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Earlier this month, viewers like you were
part of another record-breaking, server-smashing,

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game-making marathon.

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I'm talking, of course, about the
GMTK Game Jam for 2021.

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More than 21,000 people signed up to take
part, and they managed to bash together more

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than 5,800 games.

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Making it, once again, the biggest jam we've
ever held.

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As per usual, participants were challenged to design
their game around a theme - and this year

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it was "Joined Together".

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And so we saw a load of games where objects
were combined and connected and tied to one another.

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Sometimes literally, sometimes not.

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Now, while I'd love to play every single game…

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I don't have a couple months to spare.

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So I crowdsourced it: players left over 150,000
ratings, which left me with the top 100 games

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to play.

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And I have to say - the quality this year
was incredible, with so many creative, inventive,

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engaging, and enjoyable games.

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But, I can only choose 20 as my absolute favourites.

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So, without further ado - and in no particular
order - these are the best games of the GMTK

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Game Jam for 2021.

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Every jam, a game comes along that kinda just
blows my mind a little bit.

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This time, that honour goes to Rift Shift.

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This is a platform game with two little windows
that you can pick up and move about.

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And, basically, anything that appears in one
window will also appear in the other.

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And so to get your tiny wizard to the flag,
you'll need to place one window in the gap

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in front of him, and use the other window
to sample a bit of background with some steps.

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Now, you've got a route to the exit.

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It's awfully clever.

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There are also great puzzles that come from
moving the rift over the character, phasing

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in stuff like doors and pressure-sensitive
buttons - before phasing them back out again.

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And later levels introduce turrets that can
be blocked by creative use of the windows.

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This game is part platformer, part selection
tool from Photoshop, and all around amazing.

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Give it a go.

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This year we saw a whole bunch of 
puzzlers where boxes join together when you

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touch them.

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I count at least five in the top 100.

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My favourite of the bunch, though, was Sleepy
Blocks.

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This is a game where you control a smiley-faced
square in a grid-based world of snoozing friends.

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If you enter an adjacent tile, the sleepy
cubes wake up and join with you to create

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a brand new shape.

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And so, thus begins a bunch of puzzles about
carefully picking up new polygons in order

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to reach the exit.

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It's about picking the right path and choosing
the correct order.

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But then a new mechanic is introduced: cracked
floor tiles that can turn into deadly pits,

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and must be carefully avoided.

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But then, there are puzzles where you want
to use the pits, in order to split your shape.

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This game has a great understanding of puzzle
design and was simply a joy to play.

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Okay, let me pick one more game about joining
together blocks.

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Just because this one is very different.

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It's called Puzzle Sigma.

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The idea for this one is that you play as
a mathematical symbol - starting as a plus

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sign - and you can attach yourself to big
chunky number blocks.

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If you get a number on the left and right,
your body becomes a mathematical equation

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and the answer can be used to unlock doors.

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So pick up a 1 and a 3, and you'll be able
to unlock the door marked 4.

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It's alarmingly clever and deserves endless
points for making a game about maths that's

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actually enjoyable.

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Things get real complicated when you start
playing with numbers bigger than 9, and multiple

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symbols, and puzzles where you get different
answers as you rotate around.

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And at that point, I started to panic.

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But if you've got a better nose for numbers
than me, I think you'll really enjoy this

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game.

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If letters are more your thing, though, check
out Factori.

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Essentially an entire Zachtronics game made
in 48 hours, Factori is a problem-solving

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puzzler with one raw material - the letter
I - and about 26 different products - the

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rest of the alphabet.

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You see, if you bend, rotate, flip, and combine
the letter I - using these colourful machines

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on the right over here - it's possible to
spit out any other letter.

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And so the game is as much about building
an efficient factory floor as it is about

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thinking creatively about shapes.

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How do you make a G?

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I guess that's a bent I, a normal I, and a
rotated I… yeah, got it!

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I can't give it full points for originality
- anyone who's played SpaceChem or Opus Magnum

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will recognise the core concept immediately.

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But it's done with such alarming proficiency
that it really does deserve a nod.

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We saw a fair few arena battlers in the jam
- that's always a smart way to make the most

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out of the short time limit.

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One that really worked for me was Ghostel.

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This is, ultimately, a pretty simple game.

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You control two different ghostbusting geezers
at the same time - and as long as they're

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close enough to one another, a big deadly
laser beam arcs between their guns.

