I've developed a number of video games, mostly for game jams. My full portfolio can be found on my [itch.io](https://kz.itch.io/), but here is a small selection of my games. I typically make games in the [Godot game engine](https://godotengine.org/) but have also briefly dabbled with Unity and PICO-8. I got started making games when I was very young, using the drag and drop coding in [GameMaker 5](https://creatools.gameclassification.com/EN/creatools/48-Game-Maker-5.0/index.html). ## [Sockeye Salmon Run](https://kz.itch.io/sockeye-salmon-run) ![[Screenshot 2024-12-29 at 9.08.57 AM.png]] Sockeye Salmon Run is a one-screen puzzle game I made for the [2024 Confounding Calendar](https://confoundingcalendar.itch.io/), an advent calendar of thinky puzzle games. I had gone to Tumwater, Washington and seen a salmon run in real life earlier this year and that served as the inspiration for the game's theme and mechanics. This is the first puzzle game I've made where the puzzle mechanics were designed entirely from the thematic elements rather than the other way around. As a result, the level design is not "tight" nor is the solution unique. But I think there is a high degree of theme-mechanic coherence that makes the game feel more organically designed. ## [Shuffolks!](https://kz.itch.io/shuffolks) ![[x0AZ1U.gif]] Shuffolks is my most recent game jam entry. It was created for the GMTK Game Jam 2021 with the theme of "Joined Together". The game is a puzzle platformer where you start off as a single 1x1 block. As you navigate a level, you are able to join with other blocks and rearrange your shape at any time to jump to higher platforms and reach the flag. The idea for Shuffolks came together pretty quickly and once I had the base mechanics implemented, I really focused on level design. The latter puzzles get quite difficult and it can take an hour or more to fully complete the game. ## [Edna - Out of sight, out of control](https://kz.itch.io/edna) ![[N7qYXG.png]] Edna is my most popular game by a long shot, with over 70k plays and a feature on [The Best Games from GMTK Game Jam 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGeAkU2wu4o). The theme for the 48 hour GMTK game jam was "Out of control". In the game, you play as Edna and are able to telepathically control your minions only when they are within your line of sight. Mirrors and the ability to chain your line of sight quickly lead to some very interesting puzzle design. Prior to this game jam, I had done some preparation by practicing pixel art and deciding ahead of time to use the [Pear36 palette](https://lospec.com/palette-list/pear36), which I liked because of how vibrant and cartoon-y it is. I also made a couple simple platformer prototypes and decided before the game jam to make a platformer, since it's a universal and versatile enough genre to accommodate most themes. Looking back at my initial 30 minute brainstorming document, these are the ideas I jotted down in order. ``` A game where you can’t control the player. A game where controls get mixed up. Unconventional control schemes. A game about RNG which is out of your control -> save scumming to get through the game. How can the idea of lack of user agency be fun?  A game where you can choose WHEN actions will happen but not WHAT actions take place. Things that duplicate themselves and hence go spiral out of control. Platformer where you can’t control the main character but the main character has a field around them and anything in that field can be controlled. ``` You can see how the final idea ended up morphing into the line of sight idea. ## [Patchwork](https://kz.itch.io/patchwork) ![[mT+hgm.png]] Patchwork is a game made over 72 hours for the Ludum Dare 48 Game Jam. I collaborated with Lennart Jansson to create this recursive point-and-click puzzle game. There is a short narrative to the game where you start in front the ruins of an burned down building. By venturing into books, paintings inside of the books, and so on, you discover what led to the fire that burned down the building. This is one of the few games where I really went out of my comfort zone. We used the Unity game engine, created a point-and-click game, and explored a lot of different art styles. The shared document Lennart and I used to keep track of the ideation and tasks that needed to be finished ended up being 8 pages long by the end of the jam! ![[Mn94tS.png]] ## [Space Jelly](https://kz.itch.io/space-jelly) ![[space_jelly_gif.gif|400]] Space Jelly is a platformer I made over the course of a week for the Godot Wild Jam #14. The theme for the game jam was "Shadows" and I experimented with a platformer where the physics operated differently in the light versus in the shadow. You play as a jellyfish with normal gravity and platforming mechanics in the light, but has the ability to swim in the shadows. Each level has one or more light sources. In the later levels, the light sources are move around and you'll have to time when you're in the shadow versus in the light. ![[Pasted image 20241022155045.png|400]]