Since last month, I’ve joined a total of 4 short game jams on itchio.
I haven’t been sharing my progress here, so I’ll just dump 4 games on you all at once because why not 
I could practically turn this into 6 different posts, but I still decided to post everything in one post because I’m evil like that :P
Either ways— starting first:
Project Needle
This game was created in 5 days for a Game Jam called Jame Gam, creative name, right?
The theme was necromancy, and we needed to add this special object into our game: needle. So, as you see, we have you save a dead planet and work to bring it back to life, and you’re building this super weapon called Project Needle to defeat the monsters that invaded the planet.
This was my first jam in forever, and I haven’t touched wick in a long time, so I decided to join a team.
Artist: Tynnu
Music: Hyloveil
Code: Me
We placed #22 out of 101 entries, and our highest placement was #9 in the visuals category.
To check out the game, click here.
Since the art wasn’t created by me, and idk if Tynn wants me to share his assets here, so I’d rather not share the Wick file. For any of the other games below though, feel free to ask for the wick file.
Extra note:
I started the team and only accepted two members to keep the team structure small, then organized a layout of our goals and plans in a new discord server on the first day of the jam. We also voice called every day at 3 PM for at least an hour, and after each meeting we each had set goals and plans for the next day.
Teams in the “real world” work similarly.
I feel like this is what made it possible for us to create the game in such a short time. If anyone would like to try out a team project with me, let me know. Even if you’re a beginner and feel like you may not be able to do enough, don’t worry about it! The point of game jams is to have fun, so I don’t care how terrible or high quality the game we make is, and you also never know until you try :)
If enough people are interested, I could start a new collab post.
Flag Raise
This next game was created in 5 days as well, for a GameDev tv Game Jam. Tbf, I only joined this jam because they offered a free course to everyone that enters, but I still put in effort.
The theme here was a bit of a strange one: the last stand. You can interpret it as some ffa battle royal or something like that I guess… but that’s too basic. I decided to add in a flag in my game, and have the player fight enemies to protect it.
Another interesting feature I thought of adding was the ability to customize your own flag.
When I submitted this game, I totally forgot to add music at first, which was a major part of the rating… I ended up placing #370 out of 1,113 games, I was #139 in my highest category for theme.
To check out the game, click here.
Extra note:
I like planning out games like this on post-it notes. Here are my notes for this game, and as you can see my game ended up looking exactly like that (except there were 4 other characters I was planning on adding, but I ran out of time).
If you notice, the only thing I didn’t do much for planning out in my notes were the enemies, so I ended up keeping the placeholder… but hey, no one noticed
Though taking care of the art, programming, and all solo… damn, I needed to take a break.
Birthday Card
I joined the Jame Gam as my first jam, so I had to join the mini Jame Gam!
This next game was made in 2 days, and solo. This time, the theme was one ability, and I needed to have this special object in my game: card.
I’d usually spend a full day for planning alone, but I had to kinda rush things.
This game placed #44 out of 161 entries, with the highest rank, surprisingly, being #14 in the theme implementation category. Guess my unique take on the theme paid off.
Now, I feel like this might have been one of the worse games I ever made in my life— the art is rushed, gameplay is simple and still lacking, the only thing that’s there well enough is the story— but I decided to still share it here to show you all that not everything you make has to be perfect… having that said, you can check out the game here.
Newton’s Apple
This next game was also created in 2 days for a mini Jame Gam #32. The theme was gravity, and the special object that we needed in our project was bottle. I’m not gonna start going into how the game works, since there is a story in the project itself with dialogue and all. To put it simply, this is a puzzle platformer, created with the help of @awc95014’s platformer engine.
This game placed #2 out of 5 games, with the highest rank being #1 in both theme implementation and fun factor, also #2 in theme implementation and overall category, and #3 in gameplay and audio… but surprisingly I placed LAST in VISUALS?! Am I really that terrible of an artist… ?
Well, tbf, I did kinda go for super basic shapes for the platforms, but I still spend a lotta time with the art in the beginning :/
Either ways— I’ll quit my blabbering and give you the link already— if you want to try out Newton’s Apple, you can over here.