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Now, anything caught in the middle will be
vaporised - leading to a fun and frantic twin-stick

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arena shooter where you fight ghosts, cursed
furniture, and, uh, the Windows logo.

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Play it in singleplayer and it's a game that
will test your coordination.

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Play it with a friend and it's a game that
will test your relationship.

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I'd like to have seen a few more twists on
the idea, but it's a great start for a game.

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Another arena battler I dug was the very innovative
Grappling Scarf.

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In this one you play as a square with a rather
long white scarf, while trails behind you

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like the body in Snake.

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You can use this as a massive shield to wrap
it around the base in the middle of the screen

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- and protect it from incoming bullets.

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But look at the end of the scarf: it's got
a hook, which can be used to pick up bombs.

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Now you can drag them away from your base,
and hit space to split your scarf in half.

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Now you can go off and do more work while
you wait for the bomb to blow up.

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Later, however, you'll want to go back to
your discarded scarf and pick it back up - because

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every time you disconnect a bit of your body,
you become shorter and less effective as a shield.

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It's a weird, but wholly original game where
you're having to constantly put out fires,

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make small sacrifices for long-term gain,
and ebb and flow between bodies that are big

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and small.

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Safe to say, I liked it.

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Here's a theme I wasn't expecting in the jam:
using a hook-shot to pull bits of a level,

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to rearrange the play space.

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Like the very polished puzzle platformer Whale
Eater.

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My pick, though, is Phasing Puller.

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And that comes from a very small restriction
on your powers - that happens to change everything.

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Your hookshot only works when it goes through
one object - that's what powers it to latch

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onto something and drag it back.

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Otherwise, it don't work.

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This leads to a number of clever and thoughtful
levels about moving blocks for jumping on,

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and powered up energy cells for puzzle solving.

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I also liked the minimalist art style: if
you've only got 48 hours to make graphics,

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limit your colour palette to create a cohesive
style in no time at all.

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Technology is all about joining things together,
whether that's using different dongles to

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connect up a laptop, chairing multiple Zoom
meetings at once, or physically connecting

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phone calls using a switchboard.

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In fact, there we two switchboard-based games
in the top 100, and while I dug the narrative

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thread throughout Hello, Operator, my pick
of the pair was Telephone Trouble.

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The idea is the same: use wires to make a
connection between caller and recipient.

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But this one's way more manic: you've got
five cables to play with.

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Phone calls pile up like orders in an Overcooked
restaurant.

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You'll be frantically checking the phone book
to find people's calling codes.

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And - every now and again - someone will need
the hospital and you'll have to drop everything

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to answer their emergency.

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It's a rapid fire, high score-chasing arcade
gem with gorgeous graphics.

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Give it a play.

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Another common element in this jam's top 100
was constellations - such as the stunning

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and relaxing photography gem, Star Snap.

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But one game just outdid it for me: it's called
Peaceful Evening Among the Stars.

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It's a puzzle game, about connecting up stars
to make constellations.

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You can only drag a certain distance away
from a bright colourful star, so you'll need

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to use other, smaller stars as stepping stones.

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Things soon get more complex when different
coloured stars are introduced, forcing you

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to get clever about overlapping and circumnavigating
other stars.

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I feel like I've said stars a lot.

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Anyway, it's just a polished, professional,
and eminently playable game.

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Basically, when I've got to rush through 100
games to get the results out for a bunch of

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impatient game jammers… well if I end up
playing one game all the way to the end…

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I think I can safely say I liked it.

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There's always a pixel art puzzle platformer
or two in the top 100.

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This year, one of my favourites was I Gacha
Head.

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It's got nothing to do with loot boxes or
micro-transactions, thankfully.

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Instead, it's an adorable game about a tiny
man and his giant hat.

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The hat gives you the extra height needed
to grab keys - but it also makes you too towering

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to squeeze through tight gaps.

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So, soon enough, you'll need to use a low
ceiling to knock your hat clean off - returning

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you to a smaller size.

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And then, once you've done what you need to
do, it's back to the hat.

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It's a charming game, packed with puzzles
and even bonus puzzles - I'd be keen to see

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where the creators could take this with even
more time.

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Okay. This one almost makes me reconsider
the rule that there's no max team size.

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It's called Static Cling.

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It's a Nitrome-esque platformer where you
play as a ball of pulsing energy who always

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starts on a plug head.

