As a disclaimer, I know the folks at Leyline Studios and follow their mainline work. This being said, I saw them sharing that they'd submitted a game to the GMTK Jam, and played it on my own volition!
I feel that Only One Burn is an excellent example of what a jam game can live to be: a representation of how far the devs can take an idea. If one mechanic can be fully polished and exhausted, it can be assumed that the devs can do so to a number of other mechanisms and concepts!
In no particular order, I want to note some things that made this game special to me:
- Although this game takes the shape of a lunar lander, I ended up playing it nothing like the inspiration. I had the most fun playing aggressively and creatively, particularly when I adjusted to using the side jets to tweak the vehicle's velocity!
- Iterative levels act as scaffolding for player skill: since it can be difficult to get accustomed to how long and forceful the fuel burn is, using similar level setups with additive twists leads to a comfortable learning curve! Perhaps this is contentious, but for a game jam, I think this was a great choice!
- The distinction of a "Success!... kinda..." motivated me to land more safely in future levels, but didn't feel condescending for completing the level in a rough-and-tumble way!
- The combination of immediate vehicle velocity in some level startups and the hysterically abrupt explosion sound effect on failures makes quick restarts way more satisfying than I'd expect.
Again, having known the developers, I think this is a great introduction to what the Leyline Studios partnership's does best: juicing gameplay and quirky gameplay concepts. Experiencing how unique this game feels gives me great hope for whatever's next in the pipeline!