The My First Game Jam was a game jam focused on allowing new developers to create their first game or learn how to create a game with a new tool. There were many games entered in this jam, I recorded all of them in my video compilation series. Below are some of my favorites, in a random order.

Paula’s Quest is a short RPG about a cute girl named Paula, who you play as. Your mother is making dinner, so she told you to go outside and play. You live in a snow land, where the world is never warm. There are a couple of characters nearby that you are able to speak to or interact with. Some are busy with their own lives and others need your help. There is a bit to explore, but after you’ve run out of areas, you can return back home to your mother for dinner. Though this game is short, it is quite cute and interesting to explore.

Lost Dreams is another RPG that puts you in the place of a dreaming child. You were unhappy with your reality, so you found sanctum in your sleep where all of your troubles went away. You decided to sleep forever, making friends in your dream world and providing yourself with everything you’d ever want. After a while, though, it got quite boring and dull. You decided that it was time to escape your dream and wake up. The only thing standing in your way are the friends you made in your dream. These friends each represent one of your fears - each different and in need of some help before you can battle them and escape. These quests involve normality being restored to your friends, or finding their lost items. Once you have solved their need, you will fight a rhythm-based battle to overcome that fear. This game has many different endings depending on how close you get to waking up in your reality!

7:5 is a super well made minimalist horror puzzler. This game may look simple, but the reality is far different. In this puzzler you are a small “i” shaped person. You are looking to escape the weird place that you have found yourself in. Unsure of how anything works, this game relies on trial and error, as well as sound clues, to figure out what is going on. In some rooms, you will find water or piles of bodies. Going into the bloody piles of bodies causes you to turn half red, covered in the blood. If there is an enemy (also a red figure) then they will run towards you and try to kill you. If you run into water, your body will turn while or clean. Boxes work in the same way and can be pushed around. For some walls, you or the boxes will need to be the right color to go through them. After a few tries at this game, you can get the hang of it. Some puzzles are quite tricky and may cause you to restart. The style of the game takes a horror feel with its sound; your heartbeat and small scary noises are all there is to listen to while trying to find your way out!

My Special Little Flower is an adorable adventure game about a little mischevious flowerbud. You have woken up late for school, a normal thing for you, and decided to take the day off with your friend. With nothing else to do, your friend decided to show you her secret hiding place. This place is far from town and may have some dangers too it. This danger, in the form of a flying bird, flies down and takes your friend.. No one will believe you, as you do tend to lie, so you must embark on your own adventure to save your friend. You are able to hold a few items to replenish your health, but you will mainly need to rely on your fighting and platforming skills to get your friend back. There are many characters that you can talk to, many places to explore, and a huge adventure far from the safety of your home to explore. At the current stage, some of the controls are a bit tricky to master, but this game is playable and packed with story.

Miles Dauntless, Space Detective has you trying to find out who murdered a man abord a masive colony ship. You are Miles Dauntless, a fearless space detective onboard the Goddard, a ship halfway through a 300 year mission. It has been over 150 years without a major crime. This has caused you to take up petty crimes, domestic disputes, and coffee thieves. You were happy with this life, until a body was discovered. Now you must figure out what really goes on in this ship. Even though you have not been a part of other sectors of the ship, a lot has been going on during this voyage. There is a web of conspiracies to fight your way through, tons of organized crime you have not noticed and even a few love affairs. Its up to you sort out what’s important to the case and find out who murdered this man and why.

Cloud Mage puts you in the position of a Cloud Mage who makes spells for a living. You and your pet bird make spells for clients that come to you looking for different needs. Mainly, you deal with weather. Some people need the weather to be clear while others need more rain or chaos in their weather. You have to create sprites that follow the client to the area in which the weather should change - but making these sprites can be quite tricky. Your familiar - a bird - can help you with these spells. You must pick a flower to become the sprite, a catalyst that fits the need of the spell, and a treat for the sprite once they are ready to make the spell happen. If you get all three of these elements correct, your sprite will turn out perfect and be able to perform the task. Your bird can only give you hints and tell you if one specific ingredient is correct or wrong, so you must rely on your journal to help you out. This game is super adorable, though it’s still a work in progress so some of the graphics are just placeholders for now.

