My Story

I have already talked briefly about my experience with this jam in my submission post, but I feel like going more in-depth anyways!
I was really excited when I heard of SteemitJam because I wanted to participate in a gamejam for quite a long time but never actually managed to do so. Steemit gave me new motivation in this regard. So I participated. I started early in the morning (about 5 hours after the jam started) with finding an idea. At first I didn't like the theme. It felt way too broad and unspecific. I did however know relatively quickly that I wanted to do something about the depths of the ocean. I wanted it to be some kind of exploration-game, where you'd dive deep with your submarine and just look at different animals at different depths.

(I watched this video a few days previously - maybe that's why)

But I just couldn't find simple gameplay ideas that would support this. So I made the game about agility and the exploration part more of a side-thing. Unfortunatly there wasn't too much time to make a large number of different animals, so I settled for 3 which would all support the gameplay. They are all wateranimals with lungs, so it would make at least some sense that they produce airbubbles. For the main mechanic I 'borrowed' a proven-to-be-fun mechanic (QWOP movement) and adjusted it for my cause. QWOP-NOE was born.

What I will do differently in the future

I'm happy to say that I learned a lot out of this GameJam. The experience itself, @poet's feedback and a few playtest by friends gave me enough impulse to hopefully be making better games in the future. Specifically the consistency of the playing experience and UI-design are things I will be taking more into account. The game also lacks positive feedback for the player which makes the fun only last for a few minutes. But thats mainly due to the nature of a gamejam. There's just not much time for upgrades, loot-boxes or achievements...

A big thank you to @Loomy for hosting such a great event. Can't wait for the next one!