Play Last Ship Home
Last Ship Home's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Art Style / Visuals | #9 | 2.806 | 2.905 |
| Audio / Sound Design | #12 | 2.622 | 2.714 |
| Overall | #16 | 2.565 | 2.655 |
| Theme | #18 | 2.576 | 2.667 |
| Gameplay / Fun / Engagement | #25 | 2.254 | 2.333 |
Ranked from 21 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does your game interpret and use the theme?
The Intrepid destroys the Earth Gate to save Earth, stranding itself behind enemy lines. The only other gate lies through hostile space, and the route means choosing between a dangerous shortcut and detours for rest, intel, or rescue. "Home" is also the crew: damage and losses carry over, and the ending remembers who made it back.
Devlog Challenge?
Easter Egg Challenge?
Easter Eggs
1. Knock on the hull: when the carrier is on screen between missions (for example while assigning pilots), click its hull five times. The Intrepid answers, and it has more to say if you keep knocking.
2. The egg: at the Supply Depot, send the Scout to SECTOR 04 (Quiet Passage, the rest stop). The sweep finds one very unusual contact. (Is it an Alien egg...😉)
3. Nobody left behind: win without losing a single pilot. The victory outro notices, and Carrier Command buys a round.
Two homages to Wing Commander, the series that inspired this game:
4. The killboard: while preparing a jump, press KILLBOARD above the pilot roster. It ranks your pilots by kills, just like the killboard in the Tiger's Claw's bar in Wing Commander.
5. The carrier's name: the ECS Intrepid is named after the BWS Intrepid, the Border Worlds carrier in Wing Commander IV.
Did you use Farclip and want to be considered for the Farclip Award? (optional)
Game Engine?
Self-made & used stuff?
Have you joined a game jam before?
Roughly how much time did you spend developing? (in hours)
80+ (rough estimate 😅)
Anything else you'd like to share about your game or development process?
During the jam brainstorm, I imagined a much larger Wing Commander-inspired game, played from the carrier commander's seat instead of the cockpit. Last Ship Home is a smaller prototype to test that idea. Even this reduced scope was too ambitious of course 🙂 for ten days, so I simplified some systems and left others out. Getting the whole journey playable came first, so balancing got less time than it deserved: some fights may feel harder or easier than they should. I'd love to hear whether players want to see such idea developed further and what felt off along the way.
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Comments
Really interesting atmosphere! The intro honestly made it feel like I was watching a movie, even with the retro style. I absolutely loved this game. Keep it up! :))))))))))))))
If you want to help me out during these final hours of the jam, feel free to play, vote, and leave some feedback on my game. Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for the kind words! 😊 Really happy to hear you enjoyed the game and its atmosphere!
And no worries! As the jam host and a jury member, I make sure to play and rate every single submission. Between playing all the games, reading devlogs and keeping the jam running smoothly, it's unfortunately difficult to leave detailed feedback on every game as well 😅. But playing and rating them all is something I definitely do!
Interesting, it's a mix of old mechanics with updated graphics. Good job!
Thank you! 😊 Really appreciate the kind words and thanks for taking the time to play!
Wow, your entry feels really cinematic!
The animations are really nice, and the overall game gives a "big space opera" feeling :D
The UI looks great too and fits the whole setting really well (I am just a fan of nice looking UI). Only thing I'd add there is a bit more feedback on the buttons, like a hover effect or similar, so it's always clear what you just selected (or are about to select).
My biggest issue though was getting into the game at all... There's no tutorial, and it was really hard for me to understand what to do and how the different systems work together. For a jam game that's quite harsh, since most people only spend a few minutes per entry. Even a short guide or a few tool tips would make a huge difference (let me know if I just missed explanations!).
The sound and overall SFX add a lot to the atmosphere. And the long journey through space is a great take on the theme! Honestly, I think this could be a really good game as a "big game", it just needs a smoother start so people can actually see everything it has to offer :)
Thank you so much for playing and for the detailed feedback! 😊
I really appreciate it and I’m also really happy with it because there are some very useful tips and constructive points in there that I can definitely take with me.
Really cool to hear that the game feels cinematic and gives you that big space opera feeling! 🚀 That was definitely part of the intention, but you never really know how it will come across to someone actually playing it, so I’m very glad that worked.
And thanks for the compliments on the UI as well! That was a pretty important part of the prototype and of the gameplay that’s currently in the game, sso it’s great to hear that it worked well for you. The extra feedback on buttons and selections is a very good point too and definitely something I’ll keep in mind.