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Now you've got to make your way to the socket,
but you're very limited in the way you can

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travel.

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Like, you can stretch out into the world but
only so far because you're joined together

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with a power source.

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If you link to a bulb, though, you can travel
through the wires and pop out on the other

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side.

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Later, you'll be able to use yourself to power
on machines like big chunky doors.

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And also transfer yourself into little robots
for more freeform movement.

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This leads to a metric butt tonne of clever
puzzles and set-ups.

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Look, you could buy this game on the Switch eShop
and not even know it was made in a weekend.

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The huge team at Team Bugulon is clearly a
game-making monster.

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Well done.

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Squeaking in at overall rating position 100
is Tether n' Feather.

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Or should that be squawking in?

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This is a parrot-themed platformer with a
big difference.

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To get over gaps, you need to do a big jump
as one parrot - and then switch to the second.

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Now, parrot number two can use their buddy
as a grapple point to do a big, looping, arcing

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swing before rocketing out the other side
and - hopefully - onto dry land.

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Later, you'll get golden feathers that let
you do more jumps and swaps in mid-air, leading

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to frantic back-and-forth chains as you leap
from parrot to parrot.

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Now, don't get me wrong - it's a little tricky
to get used to.

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But once you get the rhythm right, you'll
be soaring towards the goal in a game that

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mixes fast-pace thrills with strategic placement.

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Good stuff.

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Next up is Mrs. Modifier.

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This is an arcade adventure - on a cabinet
with not enough buttons for all the actions

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you need.

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I mean, left, right, and jump won't really
cut it when you also need to climb, air dash,

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crouch, and drop through platforms.

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So, you can open up the arcade machine and
rewire the controls for yourself.

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Like, make going to the right also perform
an air-dash, or have going to the left do

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double duty as fall through platforms.

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It seems like a clever sight gag of a game,
but it's actually a clever puzzler where you

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need to assess the screen ahead of you and
make decisions about how you can assign all

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the necessary actions without breaking things.

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I really enjoyed this, and it took a very
different twist on the theme.

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One of the most popular themes for the top
100 was games where different bits of the

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world can be jumbled up and joined together
in unique combinationas.

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Including a mini minotaur maze, and a clever
mix between Minit and Carto.

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But my pick of the bunch has got to be the
micro Metroidvania, Octo and the Pocket Dimensions.

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In this one, you find new rooms as big floating
floppy disks - and can then return to a massive

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central computer, to rearrange the maze of
room tiles to make further progress.

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Very cool - though, we've seen similar stuff
in previous jams.

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What I loved, though, was the clever ways
that developer IceburgLettuce built on the

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idea.

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For example, there are keys to pick up, but
they disappear when you use the computer - so

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you'll need to ensure that the key room is
en route to the corresponding door.

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And even smarter, one room has a big bouncy
trampoline which can spring you out of one

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room - and then over obstacles in another
- so plopping down rooms can have ramifications

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that spill out beyond their walls.

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Ah!

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It's basically like that dungeon from Skyward
Sword, if Skyward Sword was on the Game Boy.

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And if you've watched my channel at all, you'll
understand why I couldn't resist this game's

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charms.

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Next up is Space Scrap Shuffle.

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It's not the most attractive game in the jam,
but looks can be deceiving.

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In this one, you ram your spaceship into floating
bits and pieces to add them to your every-growing

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Frankenstein's Monsters of a battle cruiser.

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Like turrets for fire power, and bulkheads
for shields.

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And now you can chase down enemies and blow
them up - but you'll want to be careful as

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any leftover Lego pieces can be added to your
own ship.

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So you'll want to play carefully - only destroying
the command module, but leaving the turrets

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unharmed.

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Luckily, the game's got a generous tactical
pause system for precision decisions.

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Another cool idea is that you can jettison
bits of your own body and blow them up, in

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order to get health for other modules.

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There's a lot of decision making in this one.

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There's a load more you could do with this
game - and it suffers the same balance problem every

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game of this ilk has: it's too easy to become
utterly overpowered.

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But it's a great base for a smashing jam entry.

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Here's a really neat game with a lot of potential
for growth.

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It's called Threadbound.

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It starts out as a simple platformer.

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Move, jump, push.

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But then something special happens: you can
open an overlay above the gameplay, and here

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you can create a green thread between multiple
objects.

