I’ve been kind of busy post-launch to get my head back in order. Whenever I release something “big” I have a disoriented and small depression phase. I wonder why tho, but I’m sure others get it too.
This sort of thing can be all consuming and when it’s done you’re sort of left with the “what am I doing now with my life” empty feeling. I say this somewhat jokingly. I think it’s pretty normal. :)
So, best medicine is game jams!
Yay!
I recently participated in a couple.
The first one was Digital Dumpster (as of writing this it is still open, it closes tomorrow).
The jam is/was hosted by Breogán Hackett and I think this is a brilliant concept. When I heard about it on Twitter I jumped on it.
The idea is that you post your unfinished work. Publicly! Raw! In its totally unfinished state.
This is brave.
Anyone that makes stuff has unfinished work. Some of that can be quite haunting, especially when you pour so much time into it and somehow life happens and you never finish it.
You can play my submission here https://alienmelon.itch.io/20
It is supremely old, but there’s lots about it that I like. The maze area (big area) is all built out and it’s huge. There’s quite of stuff you could explore, but of course it’s not finished…
My second jam participation was in FEMICOM Game Jam #3: Scribbles. It is still going on (18 days), YOU HAVE TIME TO MAKE A THING! GO!
The FEMICOM Game Jam is hosted regularly by Rachel Simone Weil of the FEMICOM Museum and “uses themes inspired by our favorite cute / femme / feminine games, software, hardware, and toys of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.”
As was the case last time, I made a frog game.
I let my frog flag fly!
I guess this is going to become a thing.
My entry is called Frog Pets. It’s a desktop pet software/game, and you have to manage your frog’s needs in order to keep them alive and happy.
Download it here: https://alienmelon.itch.io/frog-pets
I’m very proud of it. :3 It’s probably my best go at a virtual pet thing yet. It’s also delightfully weird.
I also have another little desktop pet/toy that I published. It’s called GIRB: https://alienmelon.itch.io/girb
It is part of a larger project, but you can download it here. It’s cute and I think some people will enjoy it… so I posted it as a separate thing.
I’ll be resuming working on that small (slowly becoming “big”) update to ARMAGAD (also Tetrageddon Games). After that I’m going to be making an entirely new separate game. I feel like I’m starting to get energy and ideas again so that’s awesome. :)