Winning 3 Awards in 72 Hours
The Setup
December 2022. SGN Game Jam. 72 hours. Solo.
The theme dropped and my mind immediately went weird places. That’s usually a good sign for a jam.
The Concept
Body Parts is a game where you literally swap body parts between characters to solve puzzles. Need to reach a high platform? Swap your legs with the tall character’s legs. Need to fit through a small gap? Swap your torso with the small character’s.
The comedy writes itself. A character with tiny legs and a massive torso waddling around? That’s inherently funny, and funny is memorable.
The Strategy
My game jam strategy has been refined over several jams:
- Scope ruthlessly. I planned for 4 levels. I shipped 4 levels. No feature creep.
- Polish early. I spent the first 8 hours on core mechanics AND juice. Screenshake, particle effects, sound effects. Not at the end — from the start.
- Theme integration matters. The jam theme wasn’t just a skin — it was the core mechanic. Judges notice this.
- Audio is 50% of game feel. I spent 3 hours on sound design. Every swap has a satisfying squelch. Every movement has feedback.
The Results
- Best Polish — The juice paid off. Every interaction felt satisfying.
- Best Theme — The body-swapping mechanic was a direct, creative interpretation.
- Most Fun — Turns out watching characters waddle around with mismatched parts is hilarious.
Three awards, solo, 72 hours. Still one of my proudest projects.
What I’d Do Differently
More levels. Four was enough for the jam, but players wanted more. That’s a good problem to have, but I should have designed the level system to be more easily extensible.
Also: sleep more. I slept maybe 8 hours across three days. The last 6 hours of development were… rough.