Postmortem: Talisman Loop (GMTK Game Jam 2025)

Initial Mindset

When the theme "Loop" was announced, I brainstormed a few vague ideas. Maybe a puzzle game about physically looping around a level? Or a mechanic built around repetition? The idea appealed to me because I had never made a puzzle game before, and I liked the potential to reuse simplified pixel art elements (especially helpful as a solo dev).

Eventually, the concept evolved into "solving puzzles by collaborating with your past selves." I liked this idea immediately because I already had a mental model for how to implement the 'replay' logic. I felt relatively confident in that direction, so I committed.

Visual Style

I went for a 16x16 pixel art aesthetic with Japanese spiritual vibes... old wooden interiors, talismans, and moody shadows. I kept things really minimal: no decoration tiles, no alternates, just the essentials. This helped me stay focused, and the low resolution helped hide my (still developing) art skills.

The spirit has just two animation sets, Idle and Move (Left, Right, Up, Down). I had a bit of fun with the design... it’s basically a Yukkuri-style disembodied anime head, loosely inspired by Touhou (though not related lore-wise).

Audio

I used LabChirp to whip up some 8-bit sound effects. It’s my go-to. (If anyone has a better tool for quick SFX creation, please share!)

For music, I used MuseScore to create a short loop. I kept it simple: a single instrument with no layering, just ambient enough to add mood without distracting. The MIDI-style shamisen sound felt like a good match for the low-fidelity visuals.

Game Engine

I debated between Construct 2, Godot, or Unity. They all export to web. Godot was initially my top choice, but I swapped to Construct 2 at the last minute. Mostly because I knew it would save time on basic input and scene logic, and I was confident it could handle the mechanics I had in mind.

Time Management (Or Lack Thereof)

Honestly... I didn’t manage my time very well. My approach was to get the basics running ASAP and just wing the rest.

• Day 1: Built most of the tiles and the spirit animations. Because of the minimal style, I was able to bring these into the engine quickly and got basic movement working.

• Day 2: Focused fully on getting the core mechanics working.

• Day 3: Designed all the levels and added a few new mechanics.

• Day 4: Spent a few hours making music, polishing, and preparing for submission.

What Went Wrong

Echo Logic… Was Not Well Thought Out

The moment I tested multiple echoes, I realized my naive approach didn’t work. The echoes were repeating but it was chaotic. I honestly didn’t even know what was wrong, and for a while I thought I might not be able to finish the game.

I tried random tweaks, some helped, others made it worse. I eventually had to take a long break, which felt like procrastination and added a bit of guilt. But when I came back with a fresh mind, I finally figured it out:
I needed to reset each echo's position to the spawn point every loop, and have it disappear after its recorded duration, instead of letting it loop infinitely. That fixed the desync chaos and made the puzzles reliable again.

Level Design Is Hard

I assumed designing levels would be easy with a few simple mechanics. Turns out… not so much. The basic pressure plate mechanic got stale after just one level. I ended up creating three variations:

• One-time activation

• Hold-to-activate

• Toggle switch

That was just barely enough variety to stretch across 10 short levels.

I had initially wanted to add enemies (moving threats that fail the player on contact) and more mechanics like rotating floor panels, but I felt the risk of over-scoping wasn’t worth it. I ended up settling on a fan mechanic (it pushes the player when active), which was simple but added useful interaction.

No Real Tutorial

I tried to teach through level design, but the core rule “movement starts the countdown” might not be immediately clear. I didn’t have time to create a proper tutorial or in-game prompts, so I’m aware this might confuse new players.

🧊The Cirno Incident (Level ⑨)

I couldn’t resist.

Level 9 became a fake-out boss room, referencing Cirno from Touhou, complete with scribbles like 「あたいはバカじゃない！」 ("I'm not stupid!") on the floor, and a broken wall shaped suspiciously like a fairy. It’s obscure and probably confusing to most players… but if you know, you know. It’s ridiculous, but honestly, it’s one of my favorite moments from the jam.

What I Learned

• Scope is king. It’s not perfect, but I submitted on time because I avoided the temptation to add complex systems, fancy graphics, or dialogue.

• Echo mechanics are tricky, but really fun. There’s still a lot of untapped potential here if I ever revisit it with more mechanics and time.

• Leaning into theme and aesthetic early helped give the project identity and direction I think, even if I second-guessed it midway.

Thank You

If you played Talisman Loop, thank you so much! It really means a lot.
And if you finished it?
I think you're even cooler than Cirno.
(And that’s saying something.)