Post-Mortem: Do You WANNA Jam?! 2026

After over a year since the last game jam I participated in, and after working on my first symphony for the first half of 2026, I decided to participate in not just one, not two, but a series of FIVE jams (three game jams and two composing jams) over the course of August and September. It was nuts, but it was also a refreshing change of pace after working on one project for many months.

The first game jam was Do You WANNA Jam?! 2026, hosted by user WannibeManisha, from Aug 15th through Aug 24th - a total of nine days. The theme was “Unstable.”

In previous jam post-mortems, I’ve written about having a clear goal right away. Over the years I’ve adopted this as a crucial step before a jam (or any project) even begins. This jam was no different. I thought about what I’ve done in the past, in terms of game mechanics, programming, style, genre, and so on, and what elements o0f a game I have either not attempted or have failed in executing. One thing I’ve been wanting to understand, create, and implement is a functioning combat system. There was my goal: to create a combat system that not only functions but is also FUN.

A simple goal but not an easy goal.

My next step (before the jam began, mind you) was setting the development schedule. Nine days total to meet my goal, factoring in my Part-Time Day Job™, family time, friends, errands - all of the important things (in no particular order) - I figured I had to have the combat system functional by the end of Day Four. Especially if I wanted time to polish the whole game, which I did want.

The first day of the jam was largely spent with family, which I factored into my jam schedule ahead of time. It’s best, for me at least, to let the first day of a game jam be reserved for paper/pencil brainstorming of ideas: what to include, how much to include, inspirations, game mechanics, great ideas, horrible ideas - all of that.

A lot of decisions have to be made quickly in the first few days of the jam, and this jam was no exception. One of the biggest decisions was working the theme, “Unstable,” into my goal of making a combat system. Ultimately, the concept I created was a holographic combat simulator, in which the levels, enemies, and damage amounts are all randomized. At this point I had my goal, a theme to work with, and a direction for development. Again, all on paper/pencil.

Doing the ideation first allowed me to hit the ground running on days three and four, both of which were fully dedicated to getting the game functional. There were still several decisions which needed to be made during these days, of course, but I was making those decisions fluidly, intuitively, and with intention.

By the end of the fourth day, I achieved a huge accomplishment: not only was the combat system functional, but the entire game was playable! It was NOT pretty to look at; none of the artwork was started and everything was using placeholder graphics (arrows, blocks, etc.). But I was able to test the game in its entirety and I had a baseline from which to work forward.

It’s important to note, too, that, despite not being visually complete and being far from polished, I felt that I had achieved my goal for the jam by the end of day four - halfway through the jam! My perspective from there on was: everything else from there on out was “just gravy,” as they say. I had ample time to create the artwork, polish up some of the systems, and even make some short music cues to round out the game.

A still of the animated title screen at runtime.

Which, of course, I did each of those steps in the remaining days of the jam (without the last-minute-panic-crunch!). I even had time to write up a concise little guide for the game, which was fun to make in and of itself.

Being a holographic arena combat game, I called the project Holoseum - a portmanteau of Hologram and Coliseum. I submitted the game with about 20 hours remaining in the jam. At the time of submission, it was the best game I had developed. I am quite proud of what I was able to not only create but also learn to do in just a few short but highly dedicated days.

After the week-long rating period (only participants in the jam are able to rate submissions), there were a total of 438 games submitted. Holoseum ranked 234th overall, 125th for Audio, and 148th for Art/Graphics.

Candidly, I was bummed for about half a second when I saw the results. I thought for sure Holoseum would have ranked a bit higher. But then I remembered how much I learned, how much I pushed myself, and how far I had come as a game developer in just nine days. Not only that, but I received many comments during the rating period from other participants praising Holoseum for its style, its graphics, its audio, and its gameplay. Needless to say, the half-second was over and the bummer was gone.

Keep in mind this was just the FIRST jam in the five-jam gauntlet. Stay tuned for the next post-mortem, because I upped the ante on myself for jam #2 and you’ll want to read about it!