Screw Up!
A Game Jam parkour game
Game Overview
Screw Up! is a vertical parkour game made for JameGam 30, a Game Jam following the theme Time kills you. As the Big Bony clock tower collapses, make your way to the top to repair it but be careful! Legends say that the gears of this tower can curve time itself!
- Make your way up to the top of the tower before time runs out
- Change the flow of time using the tower's gears
- Dodge the traps of the collapsing tower
Time Bending
The Time Bending System slows or speeds up the flow of time, affecting both the game timer and the world itself (gravity, speed of the obstacles, etc.).
When landing on a gear, the system determines if the movement goes against or with its rotation and applies a small time-flow variation accordingly within a set window that prevents time from stopping and speeding up excessively.
Time bending system
My role and reflection
What I did
I developed the parkour gameplay, time-bending mechanic, and the level structure for this Game Jam project.
- I was responsible for the development of the main parkour mechanics, including movement and "checkpoints", designed to rewind the tower timer
- I added the mechanic that bends time depending on the gear's rotation speed to make the player feel more in control of their mission
- I built the majority of the game map, placing obstacles and platforms in a way that would force the player to take risks and use the time-bending mechanic
Challenges and lessons
On the conception side, finding a way to make the theme interesting was the biggest challenge. Giving the player control over the flow of time made them an integral part of this concept, rather than having a classic timer ticking in the background.
On the technical side, balancing the time-bending mechanic and the effect of the gears was the main challenge as the timer was the central point of the game.
This project, as it was my first Game Jam, taught me how to manage time while a short deadline is approaching.
The game is available for free on Itch.io
Download on Itch.io