Wow this is an incredibly good game for a jam game ! It looks very polished, like a game I could have bought on Steam. I don't know how you managed to do this in such a short time, that's very impressive.
As a logic/puzzle lover I'm delighted <3
Viewing post in Fade Away jam comments
Thank you so much! That really means a lot to us!
I think the key was having a clear idea of what we wanted to achieve from the beginning, and finding general solutions and systems that we could reuse throughout the whole game. For example, the saw and the moving platforms inherit from the same base class, so we could reuse the same core behavior for different obstacles.
Less is more! There actually aren’t that many gameplay mechanics. There are a lot of systems working under the hood, but the mechanics themselves are mostly simple. For example, automatically detecting which input method the player is using and updating the navigation hints accordingly is relatively simple to implement, while designing, testing, and polishing an entirely new gameplay mechanic can take a lot of time.
So we focused more on how the game looks, feels, and what it communicates rather than making the gameplay overly complex.
Thanks for playing our game!
Thanks for the explanation ! That makes sense (I'm mostly a learning programmer so I see exactly what you mean), but you re-used your mechanics in a very clever way that doesn't make the game feel redundant.
That's part of what I still have to learn to scope my games and still make them entertaining. "Less is more", I've seen this advice a lot and I think it's key for small teams/solo dev. But on my end it still needs practice and mistakes before I can do something as clean as you did !
You talked about how the game feels - I think you also did this very well. Are you planning a commercial issue with a bit more content after the jam for this game ? (I think it could work, personally if I saw this game on Steam I'd wantlist it)
Thank you! And yeah, I think scope is probably one of the most important — and dangerous — parts of a game jam.
You have to plan your steps somehow. You need time to think, implement, and especially test a lot. The more freedom and flexibility you give your systems, the more opportunities you give the player to break them haha. So for a jam, I try to keep things tight.
Something I usually do is make sure that by the end of the first day, I already have the core loop working, including the beginning and the win condition. I never want to leave the ending for the final days. From that point on, I can expand, polish, and add content, knowing that technically I could build and submit the game at any moment. In a jam you're always going to run out of time — sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end, but you're going to run haha.
For me, a game should be fun, but I also want it to be meaningful. Sometimes I achieve that, sometimes I don't. I usually have a little mental checklist:
- It has to be beautiful.
- It has to be meaningful.
- It should be about a journey, whatever kind of journey that may be.
- It has to tell you something.
That's how I try to make people feel something. I think we all have something we want to share, and games are an amazing way to do that.
As for a commercial release... I don't know yet. I work at a game studio, and I know firsthand that making a commercial game is hard, long, and expensive. I definitely want to make my own commercial game eventually, but right now jams are training for me, and the feedback I get from them is probably the most valuable part.
You can learn these lessons here, or you can take your chances somewhere else where the stakes are much higher. The sad truth is that outside of a jam, you can make a game and almost nobody may play it, even if it's free. Players are incredibly demanding customers. You might buy something you see on the street just because it catches your attention, but with a game, people will read reviews, watch trailers, streams, and gameplay before deciding whether it's worth their time and money.
So the short answer is: not right now, but eventually, yes. And hearing that you would wishlist this one on Steam definitely means a lot to us!
Hey, thanks a lot for this long and interesting reply ! Can I copy-paste it to keep it somewhere in my tips folder ?
I gathered you were probably pro given the quality of your game, it's really nice to share your knowledge like this <3 I totally agree with the idea it has to be meaningful. It's actually also one thing I love with jams: there are some games that are not super-polished, but their creators have a way of telling stories / sharing emotions that clics for me and I love that. That's also why I'm thinking of turning toward a more narrative genre for my next jam entry - but I think it will depend on the theme and what I decide to learn next.
As for the visuals and conception, I still have a lot to learn. I'm in my 30s but I'm disabled and working at companies and having to go there just doesn't work for me - I already burnt-out twice. But I can work from home 10h/day 5-6 days a week on games. So I figured I'd try to turn my main hobby into my job. Maybe it will take time but I don't really have another choice and so far I love programming and want to learn art and game-design basics when the time comes. (Otherwise I think I could do with just programming, and paying artists for their work). So "beautiful" won't be there for me at first but I hope I'll be able to make it ultimately !
I hope you'll manage to publish your own commercial games some day then. I think you do have talent about story-telling, game-design AND actually making the game. Good luck !!!!
Of course, feel free to copy-paste anything I wrote! If something I learned can help someone else, I’m more than happy to share it.
