Hi everyone,

For this jam, I created more of an experiment than a traditional game. It’s a simple 2D physics platformer with a level editor, but with a twist.

The Rules:

• Every player participates in the same Run, which consists of 4 levels.
• After completing the Run, players vote: Was it perfect?
• If they vote No, they must create a new level and replace one of the existing ones.
• The new level becomes part of the Run for everyone to play, vote on, or replace.
• If 3 players in a row vote Perfect, the Run is archived, and a new, blank Run begins.

So… was the experiment a success?

NO. Sadly, not quite.

Only a handful of custom levels were created and added to the active Run.
Most players voted Perfect—even for the rather boring default levels.

Why?

Good question. I think it comes down to the nature of game jams. Game jam games need to grab players’ attention immediately. There are thousands of games to try, so if a game loses momentum, players might just say, "Okay, quick rating, next game."

My game, however, is a bit too complex for that format.

• The intro cutscene is long and unskippable, making the initial explanation feel slow.
• The level editor is somewhat tedious, and designing a good level takes time—more than just a few minutes.
• One user even spent over an hour creating a level! But many players likely preferred to submit nothing rather than upload a rushed or bad level.

The Numbers:

• 40 players in total.
• 3 Runs archived—with only 4 custom levels added.
• After completing the Run, players could create levels just for fun. 9 "just for fun" levels were made… almost all by a single dedicated player (huge thanks to Ratzmagah <3).

Final Thoughts:

I aimed for 70-90% of players to contribute levels. In reality, it was around 10%.
Even though the experiment didn’t fully succeed, it was still an interesting experience!

The jam isn't over yet. if you want to take part you can do so here

https://kitchen-games.itch.io/perfect-game

Thanks to everyone who played and participated.

Hello there, read your post and played the game for a bit! It feels you are open to critique, so here is mine :)

The idea is great, especially for a game jam. I am not into the level build/design concept personally so I will mostly stick with how the game feels.

Your game requires investing a good chunk of time to actually pull through and enjoy, unfortunately, with so many games, people will not play more that 10 minutes on average per game, and this is an important factor to consider when making a game of a game jam, it took me about 10 minutes to finish a run.

It feels that you overshoot yourselves trying to build the full idea rather than sticking to a shorter version and polishing the rest.  Honestly, your game is not my piece of cake and by no means I have a plan or suggest I could do better.

Controls did not feel right,  felt inverted and I was constantly finding my mouse outside of the screens bounds. Mid air adjustments did not properly register through resulting in frustration.

Even though it was clearly stated in the intro, it did not stick with me that if I click yes, I am not getting the chance to contribute to a new or existing run, even though I would not spend much time if at all building a level.

When I returned to the main menu, looking for a way to contribute to a level, I entered the Create Level(not for active run) and the free hand text in the level building area really had me close it almost immediately. And this is a shame as the overall UI and appearance was ok, I guess maybe you run out of time.


Wish you the best, if you have the time, you can try our game.

Tip or Trip - 3D Action, Isometric, Physics Based, Waiter Simulator
https://itch.io/jam/brackeys-13/rate/3349761