Wow what an experience so far. It's really amazing what you can get done sometimes if you have enough pressure from a deadline to not get caught up on the nitty gritty of things like... optimization or really worrying if you have a professional looking product. Thus far we have a pretty solid puzzle game that takes place entirely on a chalkboard! Essentially the idea is that the game is what a bored student is daydreaming during what we can only assume is a pretty hellishly boring study hall or something.

Here's a look at level 5 (of a planned 20). I got most of the mechanics and art done today, so other than a little cleanup now it's just about cranking out some quality levels. The levels are currently planned out in fives, with the first four teaching you the basics of different mechanics and the fifth being an all or nothing challenge of those mechanics. So the first set of levels just teaches you about basic box pushing, using switches to open doors, and the simple fire hazards. And thus: a maze that combines all of that!

Honestly, while it's not going to be the best game by far (I'm pretty sure if I stumbled upon this game outside of a competition like this I probably wouldn't give it too much time) and I have a feeling I'll get some downvotes for ragequits... the box mechanics are still a little unforgiving... I am really genuinely proud of myself and can see why LD can be such an empowering first experience for people. Like, I've taken programming classes since high school and have been studying game dev pretty much since then too, but outside of the last few months of preparing for this jam I haven't ever done anything so nearly... complete before. It's really quite a trip, honestly.

Anywho, thanks to everyone who makes this jam possible and especially thanks to my musician who got me a killer track (you'll just have to wait and listen everyone ;D) yesterday despite having a hectic weekend himself. If you wanna check us out just head over to our official site http://www.animerrill.com and you can find some social links and the condensed version of what I've been posting to twitter periodically the last 24 hours. Good luck everyone, and I honestly cannot wait to see all your games!!

~AniMerrill, a.k.a. Ethan Merrill