Right,
The jam is over, and Quat: A Schrödinger Tale is now live on Itch.io. You can play it here: Play Quat on Itch.
Now that submissions are in and ratings have come through, it feels like a good time to look back on how the project went.
Overall
Overall, I’m happy with how things turned out.
We had a clear vision from the start, and we managed to execute on it without running into any major technical problems. The core mechanic, being observed means death, was implemented relatively early, which gave us time later on to focus on level design, presentation, and general polish.
That made a big difference. Instead of spending the final stretch trying to make the game functional, we were able to spend it trying to make the game better.
The Biggest Challenge
The hardest part was making the game intuitive for new players.
When you’ve been building a game for days, its logic starts to feel obvious. But when someone comes in fresh, especially with a mechanic that is not very conventional, the experience is completely different.
That became clear during playtesting. Even after a lot of iteration, the opening of the game still seemed to be the point where players were most likely to get stuck or confused.
We made several adjustments to improve that:
- reworking the opening sequence
- improving the HUD
- adding a How to Play screen
Those changes definitely helped, but some feedback still suggested that the game was not as intuitive as we wanted it to be. That is probably the biggest area we would look at first if we continue updating the project.
Jam Results
As for the results themselves, we ended up with a handful of solid ratings and some genuinely encouraging feedback.
A few players specifically mentioned the core mechanic and the level design, which was good to see. Going into the jam, I felt that the game’s biggest strength would be the originality of the idea, and that does seem to have come through.
We did not place in the top 100 overall, but we did place within the top 100 in Creativity, which felt fitting. Even without a higher overall placement, it was nice to see the game get some recognition in the area that mattered most to us.
Looking Back on the Process
More than anything, this project felt like a step forward in how we work.
Compared to the previous project, the process felt more controlled, more focused, and generally more effective. There is still a lot for us to improve, but this one gave me more confidence that we are moving in the right direction.
It also feels pretty clear that the next project could be stronger again, especially if we can get more people involved and spread the workload a bit better.
What’s Next
We already have ideas for future projects, and a few of them feel promising. For now, though, it is nice to close this one out, take stock of what worked, and move forward with a better sense of what to carry into the next game.
Overall, this was a really good experience, and I’m grateful we got the chance to take part in the jam and put something strange and interesting out into the world.
All the best,
F2I Team