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Hello again! In an attempt to tidy up before we get one month before the start of the Jam, I’ve made some changes to the Jams description. Mainly I made the rules less ambiguous, and made the examples cover a broader scope of ideas. Additional feedback is appreciated. Thank you guys! :)

Yep.

Pump Up The Jam is a game jam all about things that inflate, or making things inflate! 

Here are some examples of games that use this theme in some way:

    Astro Bot: Players can use the Octo-Balloon power-up to rise up and stay floating for a while, usually to avoid hazards or reach new areas.
    Balloon Fight: Float around on balloons, and try to pop the balloons of others so they fall.
    Dig Dug: Players must use a pump to inflate their enemies to pop them and get points. Players can also keep enemies partly inflated so they cant move, allowing the player to drop rocks on them for even more points.
    World Of Goo: Use Balloon Goo's to help keep parts of your goo structures lifted.
    Kirby: Being able to puff up repeatedly allows Kirby to float across the level, which is a key part of the games movement across multiple Kirby games.
    Animal Crossing: Balloons carrying gifts can be popped and usually contain items the player can use.

These are good starting points for creating your own pneumatic mechanics!

At the start of the Jam, a secondary, optional theme will be announced. It's a surpriiiiiisse.

Rules:

    You may use any engine you'd like!
    Your game can only be for this Jam and its theme. You cannot (and should not really) cross-post your Jam games to other jams.
    It is recommended - but not required - to have web builds available for your game. You can also offer local downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux, ESP32, etc, but make sure you trust the software you download before you run it!
    Any use of AI in your project is forbidden and will instantly disqualify you. If you try to hide your use of AI in your project I will break into your home and toast all of your bread, on the REALLY HIGH setting too.
    No hateful language or conduct is allowed. We should be supportive and constructive with each other, and intolerance will not be tolerated. Do onto others as you would have others do onto you.
    No adult or NSFW entries are allowed. Adult entries will be disqualified. Games that lean into being arousing are not recommended.
    You must include a copy of your source code / project files with your submission as a separate download, similar to that of Ludum Dare, I think it's a fantastic learning tool to see how others have built their games. You own your own code and do not need to license it unless you'd like to. If you do decide to license it, I recommend permissive open source licenses such as Apache 2.0 or MIT.

Criteria:

There are five criteria for the jam:

    Theme: How well does the game use the theme? Does everything click right, or does it feel shoe-horned in?
    Creativity: How unique is the game, and does this uniqueness play into the games strengths?
    Gameplay: How much fun are you having with the game? Do you find yourself replaying it again?
    Atmosphere: How well does the game engage you emotionally, if at all? Is there any dissonance between you and the game?
    Enginneering: How well built is the game? Is it stable? Is it optimized? Is it hard to control?

This is all highly subjective, so please make sure to leave constructive feedback on peoples games and let them know how you feel!

This Jam will run from March 27th to March 31st, and you can update your entry with bug fixes and features up until the Jam ends. After that, any further modifications can be grounds for disqualification (because of voting obviously). You are welcome to make a new page for future updates.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask in the community tab. Have fun!

Yeah no Breast Expansion is off the table.

To be specific about whats acceptable, the line is drawn at cute, flirty interactions; something generally acceptable to everyone, like a kiss or a teasing remark. But you should be more focused on gameplay systems :L

I’ve been thinking about including some examples in the description beyond some name drops, but I might also include a surprise limitation that’s revealed when the Jam starts. I think that would reinforce the correct mindset for this Jam.

Initially I had the Jam cover the entire month, so that people could create their own schedules. But after reading a reply on the Godot Forums I’ve realized that it might actually make things significantly harder. I’ve tightened the jam to be between March 27th to March 31st, which is also nice because it covers a weekend. Since it’s so early I don’t think this will really mess up anyone’s schedule.

I’ve pushed the Jam back a month to cover March instead of Februrary. I felt like the Jam was too close for people to plan around, and it should build up better momentum this way too. It is close to Ludum Dare in April but I think it’s flexible enough to not hardline people on a choice.

I’ve pushed the Jam forward a month to give people more time to prepare and decide if they’d like to join. It was kind of short notice, sorry!

Pump Up The Jam Page

Hello! This is my first time on the Itch.io forum, despite being here for a very long time now (I seriously had no idea there was a forum here.)

I am hosting Pump Up The Jam throughout March, with voting going for two weeks after the Jam ends. This is my first time hosting a Jam, but I’ve participated in dozens of Game Jams now and I’d like to give back to the community!

The theme for this Jam is all about things that puff up or pop. This would be your games like Dig-Dug, Klonoa, or Kirby. But you can take it as far as you’d like! Here are some examples that are different than the ones included in the Jam Description:

• A wizard that only knows the spell to shoot charge-to-inflate dodgeballs wants revenge against his nemesis.
• Helium fillable City mailman has to deliver increasingly complicated packages to remote locations.
• Fill out paperwork without letting your inbox burst from being overfilled.