I actually started my game-dev journey in my 30s too, so I really believe any time is a good time to start, as long as you keep learning and moving forward.
I’m sorry to hear about what you’ve been through. I’d recommend approaching game dev as a side project at first if your situation allows it. Look at what other solo developers have done, study their successes and especially their failures, and learn from them. Making a living from games is already difficult enough, so having some stability while you learn can take a lot of pressure off the creative process.
Narrative games are interesting because they can be relatively simple mechanically, but keeping the player engaged through a story is a completely different challenge. You need momentum: knowing when to push things forward, when to reveal something, and when to slow down and give the player some breathing room. I’d really recommend reading about dramatic structure before diving too deep into one.
And try to have the core of your story figured out early. Once you've built half the game around a narrative, changing its foundations can become very expensive haha.
Also, don't worry too much if “beautiful” isn't there at first. Programming, art, design, storytelling — they're all skills you develop over time. You don't need to master everything at once, and working with artists is absolutely a valid path too.
Thanks a lot for the kind words, and seriously, feel free to ask me anything. I always enjoy helping other devs when I can!
Wow thanks again, this is very insightful and reassuring !
Thank you for your empathy too.
I can't really approach dev as a side project: I don't have a job anymore (luckily my lover agrees to share expenses and supports me but I don't want to be a burden hence hard-working on my game dev skills), and getting a "normal" job is not really possible for me. It impacts my health and my ability to do other things, so if I have a job I can't do game dev anymore. I'd just collapse every time I get back home - and probably be on medical vacation after 2 months. I'm autistic (with "probably a high potential but your IQ is irregular so it doesn't have a meaning to calculate it"), and being at a workplace every day, going there by bus/train (I can't drive I'd be dangerous due to detail-specific attention) is just too exhausting.
So I suppose my best shot would be to learn quickly and efficiently, maybe find other ways to get some income (like writing - I published a novel at a small editor in my early 20s, or learning arts and trying to sell some assets on Itch, or taking short job contracts (1-2 months) when we really need money), start selling small games with simple mechanics at a low price - even if I just get 30€, then 100€, etc... Maybe I should also see if there are small companies in my town or online that would hire me for short contracts or training.
I did study narrative structures 10 years ago but it was for literature, and I think it works differently in games because a good narrative must rely on a good gameplay that fits with the theme and story, right ? (I'm French so my English literary skills are limited too.) I also read that narrative games are not so difficult to implement but they don't sell a lot except for well-known devs/writers so I wouldn't rely solely on this aspect, I'd rather integrate strong narratives with another gameplay/game-style identity. I'm still fairly new and experimenting different mechanics so I haven't made any choices about this so far, I do need to experiment, improve my programming, game-design and learn basic visual arts skills. I actually think coming-up with a good plot won't be my main issue. (The one I made for this game was not very elaborate, I didn't want to focus on it too much).
Thank you again for your very kind support !
Sorry to hear that. But if you have the time to focus on game dev now, keep going and don’t stop! If you’re using Godot, the next Godot Wild Jam is coming up — join it, make something, and keep learning.
And yes, making even a small profit from something you created is incredibly valuable. €30, €100... it doesn’t matter at first. You made something and someone was willing to pay for it. Keep going!
Narrative structure in games isn’t that different from literature. You just have to consider the interactive side of the story and, if the project grows, how the narrative can extend across different media.
Also, you don’t need to master programming, art, and design all at once. Players generally don’t care how the product was made — they care about getting a good experience for their time. Art might be a bit more sensitive in that regard, but in general, if you have tools that give you an advantage and help you make the game, use them. You can always polish or replace things with handmade assets later.
Remember: first make it happen, then make it better.
Feel free to find me on Discord too. Maybe we’ll even collaborate on something someday!
Cheers!
Thank you ! (Again !!!)
Yes, I was planning to join Godot Wild Jam or Cybrpunk Jam in September. Do you think the Godot Wild Jam will be more helpful ?
Alright, I may rely on my strategy to use assets from artists (and buy them if I manage to sell my games a bit) for now then. I think my plan is to do 1 to 3 jams every month to learn more, and if I make a game people really like I'll work a month or so on it to add more contents and polish it, and sell it for like 1-2€ for a start. Then do more jams, and again.
You are the master of key-helpful-short-sentences :D Are you a teacher sometimes ?
Since you offered, I added you on Discord. Feel free to write, be it about jams or other topics.
Have a great day !