Love Dog - Brackeys Game Jam 2025
Project Overview
"Love Dog" is a heart-warming 2D platformer created for the Brackeys Game Jam 2025, where the theme was "Connections." In this game, you play as a loyal dog with a mission: to protect your owner's romantic date from any distractions that might ruin their special evening.
The game features a combination of platforming, puzzle-solving, and mini-games as you race against time to fix various household problems before they disturb your owner's date. With multiple levels of increasing difficulty across three "nights," you'll need quick reflexes and problem-solving skills to ensure the perfect romantic atmosphere.
What makes this game unique is that approximately half of the assets, music, and sound effects were created using AI tools. The animations and pixel art were partially generated with ComfyUI and fine-tuned AI models, showing how AI can accelerate game development without sacrificing visual quality. This innovative approach allowed for rapid development of the game within a 1-week timeframe while maintaining a cohesive visual and audio style.
Key Features
- Character-Driven Narrative: Experience the story from the perspective of a loyal dog determined to protect their owner's happiness.
- Progressive Difficulty System: Three nights of increasing challenges with different difficulty settings that adjust the timing and number of problems.
- Multiple Minigames: Engage with various interactive puzzles including wire fixing, password puzzles, and quick cleaning challenges.
- Dynamic Love Meter: A responsive system that tracks how well the date is going based on your performance at managing distractions.
- Expressive 2D Animation: Charming character animations that bring the dog protagonist to life with running, jumping, and barking actions.
- Immersive Sound Design: Ambient music that changes based on the date's status, with sound effects providing feedback on game events.
Gameplay Preview
Watch the dog protagonist in action protecting the date
Development Process
The game was developed in one week for the Brackeys Game Jam 2025. Using the Godot Engine (version 4.3) and GDScript, I focused on creating a cohesive gameplay experience that blended platforming with minigames. The development was accelerated by leveraging AI tools to generate assets.
The development process included:
- Conceptualizing the game design around the theme of "Connections"
- Implementing core mechanics including player movement, interactions, and the problem management system
- Designing and coding three unique minigames with escalating difficulty
- Creating pixel art assets and animations for the game's characters and environment
- Balancing gameplay difficulty across three progressive nights
- Implementing audio design with dynamic music that responds to the game state
Technical Highlights
Godot Engine 4.3
Used for the game's core development, taking advantage of its 2D capabilities and scene system
GDScript
Custom scripting for game mechanics, character controls, and minigame interactions
AI-Generated Assets
Approximately 50% of assets, music, and sound effects were created using ComfyUI and other AI tools
Dynamic Audio
Responsive music system that changes based on the state of the date
Challenges & Solutions
Time Constraint
Challenge: Developing a complete game with multiple systems in only 1 week.
Solution: Prioritized core gameplay mechanics first, then leveraged AI tools like ComfyUI to generate assets, music, and sound effects efficiently.
Balancing Difficulty
Challenge: Creating a difficulty curve that was challenging but not frustrating.
Solution: Implemented a dynamic difficulty system that adjusts based on the night number, with carefully tuned parameters for problem frequency and time limits.
Minigame Integration
Challenge: Seamlessly integrating multiple minigames without disrupting the main gameplay flow.
Solution: Developed a flexible minigame manager system that handles transitions and maintains game state across different gameplay modes.
Results & Takeaways
The game was successfully completed within the 1-week time constraint of the Brackeys Game Jam 2025. By leveraging AI tools like ComfyUI for asset generation, I was able to create a more polished experience than would otherwise have been possible in such a short timeframe.
Key learnings from this project include:
- Effective scope management for game jam projects
- Techniques for rapidly prototyping and implementing gameplay systems
- Advanced use of Godot's signal system for event-driven gameplay
- Creating compelling game feel through responsive controls and visual feedback
- Integration of AI-generated art and animations with traditional game development
Player Reviews
"Originally this doesn't look much, but actually this feels like one of the better 'multi-tasking' games this jam in terms of playability. The gameplay is very smooth and clear. The three different types of minigames are nicely balanced and help the gameplay a lot. The house is quite big but thanks god you add a running feature."
"This is a great entry. Lots of fun and lots to do. The amount of content and mechanics is remarkable and impressive for a single person team. Kudos on your hard work!"
"Nice jam entry, I enjoyed playing it. Very pretty art style and smooth dog animations. Variety of minigames to get rid of distractions. Big house to explore with simple platforming mechanics. Overall, you did a nice job and made a solid entry!"