Submitted Build!

Even though this version was far from perfect, had several features cut and had many bugs yet to be ironed out, my team was very proud to submit this version of Distant Shores after 3 very long days of work. I was fortunate enough to be the one to present our project to the other contestants who had competed alongside us and we even managed to get some of them to try it out. We received a warm reception for the game and several players told us that they enjoyed trying to find the perfect combination of actions that would lead to the prestigious perfect end screen. We did not win Global Game Jam 2022, but we did receive an honourable mention from our event organiser for our accomplishments

Takeaways

I felt that I learnt an awful lot doing this game jam: 

Firstly, this project showed me that project management is vital to the success of a game - Having someone to keep all the different departments on track and talking to each other is *as* important as the actual making of the game; game development is like a combustion engine - all the parts need to be working together to reach the desired outcome. 

Secondly, I learnt that it is just as important to listen to your teammates as it is to try and guide them. It doesn't matter how incredible you think your own ideas are, chances are that your teammate has an equally good idea that you haven't even considered yet. Take time to listen to everyone's ideas so that each person feels they have been listened to and their ideas acknowledged; it's a team effort after all!