Game Jam - ep 4 Showcase - Theme: Connect - Extra Credits

welcome one and all to another edition of games you can't possibly have tried yet because of course these games come to us hot off the compiler from our own community of game jammers and we've got a ton of Awesome to cover today so let's dive right in as always the participants were given the weekend to take their crazy interpretations of the theme and make them a reality this time around though the theme for the game jam was Kinect and we received way too many excellent entries to cover them all in a single episode however the games we've selected here caught our eye as being exceptionally funny weird or just great examples of our theme but everyone watching should check out the full list of submissions in the description below for a truly eclectic selection of games made by your very own Pierce oh and PS keep your eyes out for games that also incorporate the cool shove effect as an additional challenge and if all this gem talk makes you want to participate next time yes you hi there you totally should then be

sure to save the date for our next extra credits community game jam on August 22nd but without further ado let us connect you to a small sampling from our last game jam you knew a Kinect joke was coming just be glad it wasn't the Microsoft one understanding tiles understanding tiles is a game about belonging and the need or aversion to social groups you play as a square who wants to figuratively and literally connect with other squares but as you play through what seems to be a simple puzzle game you start to notice little subtleties some of the other squares don't want to be part of a group some of the squares are unreachable and once you notice the names of each level the facial expressions of the squares and the different puzzles contained in repeating spaces to represent different social situations you'll begin to see context where none was previously step two ah who needs fancy computer programming skills or game engines for

that matter or even game content I mean all you really need is a d20 some paper and a pen the gameplay of step two is incredibly simple roll the die to determine the first and third panel of a comic then draw in panel number two to connect the story together play by yourself to create art for art's sake or get some friends involved to share some laughs as you compare interpretations sure it's pretty sparse just a single page to PDF but that does give you space to make your own fun for instance can you order panels one and three however you want or is there a time limit all of that is up for you to decide in fact step two is almost like a game jam inside of a game jam submission pull this one out next time you have friends over and see if you can add some simple rules to fuse it into a full-on party game sketch module we all knew a connect-the-dots game was coming right no need to be self-conscious of your drawing skills because this game is all

about connecting dots I really don't want to give away too much about what makes this game almost laugh-out-loud funny but if I were to say you get to draw Jeff Goldblum would that pique your interest because lines uh find a way point line maybe you're looking for a more pulse-pounding connect-the-dots experience than sketch module don't worry point line has you covered draw a line between two points and time it correctly so you don't collide with oncoming lives the sound effects and great EDM music really get your blood pumping and give the whole package and energizing aesthetic though it can get a little unforgiving down the road when you have to restart the entire level if your timing is off by one nanosecond but restarts are so seamless it barely matters not to mention the controls are as simple as they come as well all you need is the spacebar and one itchy index finger cable chaos remember the satisfaction you felt wrangling

different types of chords for your computer or TV setup I know I'm not alone out there in this don't you kinda wish there was an infinite amount of chords to untangle well you're in luck because cable chaos delivers all of the fun of figuring out which chords go to which ports it's a little scrappy looking right now but it would be incredible if the creator of this game turned it into a mobile game where you'd have to do things like shake your phone to dump the chords out and then use the touchscreen to sort what chords go where and actually I could also see this expand it into a partially educational game used to improve tech literacy around hardware because we all know some co-worker or family member that could actually use something like this phone that it's a platformer with a mobile phone and a sense of humor is there a hungry monster blocking your path better order them a pizza what about bombs scattered all over the place you should call the bomb disposal squad or maybe you're just feeling lonely maybe you should call your mom she's been missing you phone that is almost less of a platformer and more like a

puzzle game where the challenge is to think of what phone number will help you reach your goal and what helps in making this experience unique is the phone directory it isn't in the game itself but a separate text file you have to keep open to consult while you play now some might think that's a pain but it kind of got me nostalgic for my old game genie code book the reconnection clinic the setup for this game is that you play as a marriage counselor who help struggling couples rekindle their love by deleting parts of their past and while the game starts off looking like a visual novel or adventure game it then turns into a shoot-'em-up but this shift is perfectly aligned with the premise so it doesn't feel jarring at all your goal is to delete enough bad memories so that the couple is left with only the good times without destroying so much that their left has complete strangers this gives a lot of weight to which memories you choose to retain or erase and got me thinking about the moral implications of it all the game is also fairly short so it's worth your

time to experiment and see some of the game's multiple endings and it's a great example of a compelling narrative coming through the mechanics of a game no triple-a visuals required abstract logistics this entry is like a simulation of an assembly line but one with a really nice geometric aesthetic certain boxes need certain shapes flowing in to create other shapes so the challenge is to connect them to grow the assembly line as long as possible it becomes almost trance-like watching shapes flow into other shapes like a complex circuit and finally the summit in the summit you play as a little orange person who wants to reach the top of a mountain so you click and move a couple pixels click again and move a couple more and keep clicking hey nobody ever said summoning a mountain was quick or easy right however something about seeing your receding character make steady progress coupled with the sparse sound effects really draws you in and makes you want

to see what happens at the top then the game comes together when you reach the top and get to make a potentially meaningful connection was the destination worth the journey that is for you to decide and with that dear Game Jam journey errs we've reached the end of this showcase we had a few laughs some moments of introspection and we got to draw jeff goldblum i cannot stress that enough most importantly though we did it all together and that is what these game jams are really about they're about connection after all and that's what makes them so powerful so we hope this little slice of creativity showed off what kind of crazy games are possible for anyone no matter how skilled to make in a single weekend and we hope that it inspires more entries into our next game jam on August 22nd I'm still looking at you you can do it so until next time oh I gotta stop doing that hey reverb button how are you

[Music] [Music]