I stumbled across the Kenny itch.io site, and a few days ago I already got the notification that Kenny had released a new game: Solitaire. I kept ignoring it and didn’t click on it for a while, but at some point I thought, “Alrighty, how does Kenny actually build games? What does he create? What kind of things does he focus on?”

The funny thing is, I had never played Solitaire in my entire life. This was literally my first round. I quickly clicked through the tutorial and then just started playing on my own.

At first, it feels pretty boring, but once you get everything perfectly lined up and you can start placing card after card after card, it’s actually really satisfying.

🏆 Score: 410 ⏱️ Time: 15:32 🔄 Moves: 365 (To play the same game as me, choose seed 169015)

It's actually quite easy. Just read the description.

Here's an example:

You're a cosmic entity whose job is to create universes. However, there's a Cosmic Council above you that gives you objectives and tells you how your galaxies should be created.

For example, if the objective is Expansion > 80%, you press Initiate Genesis. Then, using the sliders at the bottom, you need to adjust the Expansion slider all the way to the right or at least far enough to reach 80%.

If you successfully meet the objective, you earn a point. To make things more competitive, there's also a global leaderboard where players can compare their scores.

Welcome to the Great Cosmic Archive.

Share your favorite universes and galaxies here! I'd love to see your creations, rare discoveries, and unique cosmic stories.

I'll go first.

I really enjoyed Between the Ticks. Even though I'm probably not the target audience, I think it absolutely succeeds as a proof of concept or maybe even more importantly, a proof of tension. The atmosphere and the feeling it aims to create comes across exactly as intended, and it had the desired effect on me despite not usually playing games in this genre.

I also had the pleasure of spending time with Christoph during our time at the Games Academy. He's one of the kindest and funniest people I've met there, and you can genuinely tell that he's a game designer who puts a lot of passion into his work. He also has great taste in music which is obviously the true mark of a good game designer. 😄

Congratulations on creating such a compelling experience
I’m looking forward to seeing where you take it next!

Currently it's still super early I'm basically just in the concept phase, throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks, defining the core pillars of the game, and figuring out the overall direction.

By the way, what engine are you using, if you're using one at all? And were your commissions by any chance related to 8-way movement?

First things first thanks for playing it. My intended idea was that when you place an X, the enemy AI decides which field to pick. However, when you break an O, the placement of the new O is actually determined by RNG. The problem is that it doesn't really feel random it feels like the enemy AI is making that decision as well, even though it isn't.

That said, this was a completed game jam project, and I'm currently focused on my Steam release and another unrelated Unreal Engine project. I'm not planning to revisit or fix it because I simply don't have the time, and my other projects are my priority right now.

Okay, the problem is that I used an image for the game's background that's hosted on Imgur, and since Imgur has geoblocked embeds in the UK, the background doesn't load there.

Oh damn, that sucks. 😕 Unfortunately, I have no idea why it looks like that on your end, but I'll definitely do some research to avoid issues like this in future projects.

This one was hard as f***, but humanity is safe now. A lot of clicking, a lot of fun, and damn good music.

In terms of enjoyment, this is imp the strongest submission so far. Current high score is 60.

It’s also the most original take on the Tic-Tac-Toe concept I’ve seen so far,  very strong execution.

How extreme do you want to make it?

AtomSoup: YES.

First I was like, "Oh, this is probably just the tutorial..." and then... hahaha. Very fun.

Dang, this was fun! I love the fact that I can play 9 games nearly simultaneously.

The only criticism I have is that the board selection feels too random. I can play as strategically as possible, but sometimes I still lose because it comes down to luck whether the board I need appears next or not. I think giving the player a bit more control over which board comes up next would make the game feel more skill-based.

Yeah, it works now! Thanks for the quick fix.

Overall, I think it's a really cool idea. One question though: every time I get a game over or win, I have to restart the .exe to play again. Is there a shortcut or another way to restart that I'm missing?

Also, if I understood the gameplay correctly, the goal is simply to shoot the enemy as quickly as possible, right?

Thanks for the reply!

Just a small tip: itch.io actually has its own fullscreen button if you enable it in the game page settings. That way players don't have to open the in-game settings first (or zoom in because the game starts out pretty small).

Also, since you're already supporting two languages, I'd recommend making English the default language. It will probably be more accessible for most players on itch.io.

Other than that, I really like the idea! The 10 levels with 10 different tactics is a cool concept. The only thing I'd say is that it can feel a bit hard or demotivating if you have to start from level 0 every time. Maybe some kind of level select or checkpoint system could help in the future.

Overall, though, it's a cool game. Keep it up!

