Game Boy Showdown 2023

Hosted by Yogi (Tronimal) · #gameboyshowdown

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A jam submission

A walk in snowView game page

A short first person game about finding soldiers in the snow.

Submitted by Diego García (@theslowglow) — 1 hour, 28 minutes before the deadline

Play game

A walk in snow's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Innovation / Originality	#5	4.163	4.333
Graphics	#32	3.603	3.750
Overall	#40	3.263	3.396
Game Design	#44	3.002	3.125
Sound / Music	#46	3.163	3.292
Theme	#57	2.962	3.083
Gameplay / Fun	#59	2.682	2.792

Ranked from 24 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your game fit the theme?
my game involves finding and helping soldiers stranded in a snow field during the 1940 invasion of the Soviet Union on Finland. The size of the Soviet army was twice the size of the Finnish, yet the Finnish army (and the broader nordic countries) banded together and withstood the assault. in the game you find different soldiers and help them in smaller, more mundane ways and tasks all while listening to their humane worries, far removed from the grandiose ideologies of war. Lending a helping hand and being kind, even in the smallest of ways and at the worst of situations can make a difference. The game doesn't punish you for failing to help and find all soldiers but it lets you know at the end how you did and hopefully makes you want to try one more time and do in case you missed any.

Did you use any assets?
only the SFX sounds, which I took from the "Sweet Sounds!" pack made by Coffee Bat.

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Comments

RubenretroSubmitted3 years ago

Very innovating game, good concept and nice art

Submitted

Retro Quiz Tower (JAM Edition)

playinstinctSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I absolutely like the first person perspective. This is rare on Game Boy. The setting is also really interesting. However I think the controls still need some work. Two suggestions: Use up/down to walk forwards/backwards and left/right to turn. Also let the scale of the compass rotate instead of the needle. At first I did not notice any change while turning. Otherwise a very inspiring game. Now I would really like to also make a first person game. But I can imagine that it is quite complicated 😅

Submitted

My Friendly Little Island

Diego GarcíaDeveloper3 years ago

Hej! Thank you so much for playing! Yes, that control scheme idea also came up when one of the judges was streaming - and getting increasingly frustrated - with the game and it seems so obvious in retrospect, it would streamline navigation hugely and make it so much more enjoyable to play. I ran out of time on the jam to have someone else playtest it while developing so all I had to go off on was my own understanding of the system, which proved to be a huge mistake hahaha. I love the idea of eventually making a 1-bit first person game for GB so it's great to have that feedback. by the way, your game was one of the few I had any time to play during this week and it blew me away how much you managed to cram into it in such short time. I'm sitting down now to play as many as I can today but yours is definitely a standout so far! Great job!

playinstinctSubmitted3 years ago

Thank you so much 🙏 ☺️

I think it was me, who suggested the control scheme in tronimal's stream, if that's what you mean. I have a different name on twitch.

Have you played Dragon Heart on the Game Boy? Maybe you can draw some inspiration from how that game handles first person controls.

I also just started playing through the jam entries on Thursday evening. I have played a little more than half of the submissions (some of those, which I was really looking forward to and some, which had only few ratings). There are so many great games this year 😳

gorzyllaSubmitted3 years ago

I really like this game, it’s very unique in my opinion. And how you weaved abit of history into it is a nice touch.

Submitted

A Friend In Need

Diego GarcíaDeveloper3 years ago

Thank you for playing! Yes I was trying to push and do something counter-intuitive in both gameplay and how the main theme was approached.

IdnitMediaSubmitted3 years ago

Really interesting mechanics! I helped out 4 comrades then struggled to find any more.

Although, I might be rushing a bit to get through each game XD

I might have to give this another go to find the ending!

All in all, very cool submission!

Submitted

River Styx Round-Up

Rodrigo Rocha3 years ago

very unique entry

BownlySubmitted3 years ago

Very unique game. I struggled with the controls for longer than I'd like to admit, but the weren't so confusing by the end. I think my experience would be a lot smoother on a second playthrough.

Submitted

Buddy Book Battle

Diego GarcíaDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Thank you for playing! I really appreciate it. Yes in retrospect there were so many more intuitive ways to go about doing basic movement that would've made the game so much more playable it's kind of hilarious I never second-guessed it (I ran out of time so nobody but myself play-tested it and I scrapped the whole "how does a compass actually work?" tutorial - I kind of hoped people would figure it out somehow instead). All of the feedback has so much value for future projects so thanks for taking the time to write.

Bad_DadSubmitted3 years ago

This is a very interesting game and a great approach to an RPG. I will give this another go. I got the map and found 2 soldiers but left when I was at the cross on the map. I liked the summary of steps and how many I had helped. The soldiers/characters were very well realised. Great work. I would love to see this developed further.

Submitted

The Friendly CPU

joanag3 years ago (1 edit)

It's incredible! I found 5 soldiers and managed to help them all, at first it was sort of meditative, I was just wandering around with no clue where I was going and no goal in sight, just trying to find anyone, then when I started to have objectives it got frustrating, especially when I couldn't find the soldiers again, then at the end I learnt how to use the map (I didn't realize enter was the start key...) and it changed my life! At the end I still had what I thought was a green rope in my inventory but I figured out what it was and I kind of like that I kept it. I wonder if I'm missing a final scene as you mention 'the end', which I didn't really get, maybe I'm still missing soldiers? Maybe I have to press 'leave' on the inventory? My browser seems to have crashed though and now I can't try that. Anyway I really enjoyed this, especially the beautiful character design. (And clicking on dark circles under the eyes felt very poetic, for lack of a better word). Thank you!

edit: just read the introduction again, got it!

Diego GarcíaDeveloper3 years ago

Always so sweet and thoughtful, Joana. If only the world could have your care and sensibility!

Johndo StudioSubmitted3 years ago

Very interesting concept on a rather heavy subject but approached in an intelligent way! I found 3 characters and I even threw the medal in the sea :), but I felt like I was going in circles. Could you implement a map, or some sound clues to help us a little? I really like the concept, but less being lost without clues :p

Submitted

Friendship Never Dies

Diego GarcíaDeveloper3 years ago

Wow! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you could play it on an original gameboy and for it to be somewhat close to the intented experience, I got a kick out seeing it on hardware. I ran out of time so a lot of features got left out/unrefined, but pressing Start brings up a map that shows where you are and which cardinal direction you're currently facing (though it might be harder to read without colour), as well as any soldiers you've already found. The Select button brings up the inventory where you can also get hints for soldier's whereabouts, but that's as much I could get in there of my intended clue system. I see you also submitted something, I'll make sure to play and rate your game when I get home!