Global Game Jam 2025 and ICT Game Jam Winter 2025
Time: 72 Hours
Theme: Bubble
Team: Vincent Ridpath, Dameron Cook, Tam Ta, and Elian Aguilera
Made with Unreal Engine 5
- Used Unreal Engine's Blueprints to script a falling bubble to act as the end goal for each level
- Worked with a team of 3 other developers to deliver a finished game in 72 hours
- Actively worked alongside team members, constantly communicating development updates and ideas
- Designed and developed multiple levels, accounting for an increasing difficultly level and introduction of new mechanics
- Utilized GitHub for version control, contributing and syncing changes across the team regularly
This game is based on the feeling of popping a bubble right before it hits the ground. It's a relatable game that we played as kids, so we aimed to find that familiar, desperate feeling of putting everything you have into catching this one bubble. That's when we came up with our main mechanic, the desperate dive. It's a final Hail Mary where you bound towards the bubble in one dramatic leap. Either you pop this bubble, or it's over.
Because of the nature of game jams and our relatively small team, I took on many roles for this game. I created the falling bubble itself, and also implemented visual indicators such as a dynamically-sized glowing ring around the bubble, and an arrow above the players head always pointing to the bubble. Making sure the player is always aware of the location of the end goal was important to me to due the fast-paced nature of the entire game. Once our main mechanics were in place, we all spent a lot of time designing levels. Together we were able to make 15 unique levels (including one large-scale finale level). We spent a lot of our time planning out how we would introduce the player to a new obstacle or teach them something new about the player controller. Each level feels like a learning experience for the player where they can overcome something new. Lastly, I was also the sound designer for this project, so I had a lot of fun creating sound effects and composing a music piece to loop in the background as well.
