Fresh off the release of Tip Tap Cat from Game #3 of the 6 Games in 12 Months game jam, I am excited and eager to begin work on game #4! As I had mentioned in the previous post, I have joined an outside game jam for Game #4. I will be taking part in the Game Devcember game jam. As of December 1st the theme for this jam is Recovery.  My goal will be to create and complete a game revolving around the recovery theme by January 1st. 

I am a bit skeptical of my finishing the game by then, especially with the holidays and work being busy around this time of year. However, I want to try and really challenge myself with creating a game without any scope creep and still fully featured as well. The real challenge is going to be figuring out what game to make that will be both limited in scope and fun to play.

The idea that I have come up with is a game titled Planet Recovery Force (work in progress but I kind of like it). This will be another 2D Vector art game that I will attempt to have playable with mouse and keyboard, mobile, and gamepad controls. The cross platform controls is what will truly be the most difficult part of the project for me.

In terms of concept, the game will focus on a planet (which you will name) that has just been wiped by some catastrophic event. What was a lush green forest planet, is now a dry and barren wasteland. It is the players job to go in the last remaining spaceship to try and heal the planet back to health. This will be the advent of the Planet Recovery Force which specializes in working to recover and heal the planet back to health!

Gameplay will consist of flying around in space to capture seeds and bring back to your planet to plan, grow, then heal. However, there are plant eating space bugs all over the solar system that are trying to feed on your plants. You will need to juggle bringing the plants back to your planet, warding of the space bugs, and ensuring your planet recovery bar is slowly refilling. 

The only way you will be able to ward off the space bugs as well is to actually shoot a seed you have at them. However, once you shoot the seed at the space bug, it is no longer viable for your planet. Therefore, you will need to be extra careful with inventory management to save the planet, but also ward off the bugs. It will be a juggling mechanic at its most basic.

What are your thoughts on this game idea for the game jam? Feel free to post below on anything you think I should take into consideration. Or feel free to be one of the first people in my discord server and we can chat more about this game, or other games that you are working on!

I’m excited another game is ready to be developed and can’t wait to show you all more!