And yes, you are completely right about the tutorial 😅 It was actually quite high on my list at first, but as is often the case with game jams... too many ideas and not enough time. Especially while also organizing the jam at the same time 😄
The tutorial slowly got pushed down the list in favor of other features that seemed fun to add. Classic feature creep... one of those very well-known game jam traps and I definitely fell into it this time (again) 😅
So you are absolutely right that a more complete version of the game would need a proper introduction and tutorial to explain how everything works together. There are some tooltips and labels in the current version that explain things like what to drag where and what certain actions do and stats of the pilots, but that is obviously not the best way to teach the player the whole game.
The balancing is also still pretty rough, again mostly because of time management, and I think that probably makes some of the systems and their effects less clear as well.
Hopefully, despite the confusing start, you were still able to enjoy it a bit and have some fun with it!? 😊
I’ll definitely count this as a +1 for making a bigger version in the future, with this feedback properly worked into it of course! 😄🚀
Thanks again for playing, for the kind words and especially for the useful suggestions on how to make it better! 💪
reaaly good game, feel good, good 3d art, nice audio and the mechanic with the people and ships are really good.
great entry and nice mechanics with the decitions and others.
Thanks for playing and for the kind feedback! 😊
Really happy to hear you enjoyed the game, the art and audio and the mechanics with the people, ships, and decisions. Thanks again! 🚀🎮
YOOO, THIS FEELS LIKE A WHOLE SCI-FI ADVENTURE! 🚀🔥
The idea of sacrificing Earth's safety to save it, only to leave your own crew stranded behind enemy lines, is SUCH a cool take on “The Long Way Home.” 🌌 I really love how you're not just fighting to reach the destination, but also making decisions about your pilots, dangerous routes, and who makes it back alive. That whole carrier commander perspective makes the game feel different from a typical space combat game! 👀🛸
The space atmosphere, sound design, and tactical decisions really seem to bring the experience together. And I love that your crew's losses carry over throughout the journey — it makes every decision feel like it actually matters. 💀✨
One thing I'd love to see is more meaningful tactical choices during battles, along with a little more balancing between encounters, so players feel they have greater influence over how fights unfold. But honestly, the whole concept has HUGE potential!
You've definitely cooked with this one, dev! 🔥 I'd genuinely love to see this carrier-commanding idea grow into a bigger game someday. Good luck with the jam and all your future projects! 🚀💚
Thank you for playing and for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback! 😊 There is always something useful I can take from comments like this.
I'm really glad the theme worked for you and that the commander approach came across well. The original Wing Commander games were definitely one of the inspirations, but I wanted to look at that kind of setting from the other side of the cockpit and put you in charge of the pilots instead.
It's also great to hear that you enjoyed the overall experience. I spent quite a bit of time trying to get the space atmosphere, audio and presentation to work together, so I'm happy that came across. And especially that losing pilots actually feels meaningful. Even in a small prototype, I really wanted the player to care about the decisions they make and the consequences afterwards.
And you're absolutely right about the balance and the amount of tactical control at the moment. I would have loved to add more missions, more variety and more ways for the player to influence what happens during them. But you know how game jams go... so many ideas, so little time! 😅
Those are definitely things I would want to expand if I turn this into a bigger game. I'll put another +1 next to that idea now that someone else wants to see it too... maybe I really do need to make proper work of it! 👀🔥
Thanks again for playing, for the kind words and especially for the useful suggestions. And of course, enjoy the rest of the jam! 😊🎮
Nice work! it is very wel done graphic sound are really good ! feel like a real game already !
Thank you! 😊 Glad you enjoyed it!
I actually had quite a few more ideas I wanted to add, but as usual with game jams, time management was chasing me all the way to the finish line 😅🏃♂️💨
Still, I’m really happy with how it came together, so it’s great to hear it already feels like a real game!
this game fits the theme really well!
the audio and graphics really make the space vibes come together
Thank you! Really happy you enjoyed it and I appreciate you taking the time to play and leave a comment! 😊
Fun and intense! Watching my pilots dogfight without being to do much is quite nail-biting. The theming is great and I really liked the sound/music. Good looking cruiser, and the radar display for the battle fit really well.
I did find the second round of in-battle choices to have the same odds quite often, so would’ve been nice to have more influence (or not show them), but the route and pilot selection was a fun puzzle.
