A Bees Life - LOWREZJAM 2024 aftermath

A few days have passed since the LOWREZGAMEJAM 2024 finished and the winners were voted on. It’s the perfect time to share some insights into my first game jam participation—how it went for me, what I did well, what could be better next time, and maybe a little outlook into the future of my little bee game.

I first learned about the LOWREZGAMEJAM when I saw a post by Amir Rajan the creator of DragonRuby on X (formerly Twitter). This caught my attention and piqued my curiosity about the event. As someone who already owned a copy of the DragonRuby Game Toolkit, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to test my skills and dive into the world of game development. Participating in a game jam had always been on my to-do list, and this one, with its unique constraints, felt like the ideal starting point.

The Plan

Given the requirement to create a game with a resolution of only 64x64 pixels, I initially thought this would be a straightforward challenge. I assumed that the simplicity of the pixel art would mean I could quickly create the necessary assets without too much effort. After all, how hard could it be to design a few simple sprites in such a limited space? The low resolution also suggested that the game mechanics would need to be simple, which I thought would make the coding process easier and more manageable.

Another aspect that excited me was the time constraint of the game jam. I saw it as a chance to maximize efficiency by using every tool at my disposal. Specifically, I was eager to experiment with AI tools to assist in generating code, which I believed would speed up the development process and help me overcome any hurdles. The idea of blending my creativity with AI support felt like a modern approach to game development that could lead to some interesting results.

How It Went

As the game jam provided several optional themes to choose from, I decided to base my game on the “peaceful” theme. I wanted the game to be something my children could enjoy, and this theme seemed to align perfectly with that goal. Around the same time, my daughter had just received a new cuddly toy in the form of a bee, which sparked the idea for my game: control a bee and let it do bee things. And just like that, the concept for my game was born.

Creating a new low-resolution project using DragonRuby was surprisingly easy. The toolkit already provides a nice starting point for lowrez games, so I only had to make a few adjustments to some variables to get started. I also utilized the Cursor editor with its integrated AI features, which made it incredibly easy to generate the basic structure of the game. The first step was allowing the player to control a bee that could fly horizontally through multiple screens, with random flowers appearing on the screen.

Over the next few days, I continued to refine the game idea, adding more features and expanding on the initial concept. The player could now collect pollen and nectar from the flowers, and eventually, deposit everything into the beehive. I also added levels with changing goals and time limits to keep the gameplay engaging. By the time the submission deadline approached, the game was mostly ready.

I submitted the game one day before the end of the game jam and then waited patiently for the first comments to come in. Unfortunately, the HTML version of the game had some issues with crashing—a problem that didn’t affect the downloadable versions but was critical since most players were trying it out in their browsers. This was frustrating, as it seemed to be an issue with DragonRuby’s HTML export rather than something I could easily fix.

The result

Despite this setback, the feedback from everyone who played the game was mostly positive and encouraging. Players appreciated the peaceful theme and the simple, yet engaging, mechanics. When the voting finally ended, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my game had placed 131st—much better than I had hoped for my first game jam participation. It’s given me a lot of motivation to continue working on my little bee game and see where I can take it next.

What have I learned

Participating in the LOWREZGAMEJAM 2024 was a tremendous learning experience, and I walked away with several key insights. First and foremost, I discovered just how surprisingly easy it is to build a game using the DragonRuby Game Toolkit. The toolkit is incredibly user-friendly, offering a wealth of examples to learn from, which made it easier to get up to speed. Additionally, it even provides a starting point specifically designed for low-resolution games, which was perfect for this jam. This feature saved me a lot of time and allowed me to focus more on the creative aspects of game development rather than getting bogged down in technical details.

Another major takeaway was the effectiveness of using Cursor and its AI features. This tool proved to be a game changer for me. The AI assistance allowed me to quickly generate code and implement features that might have otherwise taken much longer to develop. Honestly, I don’t think I would have finished the game in time without it. The ability to streamline coding tasks and iterate rapidly was invaluable, especially under the time constraints of a game jam.

However, not everything was perfect. Some testers mentioned that the gameplay lacked depth and wasn’t as challenging as they would have liked. This feedback was eye-opening and made me realize that while simplicity can be a strength, it’s also important to ensure that the game mechanics offer enough complexity to keep players engaged. This is something I need to focus on more in future projects. Finding the right balance between accessibility and challenge will be a key area for improvement.

All in all, participating in the LOWREZGAMEJAM was a fun and rewarding experience. It not only pushed me to develop my skills further but also gave me a clearer idea of where I need to improve. I’m already looking forward to participating in another game jam in the future, armed with the lessons I’ve learned from this one.