itch.io

High-quality 3D games made on jam always cause me great respect.

This game is one of them.

Very good use of the theme, the boss design is nice, the art is quite bright and memorable.

Using life and speed for attack is an interesting find.

Excellent work!

Very cool concept! And overall impressive work! You even managed to make such quality of life features as difficulty levels. And a full tutorial. The game seems a little unbalanced when you find one tactic that works and start spamming it, but this is not surprising with such a number of combinations. The theme of rotation through twisting balls and arrows is conveyed well. The design and art are also top notch.

Thank you for your feedback, I absolutely agree that the game lacks a properly structured tutorial to gradually introduce the player to the mechanics.

The game looks and feels pretty fun.

The art style is well maintained. The dialogues are a separate pleasure. It's a pity that they can't be skipped when losing. Because, well, they are quite short and funny. I will allow myself some criticism. The game lacks at least a small tutorial on the controls, because they feel quite unresponsive and require getting used to (picking up a scroll at the beginning is a rather non-trivial task, even if you know that you need to do it, and the stamina system works in a special way, it takes time to figure it out). Perhaps it is worth improving the bosses with more clearly telegraphed attacks. Anubis seems to hit you directly and you have absolutely no idea what to do with it.

At the same time, the bosses are varied, they run around the arena in a funny way, and do not let you get too bored. It is obvious that a lot of work was put into the project.

Well done!

Hi! Our game turned out to be quite complicated and not polished everywhere, but I would be glad to receive your feedback.
https://itch.io/jam/boss-rush-jam-2025/rate/3296423

By a two-time participant and eternal jam enthusiast

Hello, fellow game jammers! ✨

First off—congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s Boss Rush Jam! With nearly 900 games submitted (more than double last year’s count!), the sheer creativity and passion of this community blows me away. While I’ll never have time to play all of them (though I’ll try my best to dive into a few dozen!), this explosion of talent is a testament to how vibrant our community has become. Let’s call it what it is: a massive win! 🎮

As a second-year participant, I want to share my team’s journey—mistakes, triumphs, and hard-earned lessons—in hopes that our experience might help others grow. Buckle up!

What Went Wrong (And What We Learned)

Scope Creep: The Silent Killer

"This time, we’ll keep it simple!" Famous last words. While we ditched last year’s turn-based combat (a nightmare to speedy prototyping) for a top-down action game, we underestimated the chaos of physics-based mechanics. Lesson: Straying too far from your team’s  genre expertise = unexpected roadblocks.

Core Loop Procrastination

We built the core gameplay loop way too late. Result? Rushed polish, missing features (like an ammo counter!), and last-minute panic. Build the loop first—everything else is secondary.

Overdesigning Art

We spent hours on pixel art that never made it into the final build. Trust me, you don't need dozens of bullets if you don't have a mechanic where you want to use them. For jams, simplicity wins. Focus on "good enough," not perfection. 

Rapid Prototyping ≠ Rapid Results

With only one full-time developer, our "quick" prototypes dragged on. Without clear yes/no decisions, we wasted time polishing mechanics that didn’t work. Example: A late-stage idea to mark attack trajectories would’ve solved aiming issues (our most frustrating mechanic!).

Playtest Neglect

Classic mistake! By not sharing builds early, we missed glaring balance issues. When only the designer plays, "challenging" becomes "soul-crushing." Playtests = reality checks.

Technical Debt Disaster

Quick fixes for a "month-long jam" backfired. What saves time today might haunt you tomorrow. Balance speed with sustainable code.

Title Afterthought

Our rushed, generic name drowned in a sea of similar entries. A strong, unique title matters! 
Especially for Jams with so many games. We didn't have a goal to be unique and the best, but a good name will always attract attention.

What Went Right (Celebrate the Wins!)

Saved by the Deadline Extension

Extra time let us fix critical bugs and add polish. Never underestimate the power of a grace period!

Battling the Godot Engine Nemesis

A recurring web-build bug (our arch-nemesis since 2024!) only struck once this time. Bonus: It didn’t affect the PC version! Small victories. 💪

Pixel Art Redemption

With AI-generated art prohibited, we embraced pixel art—a style neither of us had tried. The result? Charming, cohesive, and oddly satisfying!

Genre Exploration

We ventured into unfamiliar territory (top-down action) and loved every minute. New genres = fresh creativity!

Joy in the Journey

Despite the chaos, we’re proud of our game. Jams are about growth, experimentation, and fun—and this delivered all three.

Shoutouts & Gratitude

To the Organizers: Thank you for hosting a month-long jam—a rare gem that balances creativity with sanity. While 48-hour jams have their charm, this format lets ideas breathe.

To KayaHellya: My incredible teammate and partner-in-crime—this adventure wouldn’t have been half as fun (or possible!) without you. 🚀

To the Community: Your energy inspires us. Let’s keep making weird, wonderful games together!

Final Thoughts

Jams are messy, stressful, and utterly magical. Whether you’re a veteran or a first-timer, embrace the lessons, celebrate the wins, and remember: every game shipped is a victory.

Now, go play some Boss Rush Jam games (including ours😉) and keep creating!

P.S. Feel free to share your own jam stories or advice below. Let’s grow together!

TL;DR for busy devs:

✅ Build the core loop FIRST.

