Bit Storm

Secretly Sassy Shrubbery

·35 min·3 clips
In a ghost-filled platformer, one player secretly wields a blowtorch to eliminate unsuspecting competitors.
The episode begins with Ben and Trevor introducing their plan to use web sockets for real-time multiplayer games in the upcoming Brackeys Jam. They use the What Three Words system to generate random prompts for game design. The first prompt, 'cuts, tutoring, inspiration,' leads to a deduction game where players communicate by cutting images from magazines to solve mysteries. Next, 'meteorologists, barometric, blowtorch' inspires a weather-control game and a platformer where ghost players reveal traps, with one player secretly able to kill others. The third prompt, 'stray tempers, frost bitten,' sparks ideas for a rage game and a social deduction game with hidden moles, referencing Among Us and Dropout's Game Changers. Another prompt, 'under-nourished, rating, girded,' results in a collaborative plant-growing game where a sassy tree rates players with a confusing grading scale like S-plus for worst and F for best. The hosts discuss gameplay mechanics, such as cooldowns and collective input, and consider the feasibility for a game jam. They end with a final prompt, 'tastings, sneaking, mocked,' brainstorming a stealth game with rhythm-based mechanics. Throughout, they balance creative ideas with practical constraints, emphasizing humor and social interaction in multiplayer design.

As heard by us

A loose game-design jam finds a petty way to weaponize multiplayer crowds.

BitStorm turns a handful of loose prompts into a multiplayer platformer built around anonymous players making each other miserable through ordinary choices.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get a real-time multiplayer platformer idea where one well-timed jump can make everyone else on the platform fall.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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