If you have any questions feel free to ask them here or in the community tab on the Jam page. Thank you and have a great day :D

Extremely polished experience! Had a hard time knowing how to time my circling, but I guess I did a good job? Kind of unclear, maybe a little quiet sound or a small flash to signify that the distraction was registered collected? The audiovisuals are stylish and well composed, but with the text I had a hard time reading on some letters that looked like more than one letter. Not a biggie. Wonderful little gem :>

Footage of the game: https://streamable.com/m30861

First time playing one of those cookie clicker games. I can see the appeal, the reward return is small but so rapid fire it seizes your brain like a vice grip. I can also see how you tied it into the dopamine hit of social media. Very clever, and very well done :) I love the muted snappy sounds for the UI as well!

Cool chill game! I thought I could make some loops without touching other shapes but it uses thicker lines, or shapecasts(?) to check lol. Adding the leaderboard was a good idea, I landed at #10 so I might jump back in to see if I can do better :P Thank you for your game!

Footage of the game: https://streamable.com/rpq4ew

Thank you for playing! The missile chase is the key part of the game; the timer is a warmup to get in the groove before it spawns. It is possible to outrun the missile without the need of the powerups, but it is challenging. I was thinking about having a small radius where collectables get pulled in, so I might just implement that in the post-jam version of the game. The loop itself is just there to facilitate the chase, but maybe completing a loop in the future could offer a larger score bonus? Maybe a score multiplier? But thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it :)

Love the art and writing! It’s kind of frustrating when those red drops happen suddenly without warning and you have to figure out why you died (they spawn on you), so maybe add some sort of little animation right before they spawn so you can see easier when they’ll spawn. Also there are some areas of the game where you can get stuck and not be able to restart the level via dying. While trying to find a restart button I accidentally closed the game (Pressing ESC) and had to start over. I think with some polish this could be a very good game though! Great first entry :)

My footage of the game (two clips because I accidentally stopped recording):

Clip 1: https://streamable.com/4wswgb Clip 2: https://streamable.com/s61i2t

LOOOVE this game! Controls are natural and I love the way you included wind. A bit more warning or feedback that a ball is about to hit you would be nice though. And I IMPLORE you to have a level select next time. I was on the last level and accidentally hit MENU instead of RESTART and lost all my progress. I’ll try to finish it later but right now I gotta recover emotionally lol. Fantastic idea and well executed \o/

Here’s my clip of the game, including the period of mourning I had after the incident: https://streamable.com/x9l3kg (Still uploading so try to watch it sometime at like 4:30pm CST)

Got mentally flash-banged once the tutorial ended lol, very fun puzzle game! I like how you took what was essentially a meme and turned it into a fun game mechanic. Design is very solid, the game was quick to correct itself once I accidentally closed a door and had a plugin or two get reset. Love the main menu teaching you right as soon as you start the game as well, that’s very clever! Great work :D

My footage of the game: https://streamable.com/8365zg

I’ve always wanted to dabble in assembly stuff, so this was really fun! Unfortunately the last challenge was cut short for me because it automatically assumed I won when I opened the terminal. Not sure what triggered that. If you decide to take this game further it would be really cool to see more manipulation of physical objects in world by using the terminal. Good work :)

Short and sweet! Cars controlled well, simple but solid, and it was fun trying to improve my lap time. Of course the management aspect quickly took over. Glad he got to have a happy ending! If you decide to work on this some more, I’d recommend adding some light engine/tire noises, maybe some squeaking sounds when you pull a tight turn. Even little bump sounds when you hit a wall. Little bit of audio/visual feedback add a whole ton to the feel of the game. I’d be careful not to add too much feedback because it might mess with the atmosphere of the story, which is pretty gentle. Thank you for your game :)

I got 6th but then my chariot kept going, went mach 5, then got me 1st place even though the race had ended. My guy rubber-banded eastward to singapore. 10/10

But really this could make for a fun casual physics game if you decide to polish it up! Maybe some hazardous linear levels where you have to get to the end and survive. Thank you for your game :)

Everything in this is so well done! The portraits for each of the skills are creative, and the writing is stellar. Sorry that a bug locked your game up, but I really hope you continue this project because I’d like to see where else you go with it.

Also the crash saved me because I totally did NOT write that number down lol

Love the little flags of King Pin lol, took a second to figure out the movement but once I got it down I usurped the kingdom with ease. Fun little game, thank you!