Besides the fact that everything in the game window is way too small, thankfully you can zoom in, and that my French is more than a little rusty, it's still a very challenging game. For 2 hours and 53 minutes, it's a really solid experience.

Hey! Quick question: How comfortable are you with adapting your art style and workflow to support 8-directional character movement?

From what I've seen, most of your examples show characters walking left and right. Have you worked on creating assets for full 8-way movement before?

I also bought your Magic Projectile Asset Pack for my first "test" Steam project, and I'm more than happy with it. The quality is fantastic, which is why I wanted to reach out.

I really love your art style, and I'm currently planning a larger project. I noticed you're available on Fiverr, so I'd definitely be interested in collaborating. One of my main requirements, though, is support for 8-directional movement, since the project is aiming for an HD-2D style.

Pretty cute attempt!  🚀

I can't open the game. Maybe try uploading a zipped version instead of just the .exe?

This is actually genius. GG, mate.

I just wanted to let you know that I won my first game jam! One of the judging categories was audio, and I was thrilled to place #1 in it. I used sounds from the Ultimate Retro RPG asset pack along with SFX from the Ultimate Sound Effects pack.

You can check out the game here:

Thanks for making such amazing audio assets. They played a big part in the experience, and I really appreciate your work. Keep it up!

By the way, after fixing the bugs, I went back and watched the rest of the video. The main inspiration for this game was actually Operius, the official offline browser game for Opera, created by Mors.

That said, I can definitely see how Operius itself might have been influenced by Super Hexagon.

From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to do something with a keyhole. Not just a forbidden door, but specifically a keyhole. The first thing that came to mind was the Digipick lockpicking minigame from Starfield. At some point it just clicked: "What if I combined that with Operius?" And that's basically where the core idea for the game came from.

Fixed!

Fixed! If you get a chance, feel free to give the game another try. I'm curious to see if my theory was right and Caps Lock was enabled, which caused the game to stop detecting WASD inputs properly.

Oh, that's so cool! Thanks for giving it a try. And sorry that the movement broke for some reason. I'm currently working on fixing that issue, along with a bug where re-injections keep the speed from the last played layer, which was definitely not intended.

I ended up enjoying the project so much that I kept developing it during the jam, so I can push updates right after the rating period. Unfortunately, that's also when these bugs slipped in.

This is a known bug. I haven’t been able to fix it in time yet, and I was also hoping no one would notice it haha. Thanks for playing and for letting me know.

I was also a bit disappointed, since I took the time to carefully review and rate quite a few games, but it turns out only 6/30+ people rated mine. It seems to really come down to quality over quantity in the end.

That said, I think one possible reason your game might not have scored as strongly in the “How well does the game fit the themes?” category is the lack of a clearly defined door or entry mechanic. However, I’m not fully convinced that’s the main issue, because I also didn’t implement a traditional door in the strict sense, and still received fairly solid ratings overall.

Apart from that, your ratings look consistently strong across the board, so the feedback is generally very positive.

Really cool concept. I'm just too shitty to complete it. #skillissue

Hatte Bock auf verbotene Türen, jetzt darf ich rechnen. Danke...

Edit: Nur 9k geschafft, jetzt fühle ich mich auch noch dumm. Danke...

Just kidding. Actually a fun game. I also found out about Spooky Bodies, so you guys got a new wishlist on top.

I think the core reason I managed to complete it on time is pretty simple: everything you see is code. That’s it basically a single script with no external assets. Except for seven audio files in total four music tracks (two looping) and three SFX.

And the other reason is called “rules” The time only counts for building your game, that is, any coding, making sound effects/music, art, and other assets. Writing a design doc, coming up with ideas, compiling your game, or making the itch.io page for it does not

Tinder for Doors is a fucking awesome and hilarious idea how did you even come up with that? And sure, the Door is for a  “friend”.

It’s very motivating to read this. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for playing.

Love the fact that I can't get stuck behind the closet.

Sounds like you clearly had a good time. Thanks for playing.

Damn, imo your game fits the jam theme way better than mine. I also think it's really well balanced for a 3-hour game jam game. But no surprise you’re a TriJam veteran, as I noticed. 😄

Awesome to hear, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it (and the game over screen 😉). Thanks for playing! Can't wait to check out the other submissions later when I have some time.

grad nochmal getestet bin zwar bis 65 gekommen aber es ist pain vorallem wird die gap ja immer kleiner

58 wär bestimmt noch höher aber das spielt ruckelt ab 50 zu sehr das es kein spaß mehr macht müsstest du dir mal die performance anschauen mit unity > window > analysis > profiler