Retrieval (2013)

About

Created in 48 hours for Ludum Dare 28 (December 2013) - theme: "You Only Get One".

Despite having worked in games for almost 3 years at this point, this was my first ever game jam.

I was inspired by the design philosophies employed by indie games at the time -  primarily by the creation of the game Braid (2008) and how its main mechanic and level designs were explored and expanded upon over its development.

In terms of mechanics, I had thought of how the batarang was used for puzzle-solving in the Batman: Arkham series (Rocksteady). To remain in line with the jam's theme - You Only Get One - I had imagined what the consequences and implications might be like if you only ever had one batarang at a time.

The most obvious implication was that the thrown batarang would necessitate retrieval, and therefore most puzzles might require thinking around not only its projection, but also in its retrieval.

Only a few puzzles were made, and though overall I was quite dissatisfied with my creation, I was more than happy to see potential of the idea. 

This, I believed, was the magic and purpose of game jams - to explore ideas and unpack their possibility space. To uncover this after my first jam made me consider the experience a great success.