So the 20 second game jam is done and dusted.

The key element of this jam was to reduce scope and get something done which could be played in 20 seconds. If you haven't checked out some of the other entries you should! A couple of my favourites were Circle Panic and 20 Seconds To Oblivion.

I wasn't entirely happy with the original submission in a couple of places, notably the progress bar and the end game dialog.

As you can see, the progress bar is a bit generic and the endgame dialogue is also a bit generic. As with any deadline, it's almost always better to get something out that isn't perfect, as opposed to missing the deadline and racking up the opportunity cost.

After some feedback, something else that became apparent was that people were either not reading the instructions or not understanding them. This is nearly always a problem with the in-game help / tutorial system, as opposed to the user not following instructions. In a game scenario I'd argue that it's always critical to make sure the instructions are really clear and in your face.

Something I got from the Steve Krug book 'Don't Make Me Think'.

I also found that it wasn't clear that you had to press a key to really 'start' the game. Initially, when the game opens, you can control the henchman, Rogi, and move him left and right. However, this doesn't add any narrative to the gameplay but was just the point at which I started writing the game. You then had to press the 'E' (for execute) key to release or awake the faeling which then starts descending into the pit with the head swinging below. This was confusing.

So after the initial release I did a few updates.

I changed the font I was using and the progress bar to fit the look and feel of the game a bit more.

I changed the start up to show a dialog with the instructions so it's in your face, and the start of the game moves the main character, the faeling, over the top of the pit where it then starts to descend.

I also changed the end game dialog to fit in with the look and feel of the rest of the game (much like the style of the dialog above).

All in all it's been a valuable experience, from making the pixel art, creating a random pit generator and releasing the game in a way which can be played in the browser using Godot 4.

It's also interesting to note on the submission page that there were around 3K joiners but only (only!) 623 submissions which I think is a testament to the drive you need (or obsession!) to finish something off.

Anyway I hope you have enjoyed my updates and played the game. I'd love to know what you think and suggestions for improvement.