Thanks a lot for playing and for the nice words! 😊 It is great to hear that the tension during the dogfights came across well. That was definitely the intention. You have some influence, but at the same time you also have to watch and hope your pilots can handle things, a bit like a real carrier commander.
And yes, I agree about the choices. I would have liked to balance them better and add more meaningful options, but time management during a game jam is an enemy I think most game developers know all too well 😅
I also really appreciate the detailed feedback. It is always useful to hear which parts worked well and where there was still room for improvement.
Thanks again for playing. I am really glad you found it both fun and tense, because that was what I was aiming for! 🙌
Impressive! This is very well put together, amazing work in general and doubly so for a gamejam. Everything is so polished and solid already, it's crazy!
Thank you for the kind words! 😊
I actually wanted to do quite a bit more, but as often happens during a game jam, my time management caught up with me and I had to start cutting things and wrapping them up much faster than planned.
I would have loved to add more varied missions, options and meaningful choices, but that just wasn’t realistic within 10 days. So I’m really happy it still made such a good impression! 😄
Damn, this is awesome! If you really made this in just 80 hours, even with a whole team, that’s seriously impressive!
Thanks! 😊
The 80 hours is a pretty rough estimate though. I basically figured around 10 workdays of 8 hours. I didn’t actually track the time, so 90 hours or even a bit more could definitely be possible. I’ll probably clarify that it’s just a rough estimate. (Just added that to the field to clarify)
It was solo dev though! I did use assets from the Unity Asset Store, especially for models and things like that, because unfortunately I’m definitely not a designer 😄 On the other hand, that was probably a good thing too, because if I had to model everything myself, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten this far within the time I had. 😅
I hope you also enjoyed playing it, or at least found the concept interesting!? 😊
I was especially impressed by the visuals and sound design. Even with third-party assets, it’s clear how much work you put into the game. I doubt the asset packs came with every UI element you needed.
The concept and gameplay are interesting too. I’ve always liked the idea of controlling characters indirectly, and I’ve been thinking about using a similar mechanic in my own games for quite a while.
All in all, this is seriously impressive work. You have my respect!
Thank you again for the kind and positive words! I’m really glad the game made an impression. And yes... the asset packs definitely didn’t come with everything I needed. 😄
It’s also really cool to hear that you’ve been thinking about a similar indirect-control mechanic yourself. I’d definitely encourage you to try something with it! It creates a very different kind of decision-making compared to direct real-time control, and there’s a lot of interesting potential there.
Thanks again for taking the time to play and share such thoughtful feedback. Really appreciated! 💚
This is awesome! I would love to see this expanded into a larger game.
I can’t believe you created all of that in 10 days. The carrier, the characters, the combat. All great stuff and done on a budget.
I love this. Would love to see it turn into something a little bigger and more polished.
Thank you so much for the kind words and of course for taking the time to play the game! I'm really glad you enjoyed it and it's great to hear that the carrier, the characters and the combat came across well. 😊
It definitely wasn't easy to build everything in 10 days while also handling all the work that comes with organizing the jam. That's also why the balance isn't quite where I wanted it to be, and I would have loved to add more missions and a few other things. But as always, time management is part of the challenge 😅
I did also use some assets that I had already bought or received, which of course helped a lot as well.
So again, thank you for the very positive feedback. Comments like this definitely give me some extra motivation to maybe turn it into a bigger and more polished version in the future.
I'll count this as a +1 for continuing with it 😄
Absolutely! You pulled off a lot, especially while organizing the jam at the same time. I’d definitely play a bigger version if you keep working on it.
And thanks for putting the jam together too. I’ve had a great time with it!
Thanks again😊!
I’d still love to turn this into a bigger project someday, especially if it turns out to be something more people would enjoy too. Wing Commander was one of my all-time favourites and managing the carrier, pilots and missions instead of doing the dogfighting yourself really appeals to me and feels like something a bit different.
That said, I’d also absolutely love to play a proper Wing Commander-style game with modern graphics and gameplay. 😄
And thanks for the kind words about the jam too! We really enjoy organizing it, and it’s great to see people having fun, learning things and actually finishing and submitting a game.
I’m really glad you’ve had a good time and I hope you enjoy the next few days of the rating period too, discover some great games, and get plenty of useful feedback on your own! 💚
I’d definitely be interested in seeing where you take it. The carrier-management angle is what made it stand out to me in the first place. And seriously, thanks again for putting together such a good jam.