to dust

This was my submission to the first Redot Game Jam. The theme was Tiny But Mighty.

This is an alchemy‑style game where you create and combine basic elements to form new ones. You fly around in space creating small clouds of dust, then push them together to create new elements. New combinations are displayed in the menu as they're discovered.

This game jam ran for 8 days. All graphics, sounds, music, shaders, and code were created from scratch except for one shader adapted from this shadertoy.

I prefer to work alone so I can spend time on areas I don't usually focus on. For instance, I love sound design - from recording raw sounds to processing and editing them - but I don't usually have much opportunity to do that regularly.

The most challenging part was building a custom physics solver. The engine's built‑in physics solutions were just not working how I wanted.

I tried to convey the input scheme in‑game, but here's a more detailed list:

  • WASD, arrow keys, or left controller stick to move
  • SPACE or Xbox A for action.
  • Hold SPACE or Xbox A for a short time to push elements.
  • Hold SPACE or Xbox A for even longer to push harder
    • The hard push has a short cooldown time
  • Q or Left Trigger to zoom out
  • E or Right Trigger to zoom in
  • ESC, P, Start, or Xbox Y button for the pause menu.

You can play the game below, or over on itch.io.