This was my first time participating in a Game Jam.

Before this, I had already been making indie games with @catzp and @ke-huang. When Cathie asked if I wanted to join them for Ludum Dare 56, I was initially reluctant. I always thought that these time-pressured game-making events weren't really for me.

I consider myself someone who doesn’t handle stress very well. If there’s a tight deadline, the pressure and anxiety can actually reduce my productivity T_T. However, many of the games I love were born out of Game Jam events. This made me think that maybe I should step out of my comfort zone and give it a try.

In my view, these kinds of events can really sharpen an indie game developer's ability to distill the essence of a game. What is the game I want to make? What is its most important, core gameplay? With only three days, you obviously can't make everything perfect, so what core content needs to be prioritized?

With that mindset, Cathie eventually convinced me to join the event. Those were three exhausting yet fun days. We probably only slept about seven or eight hours in total. I bought a lot of energy drinks, trying to keep myself awake. But after working too long, my productivity dropped rapidly, so I had no choice but to sleep for a few hours and then wake up after two or three.

In the end, we managed to finish the game! Despite all the goals we couldn’t achieve due to time constraints, I’m already very happy with what we produced in these three days. My team and I are even discussing how to expand on this project and find a balance between “testing” and “gameplay.”

All in all, it was an unforgettable three days. I’m incredibly grateful to Cathie and Chloe for doing this with me.

Cathie’s “persistence” is what ultimately gave me this chance, and Chloe helped me make my first game with purely original art (you know, as someone who can’t draw, I’ve relied heavily on free assets for my past games XD).

Of course, I also want to thank all my friends who helped test the game, and everyone who played it and gave valuable feedback. I believe this experience will be a treasured one in my indie game development journey :)

Oh, sorry, I haven’t posted the game link yet XD: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/inside-creatures-out-what-is-your-gaming-mbti