Hi Everyone, the Voting of Steemgg x Steemmonsters Game Jam has started! Visit our voting page and place your vote on your three favourite games!

During these 7 days of voting, we will be showcasing each of the games that was submitted, so everyone can learn a bit more about the games, and a bit more on the developers themselves.

Our second entry of the Game Jam is Goblin Tower 13K by @mys. In this game, you control a green goblin and your goal is to get as high as you can up the Goblin Tower

Game Review

In the game, your goblin starts at the Burning Land, and you want to get it up the tower through jumping onto platforms. Every step up is worth 10 points. Of course, sometimes if the platforms are close together, you might find yourself jumping up multiple levels within a single jump. Other times the platforms are so far apart that you would need to use your arrows to make sure your goblin could land on the next level.

As you go up, the bottom platforms would disappear. And if you fall now to the bottom of the screen, you will not return to the lower levels. Instead, you would die. But luckily, every 100 points you will reach a solid floor and you can to take a break without worrying about falling to death for a little bit.

As you move up every 500 points, you will move through to a different stage representing a different region in Splinterland. For example, at 500 points you would move from the Burning Land to Azmare Islands, and at 2000 points you would move from Mortis to Khymeria. Every stage would have a different design – different background colour and different blocks forming the platform. I will let you find out yourself what happens when you passed the last region in Splinterland, Draykh-Nahka, where the dragons live.

The gameplay itself is really simple, which is typical of Game Jams when there is only a short time to complete the game. But the beauty of this game, at least for the technical savvy, is the fact that the game is only 13 KB in size. This means that a lot of effort is put into compressing artwork and still making it look decent, as well as optimisation of the code such that the file size is small. @mys did this deliberately so that he can use this game to enter another game jam. It is an impressive feat indeed!

You can find more details about the game on @mys’s own post here

Game Dev’s interview

Now that we know more about his game, let’s get to know @mys a little bit better! We have interviewed @mys to talk about the game, game development, and how he feel about Steemgg:

Steemgg: Did you enter as a team or solo? If as a team, is this the same team you always have when you develop your games? Who’s in your team and what does each person do?
@mys: I am one-man-army. That’s why had to borrow @steemmonsters prepared sprites or use existing Javascript simple game engine. Doable still for tiny game like that 😉 I feel comfortable working alone.

Steemgg: How did you come up with the idea for this game?
@mys: Was looking for 2D platform game in which player explore Splinterlands. Old game IcyTower fits there well. All I had to do was to reconstruct similar game logic and draw graphics.

Steemgg: What is the most fun or memorable part for you in this game jam?
@mys: Definitely Monsters graphics processing. Cutting sprites, animating main character (Goblin) and drawing all of them on the scenes was the most attractive part.

Steemgg: Are you a professional game dev or hobbyist? How long have you been doing it?
@mys: I don’t make games. Privately I am computer forensic programmer, so strictly analysis job. In the evenings I am developing more entertaining projects like @steemnova or https://steemverse.com . Also improving at Steem curation techniques every day.

Steemgg: What is the hardest part in being an Independent Game Dev? What is the best part? And what is your most unforgettable experience as a game dev?
@mys: Goblin Tower 13k takes part in Js13kGames Game Development competition also https://js13kgames.com/entries/goblin-tower-13k . Fit game under 13 kilobyte size was tough job. Many optimization techniques were needed but this is what challenges me most 😉 I hope submitting game there can spread a word of SteemMonsters widely.

Steemgg: What is your favourite video game, and what would you improve about it if you call the shots?
@mys: I was long time player of League of Legends since beta. Good memories. Playing Poker Hold’em also (Hello to @spl Steem Poker League!). Lastly I am sticked strongly to blockchain things.

Steemgg: What do you think of Steemgg as a platform and how do you think it can be improved?
@mys: steemgg.com reminds me of https://itch.io . With more detailed UI it can be competitive alternative for HTML5 indie games. Maybe more Game Jams are needed to bring new people?

Thanks @mys for sharing your experience with us and also for your valuable opinion on our platform. We wish you success on your other Steem projects, and hope that we will see you often on Steemgg, both as a game dev and as a gamer!