When the entire Diversion office gathered to play through the game jam entries, one game stopped us in our tracks: dev.Run().
It took the theme literally; you actually control a version control system and branch out and merge in! The twist is that it is a fast-paced runner that's genuinely fun to play. It looked polished, felt tight, and had that immediate "oh, this is good" quality. We had to know more.
We sat down with the developer to hear the story behind the game that almost didn't happen.
THE INTERVIEW
What's the story behind your game? How did you come up with the idea?
To be honest, at first I only had a visual concept, and I wanted to make a puzzle game where you had to resolve merge conflicts in version control branches. I spent the entire first day trying to come up with an interesting mechanic, but I failed, and I was about to give up. Then I had this idea: "Hey, maybe I could make an action game out of this? Like a runner?"
I really wanted to keep the original idea, but make the game more dynamic and exciting - that's how dev.Run() came about.
Was this your first game jam, or have you participated in others before?
No, this is my fifth jam. I participated in the first two as part of a team, but then I plucked up the courage to try my hand at solo.
If you had one more week, what would you add or improve in your game?
Balance. Of course, balance comes first. Considering the genre and the number of different parameters and perks (which also needed some tweaking), this required time, which was sorely lacking during the jam. In fact, I didn't even have time to properly test the final version of the game — I simply tweaked the curves before submitting and hoped for the best.
How did you feel when you found out your game won?
Since this is my first victory, it's hard to put into words. It's an incredibly rewarding feeling when you strive to do something truly well and your work is appreciated. It's incredibly motivating and erases all previous failures.
Did you feel the setup process was smooth compared to other tools you've tried?
Of course. I had absolutely no problems. No additional settings or anything like that were required.
Did Diversion allow you to focus more on creating and less on managing files?
Yes, that's also true. I think the ease of setup and use played a role in that.
What surprised you the most about using Diversion?
Perhaps it's the simplicity and ease of setup and use. Seriously, when I realized I'd be using a new tool, I thought I'd have to spend some time figuring everything out, but it didn't take that at all!
Five jams. Four tries. One win. Sometimes the best ideas come on day two when you're about to give up, and sometimes the tools you're testing for the first time are the ones that just work when you need them to.
Thank you for reading, and to every creator who joined us in our Summer Game Jam!
Check out dev.Run() and see what a version control runner looks like.
Do you have a Game Jam coming up? Remember that version control is key. Get started with Diversion for free.
