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A jam submission

QUENCHView game page

Balatro with real particle physics. Unstable matter scores huge.
Submitted by sermodi — 1 day, 3 hours before the deadline
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QUENCH's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Overall#223.8423.842
Audio#293.6583.658
Theme#314.1054.105
Originality#353.9743.974
Art/Graphics#523.9473.947
Fun/Gameplay#653.5263.526

Ranked from 38 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Did your team create most/all of the graphics yourselves?
Yes, I made all of it myself. The only third-party asset is the JetBrains Mono typeface, used under the SIL Open Font License.

Did your team create most of/all the audio yourselves?
Yes, all of its mine. The sounds are synthesised by the game itself at runtime

How did you incorporate the theme "UNSTABLE"?
When I thought about unstable things, nothing seemed more unstable than subatomic particles. So I made a game about a particle collider: you smash quarks together and build real particles. The unstable ones (the ones that vanish in milliseconds) score far more than the simple, stable ones. And the more unstable matter you build, the hotter the beam gets, until the magnets quench and the run ends.

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Comments

Viewing comments 29 to 10 of 29 · Next page · Last page
Submitted(+1)

Fantastic interpretation of the theme and I loved all of the little details about particle accelerators

Developer

Thanks you max! you rocks!

Submitted(+1)

Very thematic entry! Great job!

Submitted (2 edits)

So this was really fun and gave me Balatro vibes. It has that addicting quality of seeing those particles split and split and the multiplier go up and I wanted to keep playing. Sounds were chill, effects were clean and it had good crunchy effects. It's a very polished experience! My only issue was I didn't understand what I was doing or why certain cards worked and others didn't. And that there was a negative consequence to mixing the wrong cards. I feel if I understood how the cards were suppose to interact it would have made more sense. Also I some of the upgrades made total sense, more cards, higher bonuses. Others were confusing.

Developer

Thank you so much! Hearing that it gave you Balatro vibes is such a huge compliment!
I completely hear you on the clarity issue (you're definitely not alone there, almost everyone has mentioned that the logic behind card interactions and certain upgrades needs to be much clearer). I'm definitely going to fix and refine that as soon as the jam ends so the mechanics are easy to understand. Thanks a ton for playing and for the awesome feedback!

Submitted

Was satisfying to hear the noise increase in pitch as the combo scaled. Never played Balatro (which I think is what this game is inspired by), so I was having trouble understanding the mechanics. Still a fun game, and I managed to make it to round 4 despite not knowing what was going on.

Submitted

Finally completed a run, and I gotta say this is very addicting! I loved trying to remember which particles I had already combined, and finding something new that absolutely boosts your score past the quota feels amazing.

The simplistic but clean and polished visual style really does work in favor of the game. I think if there was anything else going on, my brain would actually explode lol

Same exact logic applies to the audio. I do find the game over buzzing sound to be a bit loud, but otherwise all of the sound effects really add to the strange game juice experience.

This fits the jam theme perfectly. The stability of particles is a neat interpretation. Not gonna pretend that I completely understood the science behind most of everything, but its clear that the developer does, and that's what makes a fantastic theme. Great game!

Developer(+1)

Wow, thank you for the fantastic feedback! Super happy you enjoyed the particle combinations and the polished style without getting overloaded. Good catch on that game over sound effect too, I'll definitely adjust it for future updates. Thanks so much for playing and for the awesome words!

Submitted

Very nice visuals! In particular I really liked how snappy the UI is and also liked the animation of the quarks combining.

Developer

Thank you so much! Really glad you enjoyed the snappy UI and the quark combination animation! Getting those visual details and overall feel right took a lot of work, so hearing that means a lot! Thanks for playing! 

Submitted

Satisfying music and to see the new explosion effects (and educational as well). It's simple, but has deep complexity.

Developer

Thanks for playing MagusZ!!

Submitted(+1)

Satisfying to play and very polished! :)

Submitted(+1)

Combos feel really satisfying to pull off, and the sound effects fit them perfectly. Every successful chain has a great sense of impact and makes you want to keep pushing for bigger combos. Really fun gameplay loop!

Developer(+1)

Thanks you Cay!!

Submitted(+1)

Really loved playing it - it's amazing what you did in this short amount of time! Shows not only amazing levels of creativity, but of commitment as well! Very well polished, and very addicting. Great job!

Submitted(+1)

So polished!!!! This game is so addicting to play you cannot escape it, it's too satisfying!!! Great job on all fronts!

Rate my game?

Developer

Ah, thank you! Glad you found it so satisfying!
I'll head over to play and rate your game right away!

Submitted(+1)

Balatro for the physics nerds :')


Cool game ! Felt polished, FXs are great

Submitted(+1)

And it's only after commenting I see you've already used the Balatro comparison on your short description...

Developer(+1)

Haha, thank you! To be honest, hearing someone else make the Balatro connection naturally just validates the vibe completely!

Submitted (1 edit) (+1)

A really nice and creative take on the "number x multiplier" format! :D As a researcher, I also appreciate the science theme. And I think this is one of the strongest entries in the jam in terms of theme (but the other categories also score highly in my view). Well done!

Submitted

I love this interface!

Developer (1 edit)

Thanks you Lev!!!

Submitted

I'm not sure I fully understood the game, but I really enjoyed playing it !
Really nice game, I had a lot of fun with it !

Developer(+1)

Thanks you Bernardylan!!

Submitted(+1)

Wow subatomic particles okay now this is the most unique take on the theme ive seen! Really great game love the juice! And i feel smarter after playing! Nice work ! <3

Submitted(+1)

Interesting project! Good work!

Submitted(+1)

One of the best I've ever played, great art, the theme is very well captured, and the gameplay is spectacular, I really like it.

Developer (1 edit)

Thanks for your review!

Submitted

I'll be honest, I had no idea what I was doing but it was still oddly satisfying lol. Sweet game, love the visuals, great job!

Developer

Haha, fair enough! Glad you enjoyed watching the physics unfold and liked the visual style. Thanks for taking the time to play and leave a note! Loved playing Something's Brewin' too, awesome work.

Submitted(+1)

i barely understood the actual particle physics but the risk/reward part made sense pretty fast

unstable particles being worth more while also making everything harder to control is probably the best part of the design

also made a machine/reactor type game for the jam. ONE REACTOR if you wanna try and rate it
/jam/do-you-wanna-jam-2026/rate/4932390

Developer

Thanks a lot for the awesome feedback!

I just checked out SWAY, was intense and super fun! Great job!

Viewing comments 29 to 10 of 29 · Next page · Last page