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There is such a dissonance between gameplay built around interactions and gameplay built around inputs. It's the difference between a quick time event and a minigame, between a game and a UI. 

I haven't properly thought about it, but what makes games like Edith Finch, or Papers Please, work so well is that they are producing the experience of an interaction, rather than just letting you press buttons. This is a really good manifesto.

I want to believe that I don't make games for an audience. I want to believe that I could create art, simply to be destroyed.

But do I believe that? I do feel differently about the stuff I build in Minecraft, and the stuff I build in Godot. I do feel differently about unreleased projects, and games I share. And I do feel differently about games that have had a lot of eyes on them, and tiny projects barely anyone has seen.

I don't know how to feel about that. There is a Folk-art worldview that art can serve a purpose. Can help people. And I do aspire to provide something to people. 

But I also don't want to be held hostage by the imagined audience. 

I don't know, I don't know. I don't know.

But I appreciate the chance to think more deeply about it.

I'm being a hater here (as is my right!), but I don't actually hate all tech-y conversations. It is interesting to learn the different waus people made things, and I find a lot of genuine artistic meaning in the pure process of making art. 

But yeah, this question is, more-often-than-not, asked as a perfunctory, one size fits all, get out of jail free question. 

"Was the traffic all right?" "How's the wife and kids" "What game engine is it?"

PS. I loved your Manifesto! I've been thinking about it all night. I do struggle with feeling like I should be grateful for every opportunity I'm granted, every person who deigns to play a game. I sort of feel like this manifesto is unintentionally in conversation with the part about "Gratitude for the Audience". 

Sorry I couldn't make it down to ALT, I'll hopefully be in Melbourne for games week though!

I feel like I'm not asking too much of people.

But I am asking something of people. 

Good games ask players to perform. They act as both audience and artist in a dance you have choreographed, but can't fully control. And I genuinely think they would get more out of it if they put more in.

Because what is that question? "What Engine did you use"? It's small talk, right?  

"How about that weather?"

And small talk can be fine, it's comforting, and safe, and harmless, but it's definitionally meaningless.

If all people can say is small talk, you don't have a scene, you have a conference. 

Oh my god I love these! I particularly loved startmakingsecretgames! I do find my self editing games for an imagined "audience", even when I'm just publishing on itch! Even when I'm just making Jam games, or experimental shit! I'm happier to destroy work than I am to share it privately with a few people, and I want to change that.

(Also I really loved readingthisfileisagame.txt, but my thoughts on that are less complex. I agree with your premise, and I agree that you should utilise your powerful fists to achieve whatever ends you may)

Fuck yeah

Yes. yes.

Yeah it's definitely useful to learn from other devs, I'm not here to hate on shop-talk, but even with other artists you should be trying to learn from their creative choices, not just their tech. 

I am shaped by the local Brisbane game dev community, but not because I learnt which engine is best, more because I was immersed in new ways of seeing the world.

But even then, most of the people who ask me this question aren't developers.

I really like this! It feels very visceral, which is hard in an idle game! I want more balls!!!

Yeah you are!

Apathy is the tool of the Bourgeois! And bu..butterflies are... the vegetable... of the Bourgeois? 

Jesus christ

Yeh I had to make the player controller speed up as you got deeper, cause in the initial version it took a full 10 minutes to get past the pipes

Aah horror is such a good idea in the short time window, and you use it really well! This oozes a sort of icky vibe that me genuinely on edge for what was, ostensibly, a game about failing to open a bunch of doors

I like the orbital tower defence idea! Having moons with their own orbital positions added a level of complexity that I could imagine being expanded into a full game! interesting, and impressive for the timeframe!

I was absolutely thinking of wordle and connections while making it!

It's amazing that this was made in 96 hours! A genuinely great little ship building and flying game, I really enjoyed it! Amazing job!

Once I got the hang of it (and switched to easy) it was really enjoyable! I had a great time trying (and failing) to scale Olympus Mons

Really really good! I the gravity system is phenomenal!  

This is an interesting idea for a golf game. I like the strategy of having to reuse the same shots in multiple holes. It could make an interesting puzzle game, if expanded. As it is, this is a fun time and a great jam game!

Oh damn y'all out here making a full nitrome game! This is amazing, a really great puzzle mechanic that you've pushed to its limits. The level of polish is astounding, the art is cute and fun, and I like how the theming changes throughout the game! I love it, 10/10 IGN, gimme more!

The only thing greater than my love of golf in games, is my inability to play golf. This is very good, obviously.

Very ambitious for a game jam, and manages to deliver pretty well. I am impressed!

This is a really clever mechanic, and a great interpretation of the theme! I really liked the feeling of pole-vaulting over a gap and then quickly rotating to sort of dive across. It's an ambitious system, well done!

Woah, you made a good detective game in 48 hours! This is one of the most visually distinct games in the whole jam, it oozes character, and it was super engaging to play! I properly felt like a detective, trying to solve strange little mysteries. I loved this, one of the best games I've played this jam!

Adding a multiplayer system to an idle game is genius! I'd love to see that expanded further, with the different "factions" getting asymetric idle abilities to align with their goals. The art was also lovely, and the whole game came together in a delightful little package. Very fun, Fish/10

Haha, thanks for playing! I have been playing a lot of wordle and connections recently, so that definitely influenced my design 

This is a really unique take on a deck-builder/strategy game. I've never seen the "take the top of one and the the bottom of the other two cards" system before, it adds a lot of depth to the strategy! Really good game

Hahaha don't feel bad, I too don't know how big things are, relative to other things! (and I did the research, I should know the answers at this point)

Hahaha yes! This is a great time! I got needlessly attached to my terrible trash sculptures! I loved the "Meh" fish, I felt a disturbingly genuine sense of achievement when the fish said I was "Fin-tastic". Good Game, 10/10

A really great little single screen puzzler, I got a measly 29500! My hunger for corn grows by the minute!

Thanks Piers! I too suck at trivia, I am bad at my own game. Perhaps the game never ends, perhaps I am still playing now (the game ends after 20 questions, you were pretty close tbh)

Holy sh*t how dare you make such a scary game! the atmosphere is superb, the sound design is brilliant, the level design and animations and gameplay all work to produce a really fun and horrifying experience. I loved it

Another stellar entry from the makers of Manatouille! super characterful, fun, and silly! good job!

This was a really good Quake style fps! The movement and shooting was buttery smooth and felt amazing. Good work!

Maybe the nicest tower building game I've played this jam. I like how the narrative is told through objects, the art is superb, the gameplay is nice and forgiving, just a really sweet little time. Wonderful

Woah, this is really good! A great interpretation of the theme, a fun game, a funny experience the whole way through. Good to know that I am still bad at music :(

Woah this is really really good! the creeping dread of the level rising worked so well to provide tension, the jetpack was super forgiving which made the movement feel good and fluid, I liked the tower building system. I loved it, great game

This deserves all the praise it is getting. a top notch puzzle platformer, the scaling mechanic is really well implemented. Amazing job

It is shockingly impressive to make a citybuilder in 4 days! and it plays really well, it's a lovely relaxing time!