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[JAM] TOUGH BATTLE CHOICES

Well, this was my first game jam in a long time. I really miss the days of offline hackathons, where you could meet new people, collaborate, and create amazing games together. Those were the days before COVID, right? Now it’s all from home and solo, but even so—I did it! And I’m excited to share my project with you today. I actually joined the jam on January 6, while waiting for my wife at the hairdresser's. Maybe it’s not surprising, but the game idea struck me right after reading the announced theme. “What if the entire game revolved around choosing between two options, and the rest is handled by randomness and auto-battles?” Ideas started flooding in: skills, items, what to defend against, what to attack with, who to strengthen, what to swap out... Honestly, I only managed to implement about 10% of what I had in mind, but I’m happy I stopped in time to maintain some balance between playability and variety. The core idea remained simple: choose between two options. First, the player picks a hero. You can get a new hero every two battles. Watch exciting projectile duels unfold. Choose an item to strengthen a specific hero. If you’ve accumulated enough mana, you can activate a hero’s ability during battle—if they’ve reached at least level two. You can also reshuffle (or not) the heroes on the grid. And then repeat for 50 levels. BUT—let me tell you right away: the balance is far from perfect. Sometimes it works, sometimes you’ll struggle to survive or have to restart. I don’t think anyone will actually beat the entire game. Seriously, I haven’t tried. But there’s plenty of randomness, so who knows? And I apologize in advance—I intentionally made some moments difficult or even nearly impossible. But since the gameplay is fast, starting a new session should still feel fun. Duct Tape and Sticks The game relies on three key components: Family, Custom Actions, and Array. Without these, nothing would’ve worked. I’m thrilled that I somehow managed to create a clunky but functional system where every unit has unique features while still sharing traits within their class. This saved me tons of time and will allow me to build something incredible in the future, where every battle feels like a clash of titans. It’ll also open up more opportunities for strategic depth. Third-party plugins used: Better Outline, Buffable Variable. I’m so happy you’re playing this game, and I’d be even happier to hear your thoughts and feedback. I’d love to see your game results, too! Love games, play games, make games!