I Just Finished My First 2-Week Solo Game Jam — Here's What I Made 🎮🏴☠️
This was my first full solo Global Game Jam, and I’m proud to say I pulled it off — entirely on my own.
No team. No outside help. Just me, Unity, a dog named Dozer, and a cursed cake portal.
Over 14 days, I wrote, directed, animated, and produced a fully playable browser-based cartoon game from scratch. It’s weird, it’s charming, and it works on both desktop and mobile browsers.
But this wasn’t just a fun project — it was also a personal and political response to something much deeper.
🔥 Why This Mattered to Me
After being denied entry into the Red River College Game Development program — despite being more than qualified — I found myself at the center of a larger human rights issue involving not just RRC, but individuals connected to Complex Games and Frontier Developments.
I’m an Indigenous solo developer. I wasn’t just overlooked — I was boxed out. And instead of staying silent or internalizing that rejection, I chose to double down.
This game became my proof — not just of skill, but of self-respect. If they weren’t going to acknowledge what I can do, I would just show the world myself.
🐾 The Game: Dozer and the Cake Portal
A short, strange, hand-animated forest survival game with cartoon energy and zero seriousness.
Features:
- 🐶 Dozer, your loyal companion
- 🎂 A mysterious cake portal (don’t ask)
- 🪓 Crafting (sticks + stones = axe)
- 🌲 Full custom animation, sound, and camera work
- 🌐 Playable on mobile + desktop via WebGL
Play it here (in-browser, no install):
👉 https://itch.io/jam/pirate/rate/3731283
💡 What I Learned
- Unity WebGL is a miracle when it works — and hell when it doesn’t
- Butler is your best friend for clean Itch.io deployments
- Animation + camera choreography = emotional weight, even in a short game
- Goofy stories with real heart leave a longer impression than complexity for complexity’s sake
📚 What's Next?
I’m now enrolled at the University of Manitoba, pursuing Computer Engineering and continuing to build out games, music, and systems under my brand Formant.
This game jam project marks the first public release in that journey. More is coming. Games, stories, advocacy, systems — all built with that same clarity of voice and refusal to water it down for institutions.
🛠️ Final Notes
This post was written using AI tools to help structure and optimize it for readability and SEO — but the game itself? 100% mine. The jam did not allow AI generation, and I wouldn’t have needed it anyway. AI is a tool. Without it, I’m just slower — not less creative.
Thanks for reading.
If you’ve ever felt excluded or boxed out — build anyway.
Let your output speak. Publish even louder.
👊
Tyler Johnston-Kent
🌐 formant.ca
🐦 @formant4udio
Top comments (0)