It'll be really hard for me to think where I land... This entry is my second (solo) game ever - and can you believe this is one of the shortest gamejams I've been in? This is also one of the smallest, which made it feel like there was already a community already built into this jam. It felt a little like walking into a room of strangers slapping a laptop saying "I know how to write and program!!!" - what a bit of self-imposed pressure to deal with! I can't help those negative thoughts of "oh god, I barely even made it past the bottom rungs" - but I always need to remind myself we're here because we made something! And I'm proud of mine!! That's all that matters!!! haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
But in turn and in honesty, it was a blast to be able to truly take time to play every entry (as opposed to seeing 2k+ or 200+ entries). There was something in literally every submission that I wish I had thought up of in order to make my own project feel more dynamic, more immersive or captivating. It was even more rewarding to take this gamejam as a chance to work closely with friends for their input before I published my piece, then spend the time to play other's games and share them with those same friends- and THEN go out to chat and meet those very developers I felt so intimidated by throughout this jam! I'm truly happy to have taken part and want to thank the hosts on that part for helping encourage a fun and healthy environment for that. Ah, I forget sometimes how refreshing and inspiring it feels to play and see things your peers are making! It's no wonder gamejams bring people together like this. Can I say the highs of this gamejam was during the voting section...?
I'm such a sucker for the themes and ideas around the main concept of this gamejam. Unfortunately this gave me a bit of scope creep - I think I'll blame it on my first few days of agonizing over the main plot points of my game, which left me a little under a week to actually write and polish the entire thing. But on the other hand, this forced me to give my project certain quirks that I worked into the story. My biggest decision was to remove all character portraits and art entirely in order to keep the color palette that the game now presents. I got a fair ways into it actually, and I really agonized over not having any kind of art, but in the end I'm letting the strength of the writing carry the game for itself, and perhaps give it its own identity. Maybe I may develop an alternate version with character sprites...?
This was a gamejam both a test of skill and experiment with form, and I'm really happy to join and see everyone's wonderful work! I can't wait to see what you all do next, and hope to be back for another :D