Void Talk has you providing therapy for people in space. You are SAM - a new sort of technology that allows you to talk to people who are in space for long periods of time. You must gain their trust so that they will open up to you and tell you more about their lives. Each time you talk to someone you will get their file to look over and then be able to talk to them about whatever you both want. In this little demo, you only get to talk to one character; Gema Waterstone. She is a Junior Medical Officer aboard the S.S. Vision. Talking to Gema, she does lie about a couple of things. You can either point out her lies and ask her to the tell the truth, or let it go. If you point out a lie and have evidence to back it up, it can allow the patient to trust you further. If you accuse her of lying but have nothing to back it up, it can cause the patient to not trust you at all and stop talking. Its up to you to figure out what to say and be the best at your job that you can be.

Botany? is a beautiful little typing game that has you making the most of your plant. You have decided to help boost the growth of your plants by saying spells to them. The only issue is that you must say these spells in three seconds. Each spell is a random bunch of letters. You must type them quickly to see your plant grow. The faster you get at typing these letters, the longer the stringd of them become. If you are unable to type the whole thing in three seconds, your plant will die and you will have to restart. This plant is quite pretty, growing to be a beautiful feature of your home.

Good Morning, World! is quite the funny little narrative. You are a guy who is starting his daily routine. You, like most people, have a morning routine that you do each and every day. Today is no different, you are to get your routine done and go to work. You get to choose a couple of options like what to do first, what suit to wear, and what kind of breakfast to eat. But other than that it’s pretty normal - until you find you have lost your keys. This short narrative is quite funny to read through and is really uplifting. You are a charming character who is very well written into the story.

Bipo’s Adventure is a simple platformer where you go around collecting coins. Each level has 40 coins for you to seek out and collect in the given time. If you get at least 20, it will unlock the next level but you will have to stay for the rest of the time. It is not too hard to get all of the coins, though some jumps are pretty tricky. This game also features fake walls that you can go behind if you spot them, as well as teleportation waves that will bring you back to the spot before you fell. In the last level some of the platforms are even invisible. This little game is very well polished and fun to play around in. Some jumps will even challenge you.

I Lost My Glasses is a really nice narrative about a girl who lost her glasses. You had a bad dream where someone stole your glasses. When you woke up, you found that your glasses weren’t were you had last left them, so you decide to go downstairs and ask your mom for help. In a world where everything is blurred from your lack of vision, it is hard to figure out what is going on. After your mother fails to find your glasses, you find something strange on your mirror - and then are transported to another dimension with strange beings that you can barely see. In this short adventure you can talk to some strange characters and attempt to make out outlines of fuzzy things in the distance. It is quite short, but even the ending is very cute and well done.

A Chase in Rainsville is another narrative game; this one about a pot that has grown legs! It was a normal day at your grandparents home. You decided to get your chores done early so that you can have a relaxing evening in your home. Everything is going good until you discover a strange pot in the closet. You assume it is an unwanted, useless pot, so you decide to put it aside to donate or get rid of. That is, until the pot grows legs and runs away. Now, you must chase the pot through the town and attempt to get it back before your grandparents come home! In this chase, you get a few options as to where the pot goes and how to interact with other characters. This polished game has four different endings for you to discover!

An Empty Bliss Beyond the Woods is a strange narrative about being trapped in the woods. You are out painting when you started to get lost in the woods. Unable to figure out where you are and drenched in the rain, you decided to wait under a tree for the rain to pass. Unfortunately, you fall asleep. When you wake up, strange beings are around you. They seem to have trapped you where you were. Unsure how to get out of this, you cling to another strange demon for help. He seems like he can be trusted, but who knows in this forest. You don’t have much going on back at home anyway. So maybe staying stuck isn’t so bad?

The Travels Of The Dung Beetle is a cute game about a little dung beetle who is collecting bits of poo for it’s ball. You must roll around each level collecting the small droppings and adding them to your ball. This ball rolls forward and can sometimes dictate where you are able to go. Sometimes, obstacles like birds can move in your way and can eat you up - you are a beetle after all. Each level is beautifully done and quite fun to explore around. You are able to fall off some of the levels, causing you to restart, so you must be careful where you go. This game is quite relaxing and is complete with really well made graphics.

Lantern Bearer is a challenging, adorable platformer that puts you deep inside a well. You are a small bear who was sitting on a well with your friend. All of a sudden, a snake popped out of the ground, causing you to jump and fall backwards into the well. You are now trapped inside this surprisingly large space, looking to find your way back to the surface. With a lantern to light your way, you must avoid sparkling spikes, fire shooting gargoyles, and even lava. Quote a few hazards also light up the underground - along with mushrooms and other lanterns dotted around some levels. You must perfect your wall jumping skills as you work your way through each level to the door. If you happen to run into any obstacles, you will have to restart the area. You must figure out how to get back to the surface - back to your friend.

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