itch.io

The theme for the 2025 b3agz Jam is...

THAT'S NOT A COLLECTIBLE

You can interpret the theme however you like... or even ignore it completely. Just remember you will be judged on your theme interpretation, so if you don't incorporate it, it will hurt your chances of winning.

And don't forget the restriction that your game must have some kind of accesibility option. You don't have to go all out with screen reader menus and colourblind modes (though you can If you want), just add something that makes your game a little more accessible. Some low-effort accessibility features might be a warning for flashing lights or sensitive themes, or even just a volume control.

AND DON'T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!!!!!!1111one

Good luck everyone!

This was a super fun little game, and the sound design (while lacking controls :p ) was great. The collection sounds perfectly matched the music, good choice. Gameplay was fun. The only gripe I have is the controls were a bit funky. I don't know if this was a bug or an intentional choice, but pressing up or down moves the player diagonally on the screen, and you have to press, for example, left and up together to get the player to go straight up. It felt a little unintuitive. Other than that, great entry, well done!

Great entry! It's a pretty standard tower defense but the level of polish you've achieved in such a short time is impressive. The visuals/audio were nice and cohesive, the gameplay was addictive (I played this for way longer than I intended to) and there was a good amount of escalation with each wave. Well done!

Such a simple-yet-fun idea! The overall aesthetic was nice and cohesive (always a challenge in game jams, especially if using assets) and the controls were nice and easy to pick up. Throwing in extra challenges like blizzards and sneaky sodding gingerbread man were also a nice tough. Also, having a full level rating system in place for a jam is good going. Great work!

Super fun little game. The aesthetic was cohesive and cosy and the gameplay was easy to pickup. I'm a big fan of Hidden Folks so this type of game appeals to me. I'd love to see more scenes (and more detailed scenes) if you decide to carry on working on it.

Start with the good: the music choice and art style was great. Really reminded of the 16-bit platformers I used to play like James Pond. The shrinking and growing mechanic was an interesting addition (would have liked to have seen more done with it but I liked it).

The main complaint is the jump; it's extremely inconsistent. I'd estimate 1 in every 3 attempts to press jump just didn't do anything, which isn't ideal in a platformer where you have to time your jumps.

Character controllers are notoriously hard to do well so it's a completely understandable problem, just unfortunate in this type of game. Good job!

Start with the good: the music choice and art style was great. Really reminded of the 16-bit platformers I used to play like James Pond. The shrinking and growing mechanic was an interesting addition (would have liked to have seen more done with it but I liked it).

The main complaint is the jump; it's extremely inconsistent. I'd estimate 1 in every 3 attempts to press jump just didn't do anything, which isn't ideal in a platformer where you have to time your jumps.

Character controllers are notoriously hard to do well so it's a completely understandable problem, just unfortunate in this type of game. Good job!

Great work. I've done my share of working in catering so this really peeled the scab off of that trauma! But seriously, great effort in such a short time. Solid gameplay loop, cohesive art style, good progression. One thing I might suggest for games like this would be to experiment with lighting a little more. I know you were going for cosy but the low light and long shadows gave it a little bit of an eery horror game vibe (visually speaking). It's a minor thing, though. Appearences are the last thing to stress over in a game jam.

Really enjoyed this one. I was a point-n-click child so this appealed to me even more, and the writing was great! I loved looking at and sniffing and licking all the things to see what you'd added. The art was charming as well. Great job!

Great vibe/aesthetic, nice and simple gameplay with a good introduction to tell the player how to play. My only gripe was the jumping felt a bit unsatisfying sometimes. It looked like you were well clear of a log and then suddenly you're stuck on it. Amazing work for the shortened timeline you made this in. Great job!

At first I thought it was going to be a walking simulator through the snow and I was cool with that. Was a nice surprise to find some game mechanics lol. Great job!

It was a lot of fun!

So the community winner has already been chosen by you guys. The main winner will be chosen by the judges and announced on my stream on Monday, around 1-2pm UK time. N3rk is handling the sending of prizes, so I imagine he'll be in touch with said winners once the judges pick has been revealed.

Great work everyone!

<3

I'm sorry I didn't include this :'(

And I enjoyed being terrified at looking stupid on stream when I found out yours was a maths game! Thanks for playing!

I hear ya. Unfortunately I ran into a bit of a mental block coming up with a learn from failure mechanic. Thanks for playing!

Thanks, honey.

Thanks! I enjoyed finding out how little I know about other country's flags in your game :p

The balance is an issue yeah, the idea seemed good in my head lol. Thanks for playing!

Love the aesthetic, and setting (loved the propaganda playing in the background). Gameplay was nice and simple (once I properly understood what I was doing). The visuals for all the various things that we have to look out for were great, I'm big fan of putting things like health bars into the game world rather than a HUD. My only gripe is that I ran into a bug where I became one with the train window, and could not escape, and froze to death. Which is not a great to a day of training. Would love to see this expanded on.

Not much to critique, super simple, yet fun game. Nice minimalist art style, smooth controls, addictive gameplay. The only thing I would suggest it needs is some audio feedback and perhaps some music.