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And now, when you interact with one - the
other one changes too.

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Thread two boxes together, and you can now move
both just by pushing one of them.

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Eventually you'll be able to choose whether
to thread your needle through the object's

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X or Y axis, allowing for either horizontal
or vertical movement.

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A platform that goes up, when you push a box
to the side.

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This led to one of the best individual puzzles
I saw in the jam - though, to spoil it would

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be a shame.

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So I'll leave you to play it for yourself.

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Ultimately, there's so much more this game
could do: it feels like a cheeky teaser for

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the next must-play puzzle game.

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Threadbound wasn't the only game to tinker
with tapestry.

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Like the tricky climbing game Utterly Threadful,
or my next pick: Loop.

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In a world of sentient buttons and fluffballs,
your tiny needlework hero must plop down a

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cotton reel and then encircle a bunch of objects
in a big loop of thread.

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You don't want to capture just any old stuff
in your circle: you're given a recipe - some

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fluff, some fabric, and some buttons to make
a teddy bear - and so must only pick the right

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objects.

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And I think that's really sweet!

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This could have been yet another sci-fi shooter
about rounding up aliens and robots in order

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to destroy them.

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But instead it's about making toys and clothes.

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A pertinent reminder to think outside the
box when it comes to aesthetics and not land

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on the obvious first choice.

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I love how a game jam can produce games that
are basically just a funny joke.

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They probably wouldn't work as a full, paid-for
release: but as a one-off freebie made in

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a weekend, you can get away with turning your
game into a gag.

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And that includes Tongue-Tied.

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This is a silly game about a girl who has
licked an icy pole in the winter, and her

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tongue has gotten stuck.

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That means you can only move a small distance
away - but if you pick up these balls of energy,

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your tongue gets longer.

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And so in order to escape this nightmare you
need to keep increasing the length of your

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tongue, carefully wrapping it around walls
and thinking about distance.

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This lets you get further and further away
from the pole - and hopefully, towards freedom.

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The final punchline is well worth seeing.

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Next up, this is Ball to the Wall.

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This is a frantic football-style rampage of
a game.

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You're joined together with a massive pink
ball that makes it awfully hard to get anywhere

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fast.

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But, if you stand behind it you can give the
ball a big kick - and use it to smash through

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enemies and walls alike.

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This does fling you forward, so you'll need
to be quick on your toes to reposition yourself

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for the next kick.

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Or, to use your ball as a shield as it does
double duty as a way of deflecting bullets.

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This is a fun game, with a lot of charm.

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And finally, this is SparkLink.

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This game is all about controlling two characters
with completely different rules, options,

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and even input methods.

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The spark is controlled with the mouse, and
can basically go anywhere your cursor can.

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The robot is controlled with the keyboard,
is more concerned with gravity and ground,

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and only works when it's joined together with
the spark.

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And so we get a bunch of really cool puzzles
where you need to think critically and carefully

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about how these two very different characters
are going to move in order to get to the goal

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- and help, but not hinder each other.

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This is a polished and very smart game - go
check it out.

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Okay, I wanted to leave you with some honourable
mentions!

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Though, I should state that every game in
the top 100 was amazing and well worth playing.

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These are just a few games I wanted to highlight.

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Horse Divorce is a barmy Sokoban puzzler about
a two headed horse who must find its other

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head for a smooch.

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UI Warrior is an inventive game about using
bits of the interface as platforms: it almost

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made the video, but I think we have enough
puzzle platformers in here.

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Holosaur and Twominator are two games about
using your past self to solve puzzles, but

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unfortunately I highlighted something similar
in the past.

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And Top & Tom is a brilliant twist on the
endless runner genre - with a really mean

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difficulty curve.

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So there we have it.

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You can browse all 5,800 games over on itch.io
- and you can also now see the public's rankings

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for all the games.

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Thank you so much to everyone who took part
in the jam, or just rated some games, or chatted

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with us on Discord, or watched my streams.

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Thanks to my mods on Discord and YouTube,
and to everyone who made our awesome team

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finder app.

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And thanks to my Patrons, as always.

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The jam will, of course, be back in 2022.

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So subscribe to the channel to receive the
date announcement… sometime next year.

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00:19:56,350 --> 00:19:57,679
Thanks for watching.

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If you like what you just saw and want to
show your support for the jam, please check

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00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,999
out this quick YouTube ad break.