Global Game Jam 2021

Myself, and 4 others made up our team (8-bit Knights) for the 2021 Global Game Jam. The theme for that year was Lost and Found.

The game concept was simple; you play as a janitor in a school who is working night-shift. The janitor, remembering his wife who was murdered in the school, goes to work only to find his wife’s shoe in one of the halls. With signs of a break-in, you have to investigate the rest of the school to find out what happened.

My role was to create the art assets within the game environment and build out the level design. Taking inspiration from games such as Darkwood, Little Nightmares and the Silent Hill series, I went for a decrepit style. Keeping to the horror theme, I used dull colour schemes to maintain a dark atmosphere.

For the map design, I took direct inspiration from the game Silent Hill 4 - in which the main character ‘draws’ his own map in his journal. To re-create this effect, I drew out the map freehand using a graphics tablet.

Keeping in theme, I used the same approach for a newspaper that can be found in the game.

Although this was my first game jam, I had a lot of fun working with the rest of the team and creating a game together. I learned a lot in a short period of time. From learning more about level design to being introduced to Game Maker. It was a unique learning experience and would highly recommend giving it a go at least once.