Design Statement
When we first heard the theme track, it felt like a dream: calm, nostalgic and warmly alive, with bright contrasts that lift your spirits. We wanted players to feel that same gentle, living quality, like walking through a memory that is slowly waking up.

That became Autumnbound, a forest stuck in endless autumn that you bring back to life by shifting between the four seasons. The track's contrast shaped both our mechanic and our palette: golden autumn dusk against cold blue winter, fresh spring green against warm summer light. Each season is a different mood, and changing it changes the world instantly.

Visually, we looked to Ori and the Blind Forest: a lush, glowing, hand-painted style with vivid colors, where every color belongs to a season. We cared about small details too, like flowers that change with the season you are in. We also chose a short, relaxing journey with no combat, so the calm of the music can stay with the player from start to finish.

Game Instructions (launch steps, controls, and gameplay overview)
LAUNCH STAGE (how we built it)
1. Idea. We started from the jam's theme track. Each of us shared how the music made us feel, we brainstormed together, and we picked one idea to follow: a forest stuck in endless autumn, brought back to life through the four seasons.
2. Scope. With the idea set, we decided how far the game would go: its length (about 10-15 minutes), what was in and what was out, and what we could finish well.
3. Production. We began with level design, one level at a time. For each level we decided where the path branches, where it doesn't, and where the player can and cannot go. While one of us shaped a level, another was already thinking about its puzzles, and another about its look and atmosphere, so everyone was helping everyone.
4. Playtests. Once the first levels were complete, we tested them ourselves and with a few friends, then kept going.
5. Finish. We completed the whole game with everything we had planned, tested it with more people, hunted bugs and fixed the worst ones.
6. Release. The result is the playable version you are playing now.

CONTROLS
Move: A / D or Left / Right arrows
Jump: Space (press again in the air to double jump)
Dash: Shift
Switch season: 1 Spring, 2 Summer, 3 Autumn, 4 Winter
Interact: E
Map: M
Pause: Esc
Play on keyboard, on Windows.

GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
You are Aster, the last leaf of the Great Tree. The forest is stuck in an endless autumn, and you can shift between the four seasons whenever you want: instantly, for free, even in mid-air.
Every season changes how the world reacts. Spring grows plants and vines and makes flowers bounce you higher. Summer wakes the sun mechanisms and melts specific ice. Autumn brings wind that moves leaves and lets you glide. Winter freezes water into paths and stops some mechanisms.
There is no combat. The challenge is to read each scene, find which season solves it, and combine them. The current objective is shown at the top right, and the map (M) shows where you are.
The journey has three acts: Whispering Woods, The Forgotten Lake and The Heart of Seasons. A full run takes about 10-15 minutes.

Gameplay walkthrough video
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ScYP7jUib7cX-B_oMBQPzvSqo60FdooQ?usp=sharing

Did your project use any AI tools or assets? If yes, please specify.
Yes. We used Claude (Anthropic's AI assistant) to help with the game's code and graphics. Game design, level design and creative direction were done by our team.