The game within

Meet a condescending, evolving game-AI in a (mostly) narrative experience. Starting as a simple terminal game, it grows smarter, sassier, and harder to handle. Watch as it upgrades, breaking free from its confines to transform into mini-games. Can you outplay that which is made to play?

Context

I joined Godot Wild Jam #77 with about a week of Godot under my belt. The jam ran from 10 January 2025 to 19 January 2025.

It’s rough. It’s amateuristic. It didn’t reach the vision I had for it at all, due to time constraints. I also learned a tremendous amount in those few days: engine-specific patterns, signal flow, scene composition, and (more importantly) how to scope much, much smaller than the version that lives in my head. Who knew that trying to make multiple games in one would be impossible with my skill and limited time?

The ideation and drafting phase was where this one shone. The concept holds up.

I had to ignore all three wildcards, even though I had plans for all of them. There simply wasn’t enough time. Something I definitely keep in mind for next jams and projects.

What I’d do differently

Scope much, much (did I say much?) smaller. Don’t try to make multiple games in one, at least not at my current skill and when riding solo. There simply isn’t enough time.

Add a fullscreen button. The HTML5 export shipped without one, which makes the game harder to play. Tiny detail, big quality-of-life miss.

Final words

This is definitely a concept I want to revisit later, with more time and more experience. Perhaps as some anniversary project, a few years down the line.