GMTK25 Jam submission

I participated in GMTK Jam 2025! Here's my entry: "Installed, in My Darling,"

I'm happy with the final result! I did most of the things I wanted to do, and learned what I wanted to learn (Godot Dialogue Manager, more Blender, etc).

Below are some thoughts about the game:

Concept

I wasn't too certain I was going to participate actually, after the theme dropped, as I wasn't feeling too inspired. But I decided to mess around in blender after coming up with the 'LifeLoop' concept. The minimalist simplicity of the loop appealed to me - it seemed like the sort of slick design that companies would love. I like that it also has pretty obvious downsides that would become obvious to users, like how lowering your arms would get super uncomfortable. Plus, it glows! How annoying! I wanted to see if I could get the concept across with as little detail as possible. The visible portions are only on the sides of the torso, but the 'loop' in the name implies it is even more invasive than that... imagination is a strong source of horror etc etc. The other thing is I enjoyed the simplicity of the modelling (it's just a torus) to how awful it would actually be and what installation would entail.

Timing

Initially I was going to have the text be on separate timers, and auto-confirm one of the choices after some amount of time. This was because I liked the idea that, since the option selection was global, the 'bundle' of choices selected would drift out of sync potentially over time. I wanted it to slowly dawn on the player that it was kind of a rhythm game, but one where one's focus was a resource, i.e., the game would be figuring out which 'stream' of text was most pressing and important. It would also make it more like a twist the first time the player has to make two choices simultaneously, as if it was an emergent property (I liked the thematic implication too that your inner thoughts were distracting you from your tasks and vice versa - split attention).

I dropped this for a few reasons - firstly, I found it felt overwhelming enough just keeping track of the streams, and a timer might be too much and players would just check out. Secondly, I wanted a bit more control over the choice bundles. Thirdly, I just ran out of time to implement a timing system I was happy with!

Audio

The song you 'sing' towards the end of the game actually does have a melody, although I wasn't convinced I should include it (I like the idea that a player might try and guess the tune, as that mirrored the process of 'remembering' that the player character was going through). Regardless, if I had more time there would've been more rhythmic elements (A bass, some skittering drums, maybe more, but not too much. Just something to give a bit of driving momentum). But I also like the final effect of just sound effects.

I toyed with the idea of having the blinking lights make noises too, since they were potentially going to be part of the gameplay loop, with the player needing to press the right responses based on the colour etc. I dropped this more gamey aspect pretty early on as I didn't think I had enough time to make it not feel awkward (it might've detracted a bit from the mood). If I were expanding this idea, I think I'd bring this back. The futile guessing works in a microgame like this, but a bit more 'structure' could be done tastefully.

Visuals

This was my first time animating in blender, and I found the process a bit tricky. I was definitely using the tools incorrectly, but still, it was fun to try things out and having something move. I need to learn more about rigging. Overall, I was happy with how the little animation loop turned out, and cranking down the render settings gave such a lovely noisy effect that I think both disguised the simplicity of the scene and really helped with the mood.

Conclusions

I thought this was a pretty successful jam, all in all. I wasn't particularly interested in the ratings, although hey I won't complain with the raw score in narrative of 4/5... I possibly should've spent more time interacting with others in order to boost my ratings, but I'm not too fussed about that, and I did play quite a few games anyway. What I am really pleased about are the comments. I forgot how great it is to have other people tell you how they felt! All the comments were very nice, and definitely made the jam feel worth the effort (although the learning in of itself was enough!).

Hopefully I will have time in the near future to do some more jams... watch this space!