I think some sort of mental rewiring happens in your brain as you play XCVB. It's probably a good thing, maybe it expands your thinking or something. I never had so many dexterity issues with four keys but as I got better at it I really loved what it was doing. This game was VERY loosely inspired by a screenshot by Havegum. VERY.
Giggi was inspired by devilsgarage's Kid Fighter screenshot, but instead of being a big blue guy who beats up kids, you're a big blue guy who works with kids to fight other stuff. I really enjoy the mechanic of collecting kids, charging and releasing them, reviving them and using them as a shield. It does get hard pretty fast, when sometimes a second enemy will get triggered before you defeat the one you triggered previously, so it helps to lure guys away from their spawn point to minimize that risk. I feel like this game has a ton of potential as a cool RTS RPG, something like Bladestorm meets Zelda.
Circle Adventure was inspired Izzy-A's Shape Adventures screenshot and it is now long overdue for a spot on the front page. Whimsicle and charming, with some mystery and intrigue. Now if these shapes could just be voiced by Stamper and JohnnyUtah...
Loosely inspired by the same screenshot that became Motor Joust, Psycho Cycle Smash could perhaps be described as "The Super Meat Boy of Bike Riding Games." It's simple and silly but also impressive that it was made by one guy during the same two weeks he made XCVB!
Based on insensitive art by Luis, Fat Fucks has you running your dinner to the finish line while collecting burgers and avoiding obstacles. Sound effects and in-game voice would have livened up the experience but my biggest complaint is that the map screen defaults to an arbitrary location and you have to slowly scroll to find your character. Still has plenty of charm though!
I have no idea what art inspired this game, in fact I have no idea what miJmitoo was thinking when he made this... But it brightened my day so that counts for something. It's like if Marc M from SickAnimation made a shitty game, this might be what it looks like.
Inspired by Luwano's screenshot, the graphics and duck sounds in the music are perfect. It's a very honorable effort give the timeframe, definitely tough to build a proper RTS in this short of a time. I think with some proper planning and implementation, you could have a hit game with these characters and audio. I could picture playing it on a tablet in the bathtub, if anyone does that... probably not. Need waterproof tablets.
Also inspired by Izzy-A's Shape Adventures screenshot, Shapes Odyssey has you jumping your way up towards the goal in each level. The epic music adds to the absurdity of the whole thing. This would be a decent touch game if it had an HTML5 remake!
Wooly Marenal RPG is based on Celshaded's screenshot. I gotta give it props for delivering lots of spoken dialog and a tutorial with such a short development cycle. If I could change one thing, I would speed up the repetitive battle interactions. For example the dice rolling when you attack and the fading in of your options after each turn could both be reduced so you don't have to watch them both so much.
I was assuming this was a pretty standard platforming engine until the isometric view was unveiled, which was pretty darn surprising and explained the inspiration screenshot. It did have some bugs and quirks that made progress difficult, though. Interesting potential!
People really liked the shapes theme! This is a silly platformer with shapes. Frame rate felt kinda low, was wondering if it was running slow on my computer or if more likely it was set to a low framerate. I liked it though.
I'm glad someone adapted the SeaKnight screenshot by LegolaSS! I felt like even when every shot I fired hit an enemy, the enemies still came out fast enough to run down my power meter... So death felt kind of inevitable but plenty of people did score higher than I could... Probably a balance of the single bolts and using the mega blast at the right times. I really like the octophant!
Inspired by test-object's screenshot, Dungeon Crawlers takes a moment to figure out, at which point it starts to feel pretty clever. It's still REALLY HARD but I feel like there is great potential here. It could benefit from something like a bullet-time function, or potentially let players stop the movement completely if the puzzles could get tricky enough, in terms of how your placement on one side will impact movement on the other.
No one else thought to adapt AustinBreed's example screenshot so I'm glad someone did, and made it online multiplayer no less! The amount of keys required is total insanity but I imagine it makes for hilarious online play... The people I joined with dropped connection... This still needs a shot on the front page. The tutorial alone is worth watching!
The last of the shape games had me crying for a double jump. The platform collision wasn't always accurate which made things extra punishing and as I write this, my vision is still screwed up from that bright purple background. I did get the medal though and I am amused.
Thank you everyone who participated in Game Jam 9!
Your participation is vital to making these events a success. I hope everyone had fun and formed some lasting bonds with their collaborators! If you're an artist or programmer looking to team up and make something, be sure to check out the Collabinator.
If more people had teamed up, maybe we could all be playing this right now.
Winners of the June Writing Contest have been announced!
![Game Jam 9 Winners]()
