This has been my first game jam and my first time making a full game. I started learning game development shortly before the jam was announced since I watched other game dev youtubers and thought I should give it a try. I have made some small technically playable games that were just meant to learn godot but they were not fun, not balanced, and had terrible dev art lol. By joining this jam, I hoped it would give me the motivation to fully complete a game. It definitely did and I'm super proud of it!
When I did make my game public, I only hoped to get at least one or two comments or plays since I was just another person who was their first time making a game. I would have never expected to get as many comments and ratings as I have now. All of the kind feedback on my game has felt so unreal and I have been loving every step of the journey.
When I went into this jam, I really hoped that I could win the best first game prize. However now that I have played over 100 other games and seen all the effort other people put in their games, it made me realize that the reason for a game jam is not to win but to be able to learn and challenge yourself. Now with this new definition I decided that I personally won since I was able to complete my first game! (Although I still am hoping for a good placement lol)
Seeing all of the other entries is also very intimidating but there are so many other first-time jammers or first game completed that it makes me thankful that Juniper decided to host this jam. Both for giving me the motivation to be able to finish something I created, and for giving other people the opportunity too. I have loved being a part of this community and as tired as I am, I am going to be sad when it's over. I guess the best thing to do is to make the most out of the time that's left! It also makes me happy to see that many other people are enjoying this experience as much as I am.
With the jam wrapping up I'm trying to rate as many games as possible and hope my game will reach my goal of 70+ ratings. Here is my game if anyone would like to play it after reading all of this: Project Helix. Thank you so much if you took the time to read or play my game! I'm wishing everyone the best of luck with their games!