Wrapping Up
My Itchio Account
As you guys have noticed— yes, I do have an itchio account, it’s actually a pretty old account, but it’s just now that I’ve started actually making games! Feel free to check it out over here!
If you do, you’ll find two bonus new games that I didn’t mention over there— Flappy the Bird and Recycle Game (which some of you may remember on the forums).
Wick Files
If you’d like to check out the Wick files for any of the games I listed (besides the first one) to get a good look and deeper dive into the code, then feel free to ask and I’ll send it here. The dialogue system for the last game that I made, Newton’s Apple, is actually very simple and reusable, I might share it in a new post to let other people use it.
Extra Note
Notice how all my games have different game controls and what not?
First one, Project Needle, you’re building a colony, and you click around to manage buildings and get resources and what not.
Second one, Flag Raise, you’re protecting a flag from enemies, and you move right/ left/ up/ down, and you can only shoot right and left.
Third one, Birthday Card, you’re a card folded into a paper airplane, and hold space to fly up or release to fall down. This game focuses more on the story.
Fourth one, Newton’s Apple, basic platformer with reversible gravity, springs, magic carpet, needs a bit more work but you also have a story in the beginning.
Point here is with every game jam I tried creating something new, and I’d like to encourage you to do the same! Don’t keep making the same game over and over again, just with different art and story, try going for something new every time to make each one of your games unique!
Try Game Jams
Having that said, I’d like to encourage everyone here to try joining different game jams. Not only will you get decent experience and have something new to add on your resume, but you’ll also gain pretty decent feedback from others trying out your game, and you’ll learn how to improve it.
I always thought Game Jams were for more experienced devs, but I was completely wrong, there are a lot of new devs that have very little experience and still give their best. Also— it’s fun!
If you’re interested, here are some upcoming Game Jams you could try out:
Make sure to read the guidelines and rules for all of these Jams. They’re free to enter, some have prizes and some not, some start in months and some start in days, and some even give you prizes just for entering an acceptable game (like the last one). You should be able to join all of them with Wick Editor, they’re not for a specific Engine.
If you’re also interested in joining the next jam in a team, then I recommend reading the extra note I wrote under the first game I shared up top, there’s some good tips there for working in a team.
Extra (life progress)
Here is more about where I am currently in life. I have been a part of the Wick community since covid, back around 2020. It’s been 4 years! Can’t believe that I started when I was still 14, but by now I’m an adult and my teen years are over, so I want to start taking things seriously.
I did waste almost 2 years in college studying Engineering Science bc my parents pressured me into going towards a “higher” field. I regretted it, and this summer I actually switched my major to Computer Science, because that’s what I really love doing. Before switching, I took one comp sci class to try it out, and I completely loved it.
Now that I have officially switched into this field, I am starting to build up my profile and all.
I do have my own website, over at hamzah.page (which I need to update).
I also haven’t been active on Wick forums as much as I used to due to college. Studying engineering was quite stressful for me, I do regret not starting with computer science, but that said, it wasn’t really a waste. I benefited greatly from the classes I took, and now taking my experience with me into computer science, everything seems less stressful.
Still, if I have a good advice to give you all, it’s to aim for what you know you’ll love doing.
I know most folks here aren’t at the college level yet, but if you’re making games with Wick and you love it, then what’s stopping you from turning this hobby into a career? Don’t study something that you have no experience in and expect it to work out like I did.
That said, I am actually trying to move on from Wick as well. Wick will still be my go-to engine when it comes to 2D games, but for 3D, I started learning Unreal Engine last month and, despite being quite complicated, it’s an incredible engine. I won’t be sharing anything that I create with Unreal here, but I won’t be quitting Wick Editor either.
I do have one big Wick project that I plan on releasing in the future, if it works out well, so do watch out for that!
That said, it has been quite a long time… hasn’t it?
I’d like to also get a life check on how everyone is doing here. It doesn’t have to be as long as my post, could be something as simple as “great” or “bored,” and this is optional.
Bonus
Which game did you like best from those 4 that I made?
