I really liked this games concept for its mechanics, there is a gem in there. I do have two main pieces of potential improvements however. First and the biggest one: The game felt a bit too easy!! Once you learn the mechanic, it is way too easy to avoid the fire, so adding more obstacles and distractions to encourage the player to trap themselves in ring of fires would create an more intense game play! The other thing is that the doors were maybe a bit disorienting, maybe try making them instant or a proper transition screen.
Play game
ARRsin's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Theme | #935 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Playability | #943 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Artistic Style | #957 | 2.000 | 2.000 |
| Cleverness | #1146 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
Ranked from 1 rating. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Did you include your Game Design Document in your downloadable files?
Yes
Tell us about your game!
Welcome to ARRsin... get it? PirateSoftware GameJam? ARR? Who am I kidding?! In this game, you must navigate the mazes to escape the fire you started... you filthy arsonist! But what's this? The gas can you're carrying is leaking. The fire chases after you as you try to escape. Along your way, you will find closed and open doors. Take an open door; it might lead you somewhere nice or back to where you've already been.
Controls:
Using WASD, arrow keys, gamepad joystick, or even the gamepad D-pad to move around.
Known Bug:
The Enemy AI is wonky and can get lost at times due to the door mechanic. I think I made it so it can "catch up", but at times it may seems like you're not being chased and there's no danger.
Did you remember to include your Game Design Document?
Yes
Is your game set to Public so we can see it?
Yes
Extra Notes
I joined this GameJam without any prior experience exporting a build from any Game Engine. My roommate and I both started learning game development back in July 2023 and we have been off and on doing tutorials and taking courses on specific material. This has been an experience to push us into moving forward with the idea that got us into learning this skill.
Comments
322 days ago(+1)
Thanks for the comments. This was fun as it was my first Jam and arguably my first game that made it to the build phase. Everything before this was only a tutorial or just messing around. I gave my teammate, who is my roommate, a 12 hour notice by saying to him while making dinner: "Hey, let's do a GameJam. Thor (PirateSoftware) is hosting one and it starts tomorrow. Not sure of what the theme is but let's do it." No questions asked, he just said "What am I doing?". And here we are.
I totally agree with a transition sequence for the doors. They did seem a bit jarring and was a last minute addition since it was originally pitched in my GDD and game synopsis. I worked out some of the bugs with it and managed to get it cobbled together. I do plan to continue with the idea, possibly completely rewrite it as it was dirty and felt forced. I want to change the perspective, maybe, and update the mechanics for sure. Obstacles would be fun to engineer and maybe quick timing puzzles or find a key type of thing to get to the next level. The fire was meant to be a hurdle but it was more of an after thought once the game was all polished. I've worked on a few things and have a better understanding of the particle system. The most important thing I want to do is figure out procedural level generation instead of having to develop mazes. That was my plan from day one, but couldn't get a working prototype of a maze together in 12 hours and scrapped it immediately. I'm happy with what we made, with the limited experience and knowledge we have. Especially with Unity.
322 days ago(+1)
Of course you could put the gas can down, but then the police would find it and how else would you continue to start fires?
322 days ago(+1)
I was hoping someone would get the old penny arcade feel. I couldn't think of any proper games to show as "inspired by". Glad you enjoyed what little there was.
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