Game
Well of Ooze
Thirty-two hours is enough time to build one idea properly, so I spent it on a seeded generator and controls that feel good, and cut everything else.
- C++
- Procedural Generation
- Save Systems
- Materials
- 32Hours, start to submission
- 2Game modes shipped
Well of Ooze was built in a 32 hour sprint for the Ukie Game Jam 2025, with a team calling itself The Weakest Game Group of All Time. The theme was contrast, and we took it literally: a slime climbing out of a dark well towards blinding light. I was lead gameplay programmer.
Controls first
On a jam clock the temptation is to build breadth. I spent the first block of hours on the aiming and jumping instead, because a game about ascending a well is a game about one verb, and if that verb does not feel good nothing else will save it.
Right click aims, left click jumps, WASD nudges you mid air. The mid air nudge is the part that took the longest to tune and the part that makes the game playable.
Seeded generation
The well is generated from a seed, so every run is a different layout and any run can be reproduced exactly. That mattered during the jam more than it does for players: when something broke, we could regenerate the exact well it broke in.
Persistence
I built a save system that carries high scores and level progression between sessions, which is what turns a jam demo into something with a reason to be reopened. It supports two modes, a timed run and an endless one.
Bridging tech and art
I was the point of contact between the programmers and the artists, integrating 3D models, UI and VFX as they landed. I also wrote a rippling water material for the surface you are climbing towards, and we used generative audio to fill out the sound design inside the time we had.
Breakdown
