“RealTD” was a web game developed in 12 hours for Mini Jam 201 – Support on January 4th 2026. The required limitation for this game jam was “only one shot”, and my interpretation of the limitation was to make a tower defense game where every tower only has one shot. The final result ended up as more of a puzzle game, where you have to strategically place your towers so they can work together to defend the waves.
This game was developed by 1 person: Mark Helminiak
Reflection
While this “Mini Jam” is supposed to last 3 days, I wasn’t able to start working until the last day, and as a result, I had to develop this game as fast as possible. The time limitation really tested my problem-solving skills, as I did not have much time to plan out my development.
Despite my time limitation, I was actually quite pleased with the result. The game mechanics felt natural, and the level design/art style helped mask the limited scope of the game. Additionally, I think I did a good job adapting the jam’s limitation, as limiting towers to only one shot in a tower defense game had completely shifted the gameplay to be more puzzle-focused.
Although I only developed 4 towers and 7 levels in the final game. I actually think this gameplay has a significant amount of unexplored potential. I might end up rebuilding this project from the ground up and turning it into a full game.
There were many aspects of this game I couldn’t fully polish in time (sound effects, tower descriptions, tutorials, etc.); and these are areas I would work on in a full game. However, I am satisfied with my final submission overall