I'd like to extend a heartfelt thank-you from the BALANCING ACT team. As a first LDJam for most of our members, BALANCING ACT ended up being a solid enough prototype to inspire us to move further. It has been a joy to watch others take our game and give us their own nuanced opinions on how best to blast away red dudes. From clean sweeps stretching across a whole room, to precise pings around windows, to amassing the whole enemy line into a single room for a single mass eviction, the red dude rejection count across the LDJam community spans well into the thousands... and I've enjoyed every second of it.

For me, personally, this LDJam was a bit of a rough experience at first. It unfortunately began with the passing of a beloved pet, Benji, just as the weekend began. I had neither the time nor motivation to submit a Compo game this year, and without a solid team to back me up I would have missed this event altogether. I owe it to my incredible teammates @retroalestudio and @irememberdfg for pulling me through this development. From the initial discussions of a Jenga-centric tactics game, to the narrowed focus of a top down shooter, to a 15 hour stretch of pure programming and completing artwork pipeline, to the eventual shipping and bugfixing of our game, the development of this game itself was a delightful rush that got me back on my feet. While I know that aspects of my work aren't as good as they could have been, I am immensely proud of what I and our team accomplished and stand by the quality of both our current build and our concept for the future.

From there, I was reminded of what a pleasure it is to be part of this group. I've watched @simpathey, @jitspoe, @togis, @itsboats, and countless other streamers take on our game among countless others to help us get the votes we needed. I've watched post after post of developers looking to exchange titles for ratings. @rextgun started a whole community. The list goes on-- this place tends to truly bring out the best in people and I strongly believe that it is one of the greatest opportunities and gifts an indie developer could ask for. I should know by now what kind of place LDJam is, but nonetheless it never fails to amaze me how tight-knit and welcoming this community is towards developers of all scopes. The way the members here band together is truly inspiring and heartwarming.

As mentioned a few times, we've been taking careful note of suggestions, frustrations, and all-around feedback while watching countless streamers give our game a run, and we can't wait to show you the result of this feedback when we take BALANCING ACT to a commercial postjam release. The re-launch has its date set for sometime next year on ItchIO... and other platforms, possibly. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, again, THANK YOU ALL! Clocking in at a whopping 38.75 ratings, BALANCING ACT has surpassed every LDJam title I've worked on in sheer numbers. It's been a pleasure to once again swap games with this incredibly talented community and explore the imagination of countless passionate developers. From HONK III, to The Train Station Mage, to Weasel Words, to Rocky Rhodes and the Cracked Case, the ideas and games that people manage to submit here never ceases to surprise, amuse, and utterly bewilder me. The next few weeks won't be nearly as interesting now that the event is wrapping up, but I'll be counting down the days 'til we can start talking about the 50th event.

See you soon, jammers!