XCOW: UFO Abduction

XCOW: UFO Abduction was my entry to the 2023 GMTK Game Jam which had the theme of "Roles Reversed", hence a game where Cows abduct aliens.

As my first time doing a game jam alone, I had a lot more freedom than I'm used to, with the caveat that I had to be less ambitious then I would've been with a team. Because of this, I feel as though I underscoped, with me finishing well before the deadline. This taught that for future Jams, I should aim for a harder challenge.

Regardless, the game scored well, being in the top 10% for Creativity and Presentation while earning 3.7 Stars overall.

Genre

Arcade

Engine

Pico-8

Language

Lua

Release Date

2023

Project Type

GMTK Game Jam


Play

Title Screen

Gameplay

Screenshots

Skills and contributions

As my first solo game-jam game, most of the systems in XCOW are very simple. However, it is still worth noting that I built the entire game from the ground up in only 48 hours. The standout features I developed in that time are:

  • Alien abduction mechanic and custom particle system

  • UFO spawning and movement

  • Replenishing grass for ammo refills

  • Custom pixel art and sound effects

  • Original chiptune song for main menu