How We Made It: Break The Loop

When we first saw the theme "Breaking The Loop", we knew we had to take it in the most unique, creative, and down-to-earth way possible. So here is our game about quite literally breaking a loop - as in destroying a Loop convenience store and gas station! 

IDEATION & EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Above: 1) an early sketch outline of the gas station, 2) a timeline of our planning document

We are two friends who enjoy creating games together. We met several years ago and have been developing games for a few years, and this is our first time participating in a Game Jam on Itch.io. We each have different talents and skills we bring to the game, where one of us does the coding and UI while the other does the animations and art.

At first, this theme was a bit challenging. The abstract nature of it and the amount of interpretation it required made it daunting to think of a concept that would be on theme while still being original. We wanted to create a game that was funny, and incorporated the theme in a unique way. We took the wording very literally and made a game about destroying a Loop convenience store at a gas station. 

We made this game to satisfy the natural human tendency of destruction and chaos while still fitting into the sandbox genre. We wanted to create something that would make people laugh and make their day a little more interesting. And most of all, we wanted to just have fun and create something that people would enjoy.

Above: 1) a piece of the game's code, 2) the art editor for the mortar animation

CHALLENGES

It was also a bit challenging to make our game strategic and fun for players to return to. To add variety, we introduced several items and created a unique mechanic where every round has a different assortment of items. This ensures that no two rounds play the same and also makes sure that the player would always have to think of new strategies and combos. The timeframe of the jam also proved to be quite a challenge since our dream version of the game would be much grander and polished. We created a schedule and committed to remaining focused on the goal of completing the game in the short span of 10 days while still providing a complete and authentic experience for the player.

We also had to create every single piece of code and animation by hand. Our entry was coded on the Scratch programming language, meaning we didn't have access to a built-in physics engine (which would come in real handy for a game like this), or professional animating software. Instead, we created every single piece of code and frame of animation by hand, working harder but also making our game more unique.

TAKEAWAYS OF THE EXPERIENCE

This was our first jam ever! We learned how to manage our time, plan a schedule, and create more professional games. We learned to work with a theme we didn’t think of and make it ours. We especially look forward to playing our fellow contestants' work and seeing all the different ways others interpreted the theme.

Thank you for being a part of our journey!