First off, excellent work for a 4 day jam. There was a lot of depth to the unit system, with all the different... uh... units. I liked the art style, the heartbeat added a sense of tension. The music got a little repetitive towards the end of my play through. I did encounter some bugs, but the dev was around for the playthrough and knows about them. The main I would want to look at is the selection clicking. In a game where it is a case of frantically on units, you really the clicks to not register, or select the wrong thing. Great entry, well done!

Solid gameplay loop, felt very well designed in terms of the behaviour of the enemy, because I feel it would have been very easy to get it wrong. The jumpscare aspect did not overdone or misused. The artstyle was pretty basic but, it is a short game jam. If you were to keep working on this, I would recommend more detailed artwork, and some sound design beyond just event noises. Great entry, enjoyed playing this one.

Honestly, no notes. I feel under qualified to be leaving any critique on this game. I mentioned to one of the devs in chat about the puzzles being perhaps a little easy, and they are well aware. Amazing entry, well done.

First off, great entry, the game play was fun and addictive. Surprisingly emotive for a game about a pinball with no dialgogue or obvious narrative. The main mechanic is solid and satisfying to play with. In a more developed game I would love to see more puzzles or different kinds of challenges to overcome. Overall, this is a solid foundation for a really good narrative-driven puzzle game. Would love to see you work on it more.

First off, great entry, the game play was fun and addictive. Surprisingly emotive for a game about a pinball with no dialgogue or obvious narrative. The main mechanic is solid and satisfying to play with. In a more developed game I would love to see more puzzles or different kinds of challenges to overcome. Overall, this is a solid foundation for a really good narrative-driven puzzle game. Would love to see you work on it more.

This game perfectly executes the type is trying to be. The only criticism/advice I would offer, is it needs more variety puzzles (which I understand is probably a result of the jam timeframe) if you were to work on it more. The visuals and audio fit perfectly with other and the style of game. As a casual experience, this is a great entry.

Looks great, plays great, interesting puzzles, nice difficulty curve for such a short game. Everything is slick and polished, and I would love to play a finished full version of this game. Well done.

Love the style, music was a tad repetitive (but game jam). Controls for the most part were fine, but a little unforgiving in certain situation. My main observation is that the game straddles the line between platformer and puzzle game too much, and would benefit from picking one side and leaning into it. But that's just my opinion.

Loved the visuals (that look nothing like Minecraft), music was nice, SFX were satisfying. The controls and character was smooth as butter. Despite being shockingly bad at this type of game, I never felt like the game cheated me, so bloody good job. There were a few little technical things, like camera drift when not moving, but nothing that affected gameplay in any significant. Great work, very impressed.

Gameplay was fun, potentially a little easy, but nothing that could be easily solved with a little more dev time. And also, there's nothing wrong with easy games. Loved the art style and music, very cohesive, and reminded of early PS1 style platformers (which is a personal favourite of mine). The game is very short, and would definitely benefit from more levels to increase the length, but I do understand that this is a game jam game made in a very short time. Great work!

Gameplay was fun, potentially a little easy, but nothing that could be easily solved with a little more dev time. And also, there's nothing wrong with easy games. Loved the art style and music, very cohesive, and reminded of early PS1 style platformers (which is a personal favourite of mine). The game is very short, and would definitely benefit from more levels to increase the length, but I do understand that this is a game jam game made in a very short time. Great work!

Thoroughly enjoyed this, and plan to play it more later. The aesthetic and style is on point, the writing is good, and the UI (which is obviously integral) is mostly intuitive. The only gripe I would have is it is too easy to screw yourself really early on in the game, but for a short game jam game, this is a really really really good entry. Would definitely be interested in a more developed version.

I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH HANDS FOR THIS SH-T!

Great aesthetic, very challenging but in a way that makes you want to have one more go. There was a little bit lag in places when changing shape which was jarring but not game breaking. Would love to see this worked on, and incorporate more of an audio rhythm element (perhaps a stronger beat or some other visuals moving to the beat).

Hilarious, great writing and voice acting. Fun gameplay loop. Was worth playing through just to hear the dialogue, so the game being fun itself was nice bonus. Could definitely see this easily turning into something like a mobile game, and would love to see where you take this if you keep working on it after the jam. And I would definitely expect to see in the top 100.

Hilarious, great writing and voice acting. Fun gameplay loop. Was worth playing through just to hear the dialogue, so the game being fun itself was nice bonus. Could definitely see this easily turning into something like a mobile game, and would love to see where you take this if you keep working on it after the jam. And I would definitely expect to see in the top 100.

Absolutely no notes on this one, game is slick, art is nice, music fits perfectly. Can't think of a single suggestion that is not just a result of me being absolutely shocking at this kind of game. Great entry, well done.

First off, amazing effort for a short jam, big of Portal, so I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzles. From a technical standpoint, most of my complaints are probably just a matter of time constraints, such as having the ability bring the box closer or further while holding. Some of the box physics were a bit funky. But again, short jam. I do think the size shifting would need to be incorporated more in a more fleshed out game. Great effort.

Loved the aesthetic and cohesive art/music style. The clicking was satisfying (although the click sound could be a little less aggressive). The gameplay was fun. My main critiques is that the mouse cursor felt too big and unweildy, making it harder to grab individuals (possibly intentional?) and there were not enough additional gameplay mechanics to keep the interest for more than a few minutes. However, as a 2 day game jam entry, this is an excellent entry, and I can definitely this turning into a great game if you work on it more.