I see that ‘PlanetRacers’ title in the window. It would have been fun to race around on saturns ring! but it looks like you had some hiccups and had to settle for something else. Maybe you’ll be able to use the ideas and assets from this project to start a new one. Thank you for sharing your game :D

Hammer ring was my favorite ring to use. Dogs were the biggest threat, It was pretty hectic trying to find an angle away from the dogs that wasn’t completely inhabited and settled by skeletons lol. Love how the slime is just vibing to the music while blasting away. I’m sorry you didn’t get to get everything done but thank you for sharing what you got done! :D

This could make a great game if it is elaborated upon! I’d recommend making the transitions between ball sizes a bit faster, but otherwise you have a fantastic foundation. Great work, thank you for your game :D

This was great! The platforming was tight and responsive, and the level design used the size mechanics very well. The music is awesome, it reminded me of a Dream Theater song. I was upset that the ESC key took me back to the main menu and I had to start over, maybe have a level select screen or a way to resume your progress? Ultimately, I enjoyed this game and you guys did a great job! Thank you :)

Fantastic game! I love how the planet being smaller makes it faster to reach the drills, very good design choice. I find myself destroying the shells I plan to throw at the drills a lot, which is kind of annoying but that might just be a skill issue lol. Graphics are beautiful and the music was very nice. You guys did a great job! :D

Tricky but fun! Lots of speed traps got me good. Some levels were kind of long movement wise and it was frustrating to have to start all over sometimes. Maybe small, focused levels would be best for a game like this. Overall very good, thank you for your game :)

It was kind of hard to control at first but once I got a hold of the physics I had a good time. Nothing too crazy but it was fun :D Thank you for your game!

ONE DAY I’LL USE THAT LEVEL 2 QUARTER FOR THE GUMBALL MACHINE I KNOW YOU CAN USE IT YOU CANT HIDE!!!

Lol but seriously, this is a very solidly built marble game. I love the spin up you can do before actually getting traction to move, it gives your movement a lot more weight. The graphics are cool too, it reminds me of the early 2000’s graphics card art or early raytracing demos. Very cool, thank you! :)

Fun game! I like the UI a lot, it’s clean but has enough style to stand out without being too minimalist. It is VERY frustrating having hazards appear without warning, I’d highly recommend having a blinking sprite or some sort of visual cue before it actually appears, so players can have enough time to change the route they are taking. Otherwise this is a solid foundation to build on if you’d like to explore it further. Thank you for your game :D

Cute game! Jumping and wall-jumping is kind of janky but the level design was fun. The big pile of enemies at the end made me giggle. Thank you for your game :)

If you’re using the physics engine to move blocks around it might be better to use Unity’s 2d Character Controller instead.

Very fun! The graphics are stellar (teehee) and the levels are well designed. Great use of level design to enhance the story as well, mainly near the end. Thank you guys for your game!

Once I figured out how to play I got a nice little rhythm going and beat the game on my first try. I can see potential for this if it gets some polish, but the foundation you’ve made here is rock solid. I’d suggest giving the player some more room to make difficult choices if you decide to work on this some more. Thank you for your game!

Thank you for the kind words! I’ll be sure to check your game out tonight \o/

Last time I participated in this jam was many years ago during Strawberry Jam 2, where I made a silly little meme game called ‘A Love Of Rubber’. It was about balloon fetishism, and I made it in less than 8 hours at my public library!

My gamedev skills have grown after lots of study and many Ludum Dare entries under my belt. In my free time I would love to make a game for the jam! I’m still cooking up some design ideas but it’s hard to scope when I have no idea how much time I’ll be able to put into the project. I’ll probably make something really small and tight (tee hee) that I know I can finish, then spend the rest of the time polishing it up.

Good luck to everyone! I hope you all have lots of fun making your games, and remember to take care of yourself during the jam <3

Cute silly game! No real target to work towards is kind of weird, but I understand that wasn’t the goal. Either way good work :)

Very fun and challenging twist on tetris! I managed to get a lowest score of 5, almost cleared the screen but I ended up having the blocks be too far apart. Music is perfect, it’s almost antithetical to the hype-up track on the original. Fantastic work :D

I agree the hitboxes are too small. I think I planned to make it a bit bigger but I never got around to it. Thank you for playing my game though, even if you didn’t finish it 🤘

Took a while to figure out the controls, but once I did I really enjoyed the game! I had a lot of fun figuring out the best way to rotate levels to get huge skips. There’s a huge skill ceiling here and I think this game idea as a lot of potential. Great work :D

Here are my final scores!

Very cool idea! I love LOVE the animations you’ve made, and driann’s music is very catchy, but the lack of checkpoints is giving me a hard time. It doesn’t have to be very often, but having to start all over when making a single mistake can be frustrating. Otherwise the gameplay is simple and fun! The coins deciding to crawl around platforms and act as fire beams is especially funny. Great job!

The puzzles in this are pretty well made, I’ve felt stumped for a while on some of them. I noticed areas with no bookshelf might be hints at what you need to do, and it’s helped me a couple of times. I don’t actually know if that’s intentional or not, but this was a fun and challenging game! Great work \o/

I was a little confused on how the game played at first, but after trying it again I started to get it. I wish there was some more feedback when attacking enemies, or when getting hit. Maybe try adding some red flash or screen shake when getting hit, and lower the cameras FOV briefly when landing a hit? Anyways, great work you guys! :)

Cute game, but the constant aiming down to the floor made it very hard to look ahead to see where the ball is supposed to be going. Music is very simple in a good way. Very cool that you made this with Bevy! Thank you for your game.