What is KaijuJam 3?
KAIJUJAM 3 is a two week game jam where participants make either a video game or a physical game about kaiju. If you don’t know what Kaiju are, generally it means giant monsters, although they don’t have to be giant. Some of the most famous Kaiju franchises are Godzilla, King Kong, and Gamera.
The only fundamental rule is you include a Kaiju somewhere in your game, you don’t even have to play a Kaiju!
My Role in the Project
In this project, I participated as a game and level designer. I was responsible for developing the core aspects of the game: shaping the overall concept, designing and setting up key gameplay mechanics, AI behavior, the player controller, and the narrative structure. I was also in charge of balancing the gameplay.
Concept and Core Idea
The player leads an alien invasion by controlling the pilot of the “Kaiju Harvester”, a powerful combat machine. Gameplay revolves around moving between compartments and operating various stations: the Combat Machine Control Station, the Gun Control Station, and the Harvest Beam Control Station. The main objective is to collect resources necessary to awaken the Kaiju and proceed with the planetary takeover.
The primary gameplay reference was the well-known project Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, developed by Asteroid Base.
Gameplay Loop
The player uses the Gun Control Station to attack peaceful civilians or enemy soldiers. It’s crucial to protect the Combat Machine, as damage from enemy projectiles reduces the Kaiju’s energy. If the energy drops to 0%, the Kaiju dies. By defeating enemies, the player not only defends the Kaiju but also collects resources that can be gathered using the Harvest Beam. Collecting these resources restores the Kaiju’s energy, and once it reaches 100%, the player wins. However, the closer the player gets to 100% energy, the stronger the enemies become and the fewer resources appear.
Character and Station Controller
It was important to ensure a seamless transition between moving inside the ship and interacting with the stations. Since the gameplay is quite dynamic, the controls had to be intuitive and not overload the player’s cognitive load. As a result, the decision was made to limit the controls to five buttons: the familiar WASD for moving both the character and individual elements at the stations, and the Spacebar for additional interactions.
When the player’s character approaches any of the stations, a “Hold Spacebar” prompt appears. Holding the Spacebar activates the station and unlocks additional functions.
On the Gun Control Station, the W/S keys are used to aim the laser. On the Combat Machine Control Station, the A/D keys are used to move left and right.
NPC Behavior and Balance
To create a balanced combat system, enemy NPCs was divided into groups. The appearance of each group depends on the current energy level of the Kaiju: the higher the energy, the stronger the NPCs, and the fewer resources (NPCs) can be collected after their destruction. Enemy groups appear off-screen, to the left and right, and move toward the laser’s damage zone. NPCs cannot attack the Combat Machine unless they are within this zone. If the Combat Machine moves out of the zone, the enemies return to the damage zone.
Peaceful NPCs also appear off-screen and run toward the opposite side, not interacting with the Combat Machine. They serve as additional resources on the map, helping the player reach their objective. The enemy spawning system was optimized to prevent screen overload: new enemy groups only appear once the previous group is fully destroyed, with the number and composition of enemies depending on the current Kaiju energy level.
While the system is functional, it is not perfect. Due to time constraints during the development of the project, there was not enough time to refine it further. As a result, players can exploit the system by avoiding combat with soldiers and simply flying around to collect resources from peaceful NPCs. Since soldiers' movement speed is slower than the Combat Machine, they are unable to catch up and re-enter combat.
If more time had been available, I would have made additional adjustments, such as increasing NPC movement speed off-screen or implementing a mechanic where NPCs that stay off-screen for more than N seconds would be automatically destroyed, and a new group of enemies would spawn closer to the player.
Tutorial
To explain the main idea and goal of the game to the player, we created a step-by-step tutorial at the beginning. This tutorial teaches the player the basic controls in a safe environment and makes their actions feel important. It also helps to create a connection between the player, their character, and the environment. This way, the player can get used to the controls without feeling overwhelmed. The tutorial includes the following parts:
1. Narrative
After clicking the START button, the following message appears in the center of the screen:
“From the depths of space, a threat has arrived. Earth is now the new home of the invaders. The Combat Machines 'Kaiju Harvesters' have wiped out the remains of civilization, turning them into food for their masters. This day is the last day of humanity.”
A ship descends from the top of the screen and takes its starting position. Under it, the bodies of peaceful civilians appear. The civilians run away to the sides.
This introduces the player to the game environment and connects them with the character and the surroundings.
2. Tutorial for the Harvest Beam
“The flight has drained Kaiju’s energy. Use A/D to move, and W/S for ladders. Reach the harvest beam station and restore Kaiju’s energy by using human bodies.”
A hint to Hold Spacebar appears above the Harvest Beam Station (right now, the player can only enter this station).
Once the player enters the station, they need to use the beam to absorb the remains of civilians. After absorbing the remains, the health bar restores 20%, and the player exits the station automatically.
This teaches the player how to move the character and interact with the station, while explaining the main goal of the game.
3. Tutorial for the Combat Gun
The player can now destroy the tanks located on the left and right sides of the screen. A message appears:
“Taking damage drains Kaiju’s energy. Protect Kaiju by attacking enemies.”
A hint to Hold Spacebar appears for entering the Combat Gun Station (right now, only this station is available).
4. Tutorial for the Combat Machine
After the player destroys the enemies, a message appears:
“Move the Combat Machine to consume human bodies and restore energy.”
Hold Spacebar hints appear above the Combat Vehicle Station (currently, the player can only enter this station).
Once the human remains are under the harvest beam, the machine stops automatically.
Hold Spacebar hints appear above the Harvest Beam Station (currently, the player can only enter this station).
Once the player absorbs the remains, the message appears:
“Fill the bar completely before Kaiju can break free.”
The message disappears, and the main game starts.
5. Gameplay
The player gains full control, and the main game mechanics are activated.
Level Design
Since game jams are time-limited, the decision was made to use pre-prepared layers that appear from the left and right. This allowed for the creation of an infinite location in a short amount of time. The location consists of 1920×1080 planes, divided into layers to create a parallax effect. It is important that the planes within the same layer are seamless. Narratively, the location is dark with signs of an alien invasion.
Layer Description:
Layer one — city road (1 variation). This layer serves as the main platform the player moves on.
Layer two — buildings in the near background. A variation of whole and destroyed houses set in a Japanese (not so important) metropolis (6 variations, differing in the size and positioning of buildings).
Layer three — less detailed variations of whole and destroyed houses in a Japanese metropolis setting (4 variations, differing in size and positioning of buildings).
Layer four — light silhouettes of destroyed houses in a Japanese metropolis setting (2 variations).
Layer fiver — silhouettes of huge Kaiju (2 variations).
Layer six — lighter silhouettes of destroyed houses in a Japanese metropolis setting (2 variations).
Layer seven — sky (1 variation).
For the inside of the Combat Machine, I chose a compact layout with stations placed close together to allow fast movement between them. This design helps the player move quickly and efficiently. Also, near the Harvest Beam Station, there’s an energy indicator for Kaiju so the player can easily see how much energy has been restored after absorbing human remains. This gives clear feedback to the player about their energy level.
Results and Feedback
As a result of the voting, our project placed 3rd, winning the “Originality” award and taking 2nd place in the “Fun Factor” category. The game received a lot of positive feedback, which shows that we did a great job. Players appreciated the easy controls and clear understanding of their goals in the game. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we couldn’t fix some bugs that affect the balance, which might make the game feel too hard for some players. Overall, we’re satisfied with the work we’ve done.
