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This looks like a fascinating concept. I can't wait to try a playable version!

This looks like a really great beginning! I was interested in this jam topic because this was something that came to my mind the last time I visited Hawaii. There was so much degradation from all the tourists. We did our little part: picking up trash, only travelling around the island by bus, and visiting several sites dedicated to projects attempting to restore the ecosystem and culture of the island.

I think your project really has the potential to get people thinking about their impact and how to counteract that impact.

Still a fascinating concept, but a lot of work still to be done. Looking forward to playing the next iteration!

Very interesting game concept. I'm not sure I would have figured out how to play the game if I didn't watch the gameplay video. Hopefully, it will make more sense in the next iteration. Also, I hope the connection to the theme will be a bit more obvious. I'm fascinated by the underground rivers in São Paulo.

Looking forward to the next iteration!

I love the concept of this game. It's hard to get a feel for how the game is going to play from the prototype, but I look forward to the next iteration!

Yeah, Sarah pointed out in Sprint 1 that the project page is private and, unfortunately, GitHub won't let me change it. I'll probably add an image of the roadmap to the GDD, but it sadly won't be updated in real time (unless I replace the image every time I make a change, which I already know isn't going to happen). Good idea to add the repo link. I'll do that.

Thanks for the feedback! I was working on the paper prototype just to "quickly" work out the game loop and some of the game logic. Sadly, I didn't have as much time to work on it last week as I had planned. The game is intended to be a web game, so I'm probably going to just start implementation instead of spending more time on the prototype. (Do still have some data to collect and some logic to work out, but that's what testing is for!)

I do think Sonoran Gardener could make for an interesting board game or even a deck builder, but that might be for some later date.

Yeah. I did mention in the GDD that this is a simulation game, which is common for serious games. I hope it's not a boring simulation game, like the one I mentioned in the GDD: Scram. Scram was a nuclear reactor simulation game created by Chris Crawford for the Atari 400/800. Even he admitted it wasn't a fun game to play.

As for inspirations for the game, it is loosely inspired by games like Stardew Valley and other farming games, but with less of the community-building and side quest aspect that those games have.

The scope of the game is a typical backyard garden space in a single-family home in Tucson. There are some interactions with other resources in the community, like garden shops, Native Seed SEARCH, farmer's markets, and neighborhood associations; but mostly you're trying to grow food at home. I'll be honest, my interest in this game is trying to answer a question I've never really received a good answer to: how much food can you grow at home here in the Sonoran Desert. There's a lot of talk here about urban farming, so what would that look like in Tucson? Just because the Tohono O'odham and, before them the Hohokam , had agricultural societies in this area, how much can I really grow at home?

I'll check the github project to see what's going on. It should be public.

That's a great question! The base game should have enough randomness within bounds based on historical and projected data for playthroughs to vary, but there are still going to be certain choices that will tend to be more successful in the harsh desert environment than others. That's part of the learning experience from a serious game (including for me). If I have time, I'll add some additional options that will provide more variability, like various rainwater harvesting options - maybe even a greenhouse or aqua/hydroponics, but I'm not likely to have time for those things before the end of the jam.

Thanks, Blu! Here's hoping I can pull it off. :)

Best of luck with your game, too.

Sounds like a really fun game. I'm worried it might be a little overambitious. Are you using any real-world data in the game? There are datasets of coastal cleanup data that are publicly available that you could use for the type and distribution of your trash. For example, this NOAA website has beach surveys that include the types of trash that were found when volunteers went to clean up the beach (click Explore Data): https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/our-work/monitoring/marine-debris-monitoring-and-a... Good luck with the game. I hope to be able to play it!

Sounds like an interesting game, but maybe too ambitious? It wasn't clear from your project plan what you could cut if you're running out of time. It also wasn't clear what kind of real-world data you plan to incorporate in your sim. Overall, sounds like a game I'd like to play!

This sounds really interesting but I'm not sure how it fits either of the themes for this jam (planting a seed or restorative tourism in Hawaii). It also seems unlikely to be completed in time unless you have already made this game and are just looking for a jam to submit it to.

I do love a roguelike, so you had me with that part of the concept! I didn't see where you were planning to incorporate some real climate data. I think that would help, but overall, it sounds like a fun game I'd like to play.

I'll be honest. I forgot I'd signed up for this jam. I'm really glad I got a reminder about the update so I can get my butt in gear.

Project name: Sea Scavenger

Description: In this game you are a scavenger who travels to beaches around the world to collect recyclable plastics to be remanufactured into useful products (and kept out of the ocean). This isn't a very realistic game, but the idea is to get the player to think about the potential value of plastic "waste."

When you started the project: Sea Scavenger is a game that was created by Code for Tucson (a Brigade of the Code for America Brigade Network, which was disbanded in 2023). Sea Scavenger is a web-based game created for The Opportunity Project in 2020. (Note that the web link may not work. It appears that The Opportunity Project domain was taken down by the Trump Administration in June 2025.) The objective of the game is to highlight the issue of ocean plastics pollution, utilizing an open dataset collected and curated by the US State Department. The team created a playable prototype in 2020, but there was a lot of work that still needed to be done to complete the game.

Personal due date: I want to have a fully functional game with improvements to the game play (to make it more fun) by the end of the jam.

Awesome short game! Took me a bit to figure out how to get through the door in 3 loops, but I got there. I love the progression through the loops. Very clever!

Very nice! The music really adds to the atmosphere and the game looks beautiful. I'm working on an entry for the Ritual 2 Bitsy Jam, but I don't think I could possible make a game as nice as this one!

Really lovely game. The transitions and navigation are awesome and the brief story arc is very impactful.

Loved it! Though you probably should have had to tackle another customer for the last can of formula...

Glad you got something from it!

Thanks for that! That was my hope for this game

That was fun! I liked Joe's leaky pot - that was a nice touch.

That was a fun game. Felt a lot like an homage to the classic text adventures. I really liked how you had two endings, though I got what I considered the "good" ending on the first try.

Wow. Beautiful!

Very fun puzzle game. I really liked the fade effects between rooms. The portrait at the end was priceless!

Fun story. I especially appreciated some of the random dialog!

Beautiful...

Wow. Did you record pretty much every annual review I've ever had? I loved this game!

Thanks! That was the outcome I was hoping for! Glad you enjoyed it.