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A jam submission

Spot the JunkView game page

Illuminate, Collect, Survive: A Light in the Darkness of Waste 🌟🔦🗑️
Submitted by f0rb1dd3n403/TheYellowButton — 33 minutes, 23 seconds before the deadline
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Spot the Junk's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Theme#573.3003.300
Controls#572.8502.850
Originality#663.1003.100
Fun#662.5502.550
Accessibility#732.4002.400
Graphics#772.8002.800
Overall#782.6292.629
Audio#1041.4001.400

Ranked from 20 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Godot Version
4.2.1

Wildcards Used
White-Out/Freezing Out: The game's environment features cold, winter-like conditions. Dusty's health decreases in colder areas, integrating the theme of a freezing atmosphere both graphically and mechanically. Blood is Fuel: Health restoration in the game is uniquely tied to warmth. Dusty must return to a heat source near the collection point to regain health, emphasizing the 'blood is fuel' concept through a warmth-based healing mechanic. Trash Everywhere: As Dusty collects trash, he becomes increasingly burdened, visually represented by being covered in junk. This mechanic not only aligns with the 'trash everywhere' wildcard but also adds a strategic layer to the gameplay, as carrying too much trash slows Dusty down.

Game Description
Dive into 'Spot the Junk', a 2D adventure where light battles darkness in an environmental quest. Guide Dusty, a flashlight-equipped dustman, through a shadowy basement to uncover and collect hidden trash. Face the chilling challenge of a freezing environment, balancing health and heavy loads.

How does your game tie into the theme?
"Spot the Junk" ties into the theme of 'illumination' by having the player navigate a dark basement with only a flashlight, where light is essential to discover and collect hidden trash. This mechanic not only emphasizes the importance of light in gameplay but also symbolically highlights the need to illuminate and address environmental issues.

Source(s)
N/A

Discord Username(s)
f0rb1dd3n403

Participation Level (GWJ Only)
This is my first Godot Wild Jam.

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Comments

Submitted(+1)

Level design is very interesting although I think its a bit difficult. Playing as a dustman is very uncommon, I liked the idea. The art is fine and I think the loss of speed due to the weight carried is very interesting. Good job!

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much, I tried to have fun during a hectic week.

Submitted(+1)

You've integrated some neat mechanisms here that wouldn't be out of place in a survival-type game. You even included a minimap! Well done, and congratulations on your first jam!

Developer

Thank you so much for your comment! It’s really encouraging for me. I’m happy to have had this experience with all of you.

Submitted(+1)

Great use of the Wildcards here, first game I've seen use all three. Its a fun gameplay loop with a good amount of tension though I did find it difficult to actually find the items at points,  maybe making them larger or adding something to make them stand out would help in that regard. The HUD also feels cluttered could just be the wildcards in the bottom left adding to that, but it all feels messy. 


Otherwise a fun experience, keep up the good work!

Developer

I confirm that the HUD is indeed a bit chaotic, but I didn't have the time to refine it. Looking back, I would have spent an extra 10 minutes to apply a shader that highlighted junk as you pass by.

Thank you so much for playing my prototype. I'm really happy about it and truly appreciate your comment.

Submitted(+1)

Great, especially for a solo first jam game! The game has a really fun concept!

I think the game would have benefited a ton from a few simple blips and bloops, but I do like where things are going!

The game would also definitely have benefited from focus a bit more on the trash collection aspects, to save time for other polish.

Love what’s here though, keep them coming!

Developer

Thank you so much for the encouragement. There are many improvements to be made, but unfortunately, time was really short, so I always had to find a compromise. However, I am collecting all your feedback and will definitely consider it for the future. I had a lot of fun participating, in a very light-hearted way.

Submitted(+1)

Cool idea!. Maybe you should have add more context of the things happening in the game, inside the game, because i only understood the mechanics by reading the itch.io page. Also i recommend you to make the collectable objects clearer, because sometimes i passed by some trash and missed some. 

Developer

Thank you very much for the feedback. Yes, I completely agree, these are excellent points that I need to improve for next time.

Submitted(+1)

It's good. The fact we're slowed down the more we carry add a good tension to the foraging, we have to decide if we take the risk of not making it to carry more in one go.  On that front, the only thing it's lacking is a way to drop objects: At one point I carried too much to come back, I knew I couldn't make it, but I had no way to get rid of some of them, condemning me to a slow death. 

Developer(+1)

Thank you so much for playing... You really got the spirit of the game. I had thought about adding a drop function for the items, but due to time constraints, I focused on other aspects. Part of the challenge was to be careful not to pick up too many items to avoid getting weighed down. Often during development, I found myself slowing down, so being cautious on the way back was part of the fun. An additional idea could be to avoid certain trash that shouldn’t be collected, perhaps placed on the return paths, just to make the game more enjoyable.

Submitted(+1)

Cool game, the main difficulty for me is that both the trash and the ground have a similar blue color, if you didnt want to change the color you could just make the trash bigger or even add a light, im also not sure about having the wildcards in screen for the whole game, the minimap is great to plan an effective/safe path, good job!

Developer(+1)

Thank you for your suggestions. You're right. It wasn't a great idea to include a wildcard on the screen, but as a very busy solo developer, I didn’t have the time to fix it. This feedback will help me improve in the next jam.

This is an exploration game in which you scour the maze and pick up trash. Go to home base to empty your two hands and warm up.

It's a simple game, competently made. I played again when I learned that the minimap exists, but it's moreso to keep you from getting lost, rather than helping you find the trash. It is a welcome addition, nonetheless.

I do not believe this one is a strong contender, but you have found some nifty tricks to elevate your game. Nevertheless, please come back in January!

Developer

Thank you so much for taking the time to play my game concept and for sharing your thoughts. I am genuinely grateful for your feedback.

Participating in this jam has been a truly rewarding experience, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to create something of my own. Your comments are not only appreciated, but they also offer valuable insights that I will definitely consider for future improvements.

Regarding the minimap, you're absolutely right. It was intentionally designed to assist players in navigating the maze without getting lost, rather than revealing the locations of the trash. The core challenge of the game is indeed to 'spot the junk', and I felt that showing trash locations on the minimap might undermine this key gameplay mechanic. I'm glad you noticed and mentioned this aspect.

I look forward to further developing my skills and ideas, and perhaps we'll meet again in the jam coming January!

Submitted(+1)

Hey! It’s cool work! I really liked the way that I lost myself and thought, “I NEED TO FIND THE RIGHT PATH, HURRY!!!”. The game concept is great, dude. Try to finish it. It’s really cool to see the finished version of this game idea.

Developer

Thank you for trying out my concept... and really, thank you for the encouragement.

Submitted(+1)

Love the minimap, how did you do that?, the game is nice. For a first submission is impressive! I like it!

Developer(+1)

thank you so much. Can’t wait to play your game. The minimap is just a viewport with a fixed camera, the tilemap scene and a cursor which share the position of the player.