✅ Playtest early, playtest often.

✅ Keep art/scope SIMPLE.

✅ Technical debt = future you’s problem.

✅ Have fun—it’s a jam, not a job!

Thanks for reading, and see you at the next jam! 🎉

Thanks for your feedback!

Thanks! Yeah, some mechanics was not polished and describing as well as need to be. But, thank you for playing our game anyway.

Very interesting concept. I like that all three bosses can be tried independently of each other.

The controls are convenient, but require some getting used to, because it is unclear how far you can throw the sword. But you get used to it quickly.

For some reason the music is very hard to hear in my browser =(

Otherwise, a very cool game and implementation of the theme.

Simply a great game for jam!

Good balance of difficulty, skill, special abilities, bosses are varied, art is amazing, sounds, music, everything is in its place. Intro is gorgeous. I am delighted. It's a pity that it is a bit short, I would play this for a long time.)

Your work deserves the greatest praise!

I like the overall mood of this project! The game is a classic arcade, all the main components go well together (art, music, sounds, gameplay), the intro is pretty cool!

It's not very obvious how the revolver rotates (number of shells, I suppose, but I didn't see any hint about it). I was a little short of content, I just got into the swing of things and it was all over =).

Good job!

Very cool concept! Completed it on the first try. It seems that the slowdown of time when shooting is too effective. I felt that the boss lacked some variety. But on the other hand, this is a very solid work, where everything fits together perfectly.

Well done!

This game is cute and funny. There's something really fun about the way the animals spin and collide.

My hands get tired really fast from that. And I think Duel on equal terms doesn't quite fit the theme of a boss rush jam (though the AI is pretty fast).

But the concept and core of the game is awesome!

Great job!

Very cute visual style, and musical accompaniment.

The crocodile was touching.

The game has a lot of randomness, which can be both a plus and a minus, but for this game, it is rather a minus (in my opinion. Due to the large limitation on ammunition, and random time bonuses, which makes them lose their
usefulness. Hit-boxes is not very friendly too, but this is ok for Jam's)

Also, I like starting screen! 

Good work overall!

Yes, you are absolutely right, at least it would be nice to have an ammo count for the second weapon (it was in the plans).

I am very glad that you liked our style!

Thank you!

Very good game! 

Convenient, smooth controls, which is important for this genre. The difficulty is high, as expected from Bullet Hell.

I would especially like to note the wonderful music and effects.

This is what happens when a gifted team gets together =)

I came up with the main character quite by accident, and it was assumed that the lava would have some kind of visual effect to justify it. =) But that didn't happen (Who would have thought that there is always something to do on Jam xD).

Thanks for your feedback!

Good retro style game! I like it! Balance is not very best, but solid. First boss is not very hard, but bulky and annoying. The second boss is the easiest one (I got his ability for second try). And the last boss is obviously The hardest. Sounds and music is good! Intro is cute. The theme used is quite traditional way. The controls are clear and there are no questions asked after you master the dash. 

And overall I like it.

Marvelous work! This is very entertaining game!  Nice core gameplay! Unfortunately, I couldn't get to most of the bosses to rate them. But I laughed like a pig at the rhyming words in the tutorial. The best experience overall for me!

A fun game in the spirit of Mac and Joe's franchise. But enemies swapped Dinosaurs into UFO.  I liked story intro (in some cases looks like lost vikings). The first boss can be cheesed with bones, because I can attack the enemy undercover from a safe distance. I like new boss patterns after boss get damaged.  Controls is ok for me.  The implementation of the theme looks a little formal, but is well done.

Very nice job overall!

I am very glad to hear it! Because actually this game is not very easy to understanding. We didn't have time to make the tutorial in time. Therefore, we tried to convey to the player more information through UI.

Thanks for your feedback!

You're done great! And I think we gained quite a lot of useful experience. Good luck!

This game has potential. Concept is funny. The controls are quite convenient. But unfortunately, the game suffers from a lack of sound and visual effects. Bosses do not feel like bosses, but more like equal opponents for the player.
With such a name, I expected there to be throwing potatoes and putting mines in the shape of a watermelon. Not sorcerers or nobles. xD
btw, the leveling process was entertaining, and the gameplay was fun.

Thanks for feedback! This is true, the interface is not our strong point. hehehe. But we do our best in next time.

Indeed. This was our second jam, and we misjudged our strength a little. As a result, the game lacks a bit of variety.

The Godot engine has a certain problem with loading shaders and effects, we found out about it a little late, and our fix did not improve the situation everywhere. About the same thing happened with mouse control. But I’m very glad that we managed to finish it at least in this form.

Thanks for your feedback.

Yeah. We definitely have a room to grow in terms of UX/UI and sound design. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing your opinion!
I'm glad you liked our game.

Love your theme and aesthetic. Very good music. Gameplay is challenging, but not very brutal! Very fluid controls. But, I have minor complaints about gameplay. I don't get why I need punch, when kick in overall better? And charge of special attack is very hard to notice. 
Otherwise it is a great job!

Very nice and fun game! Gameplay is smooth and polish. Visual and music is good, And I like casual bullet hell vibe.
By the way, the UX part can be improved. I didn’t know the cost of reloading in advance, and it took me a while to realize that guns with 0 rounds of ammunition could be reloaded.
Good job! And Best luck!