Thanks to everyone for your patience! Our judges had varying tastes with quite a few games we wished could have made the final list, but after much deliberation and number crunching, we’ve landed on winners we could all agree on.

1st Place ($500): Fine Detective

Fine Detective swept our 1st Place picks. Even with a mountain of games to go through and judge, I found myself coming back to Fine Detective every day just for the fun of it. It’s like a Where’s Waldo that is constantly shifting its targets; a very simple premise, instantly graspable, executed remarkably well, perfectly complimented by a catchy, chill and funky soundtrack. See you on the leaderboard~

2nd Place ($350): The Return of Fishmen

In a style reminiscent of Gameboy Zelda games, this was a satisfying little adventure with simple but well-made stealth mechanics that were neither too punishing nor too easy to cheese. Though the world is small, there’s a real sense of variety in the biomes and dungeon design that is pretty impressive given the jam’s time limit. For being so polished and fully-realized, it was an easy pick. 

3rd Place ($220): Vampire Frenzy 30XX

When it comes to puzzle mechanics and puzzle design, no game this jam beats Vampire Frenzy. These puzzles are tight and tough in a way I don’t normally expect from a game made in just a week, with central mechanics that are super easy to grasp without making what to do with them easy by any means. This is one of those games where we were left loving what we got but still wanting more.

4th Place ($130): Plorpo Quest: Escape from planet Zorplon

Gosh dang, this game is cute. Even when I put my extreme bias for green alien girls aside, this is still a charming and at times challenging game with great art and a fun mix of well-designed stealth and navigation puzzles.

5th Place ($70): The Nightmare of Pumlet

This is a super solid side scroller with mechanics that make good use of the theme. An all-rounder that checks off every box with a little flair. Loved the halloweeny atmosphere from both the visuals and sound! 

Honorable Mentions:

So many games left a lasting impression on us. Some were championed as a personal top pick from one of the judges, and others we agreed needed a shoutout.

Nice and Hidey

In the short time it takes to complete this game, it immediately and perfectly captures the hectic feeling of needing to hide things at the last minute. I personally think this was the best take on the theme out of the bunch, with its mechanics all being in service to its singular and relatable goal: appear to be less of a slob than you actually are. This is a prime example of what game jam games should be: short, sweet, and leaving me begging for more.

Treasure Echoes

I BOUGHT THE NIKES. These incremental upgrade type games will probably be banned someday for being more addictive than cigarettes. But in the meantime, spend an inordinate amount of time inching your way through dark caverns in order to inch *further* into dark caverns, finding the red jewel, among other things.

Scorching Light

Phenomenal visual storytelling in this minimalist game. Though it’s simple to play, it really gives the impression of a much wider bleak and terrifying apocalyptic world that also happens to have little bunnies that’ll kill ya.

Curtains

This game has just about everything you could ask for in a game with such a short development cycle: the visuals are great, the soundtrack slaps, and above all, it’s just plain fun to play. We felt it fell short on its adherence to the theme compared to other entries, which isn’t a knock against its overall quality.

The Thing In My Apartment

This is exactly the kind of thing we wanted to see this jam, a solo project from a young developer new to jamming, full of personality, humor and charm. A little rough around the edges, but there’s a sensibility here that won us over, so we’re looking forward to seeing what this dev will do next.

Hidden Brush

Easily the coziest and most relaxing game of the jam; I especially liked playing with a stylus and screen tablet even though I’m sure it was just meant for mouse and keyboard. There are secrets SO hidden that, unfortunately, multiple judges couldn’t find them, even on multiple attempts. Don’t let that stop you from trying to succeed where we failed.

Quest for the Golden Bow

It kinda makes sense that an event with this theme would result in a game containing an ARG that sends you all over the internet in order to proceed. The multifaceted trail of breadcrumbs partway through is one of the more unique takes on the theme, and there are some particularly punishing moments that push your multitasking to its limits. 

Hideaway Isle

Using a metal detector is a great, theme-appropriate central mechanic, and it’s amusingly lent towards a more fantasy-themed world. We liked the cast of characters, the charm, sincerity, coziness and soft-spoken undertones of this miniquest-centered game.

Lesser Evil

Maybe not the most adherent to the Hidden theme, but there was a lot of appreciation amongst the judges for hectic, arcadey games, especially ones that have an old school Newgrounds vibe. A good candidate for speedrunning, hint hint.

HOME SAFETY HOTLINE V2000

It seems that there’s a lot to dive into with this game that reminds me of Hypnospace Outlaw with its 90s computer aesthetic. I’ve returned to this game a few times and it’s a tough nut to crack. Smarter people than me, go check it out.

Hidden Killer

We had a few silly games that liked to troll us a bit, and this was the one that we were most entertained by. A quick little mystery with some good gags.

The Palette of Roy G. Biv

A puzzle platformer with a cool color mechanic and a nefarious neckbeard antagonist. There are a few glimpses into how deep the color mixing system can really get, and it left some of us hungry to see more brain-teasing levels.

We got nearly 60 submissions and raised over $1200 for the prize pool on our first annual run! Holy moly! Thanks to everyone that participated, especially to our sponsors and those that were helpful and supportive in the Discord, which will be transitioning into a more general game development hangout during the off season. And thanks to everyone that played the games and cheered our participants on! This was a heck of a time, and I’m already looking forward to next year! Until then...