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As a general rule, making games can be bad for morale. That's the danger with creating the games you dream of, and the best advice I can give you is not to create the games you dream of, because you simply won't be able to create them as you imagined them.

On the contrary, creating a game with no expectations is the best way to let yourself be surprised. Many of the games I've created for Trijam are games I don't play myself, or would never have thought of creating. And sometimes it's as if I've stumbled on a good idea, an idea that turns out to be much better than the games I dreamed of :D

And I know what I'm talking about: I've spent years creating games that never saw the light of day because they were too ambitious and idealized on my part (and bad because they had no real gameplay). And even more recently, when I created the game Open the Box for a Trijam, which was a point-and-click game (a genre I'm crazy about), it was the most complicated game jam I've ever created, because I wanted to do things too well, and in the end not only did the result fall short of my expectations, but the creation of this game was also a bad time to spend.

Sorry, I'm spreading myself a bit thin with anecdotes. All this to say that competitiveness and dreams are motivating, but they're also trapping and crushing. So creating small projects with detachment, or telling yourself “I've been going over three hours for a long time now, and it's no big deal!” is a mood that's particularly good for morale, I guarantee!

In any case, I hope you'll be able to get rid of this “my games are trash” thought, which must indeed be quite painful to live with and which, I can assure you having played your game, is anything but true!

Judging by the game you've submitted, I could tell you're experienced in the Trijam. Now, you've confirmed my suspicions. Props for your work! I respect your dedication!

Hum... I've followed your reasoning but honestly, I think I'll still strive to do games under 3h when I participate because of the following reasons:

  1. I would like to build a lot of prototypes but I don't want to spend too much time on them. I like the Trijam because, with the 3h rule, you can make a game without sacrificing your whole weekend. If I participate in a big jam like a GMTK Jam, I have to take paid leaves at work or else I'll be very drained the week following the jam. With the Trijam tho, I can just work on a game for 3h on a Saturday morning and still have time to hang out with my friends during the weekend. That's the primary reason why I participate in the Trijam and not the Mini Jam.
  2. Your ranking is a honest vision of what people think about your game. You can rank low and still have very nice comments. It happened to me in other jams. If people rank your game high though, you know for sure that they really enjoyed it. I've worked on a game called "Poly Dash" for the 2023 GMTK with a friend. The game ranked 108th in the "Fun" category and you could see in correlation that it was, indeed, the most fun game I've ever contributed to in a Game Jam. Ranking in Jams is usually fair. People will rank your submission high if they enjoy it and low if they don't. It's an easy indicator to see if you did well.

I'm dragging a bit too much my response here but, that's the reasoning behind my madness. 😂

Yes, I completely understand your practical and material reasons for not wanting to go over 3 hours. My opinion was more that you shouldn't devalue yourself if you go over. The three-hour limit is mainly a framework and nothing else.

As for the ranking, I quite agree, although it obviously depends on the other games submitted to the jam. And it also depends on your current track record. There's no such thing as genius. Creating games is like anything else, you have to learn :)

Anyway, I was very interested in your thoughts and thank you for these simultaneous discussions on our two pages!

I hope to bump into you here and there, during a trijam or elsewhere :D