The GMTK Game Jam 2024 is over, and what an experience it was! This was my first time taking a game jam seriously, and I’m so excited to share what I made: WonderWare
.
The theme for this year's jam was "Built to Scale," which immediately got me thinking about WarioWare. I’ve always loved its fast-paced, absurd, and bite-sized minigames. My idea was to take that same concept and apply it to a single character: a chicken! This led me to create not one, but three distinct 3D minigames, all joined together under the title WonderWare.
Working within the jam's strict time limit of just 5 days was a huge challenge, but I'm proud of what I managed to create for each of the three minigames.
Chimken Golf: This was my take on a classic. It features standard golf gameplay where you can choose a driver, iron, wedge, or putter to hit the ball. You also have full control over the power of your swing. To make it a bit more complete, I even managed to get two unique courses into the game.
The Toy Maze: This was a more narrative-driven minigame. The premise is that you've been shrunk down to the size of a toy and have to escape a maze. The catch? You're being hunted by the Chickotaur, a terrifying half-chicken, half-bull monstrosity that will chase you down if you get too close. The tension of navigating the maze while avoiding this beast was something I really wanted to get right.
Escape the Coop: For this one, I wanted to focus on quick, reflexive gameplay. The goal is simple: you move side to side and scale up or down to fit through a series of holes in walls that are constantly moving toward you. It’s a test of timing and precision. If you can make it through them all, you’re free!
Building three entirely different minigames in 48 hours was ambitious. I definitely felt the pressure of the deadline, and there were moments where I thought I wouldn't finish. I had bigger plans for each game—more levels, more obstacles, more complex mechanics—but I quickly learned a crucial lesson about scope. For a game jam, it's far better to have a few simple, polished ideas than a bunch of complex, unfinished ones. I had to make tough decisions to cut features and simplify mechanics to ensure I could actually submit a complete game.
The technical challenges were also a great learning experience. Implementing the golf physics, getting the Chickotaur's AI to feel genuinely threatening, and building the scaling mechanic in "Escape the Coop" all pushed my skills. But seeing it all come together in the end was incredibly rewarding.
This was a fantastic opportunity to test my limits as a developer. I'm so glad I decided to participate and am proud of what I was able to create.
I can't wait to see what everyone else came up with. If you've got a moment, check out WonderWare
on my itch.io page and let me know what you think!