First off, thank you so much for making this post, I think this is a great idea to help people reflect on the event as a whole.
1. How much time did you spend creating your game/games?
I’m not entirely sure how much time I put into this game. I was kicking around the idea for a little while at least. I think as a ballpark estimate I spent 20-25 hours over the course of several weeks with the idea and creation of the project. I have a difficult time keeping track of time spent on anything, so rough numbers are all I can really give. If I had to break it down it would probably be
~4-5h Art & Design
~6-8h Story & Theme
~10-12h Mechanics
2. Was there anything useful you learned in developing your games?
Absolutely! I realized here that a design document would have made my life a whole lot easier for keeping track of things. However, keeping a GoogleDoc of my notes and ideas was useful. It gave me a single space to throw everything which I could draw from later in my final product.
3. What challenges did you face while making the game/games?
The biggest challenge for me this time around was overcoming how I felt about the entire process. Thoughts of not being good enough and the thought that my game would be entirely unplayable garbage were a constant cloud above me. God helped me through though. Now I have a real game in my portfolio! I’m so excited to continue making things like this in the future.
4. Finally, feel free to recommend either a game that you really like, is underrated, or has a cool premise/mechanics. There are so many games to choose from and they all seem so intriguing to me! The first one I thought of came from the first person who commented on my post, The Ravensridge Press’ addition to the jam TCP Foundation looks incredible, I love the idea of taking your phone and making an SCP-like anomaly with friends. I just love the shared storytelling opportunities this game provides. This is just one of the several that I have open in my tabs.