechanic to complete secondary objectives like throwing trapped animals out of where they are trapped, or to break down barriers that prevent rescue. Lots of opportunities! 

I would also like to see you double down on the humor and give the animals different "voice lines" that trigger at random, at appropriate times. For example, while they make animal noises, they can also scream if dropped from high altitude or have a rare chance to say "neigh, I'm a horse" or something when picked up. Give them googly eyes, also! That react to momentum! Watch those eyes spin!


I leave you with this game design nugget: The goal of level design is to let the player use their mechanics. That's the number 1 goal, anyway. Therefore, i would recommend you explore ways to use the current mechanics in interesting levels. Let the player lower to go under a bridge and raise themselves high to avoid thorny bushes. Let them swing their claw to break down barriers or pick up and throw rocks at cracked walls. There is SO MUCH you can do and I wish you the best of luck!