Introduction
Hi there!
It’s Daniel “Danwiepier” Wiechetek from Stork’Studios here. I am one of the artists responsible for 2D assets in Stork’Studios’ games. In my first post, I would like to write about a game jam project inspired by one of Poland’s niche internet memes about an unnecessary destruction of a bridge. The whole game is in Polish and available to play on itch.io.
What is the meme about
The meme refers to a story about a guy who, against orders, wanted to bomb a bridge even though he had been instructed to capture it from terrorists. The joke is that he ended up doing the terrorists’ job for them — for free.
The game
Those baskets have a ladybug on them. Why a ladybug, you might ask?
Ladybugs live in forests because they have very good living conditions there. Forests contain many trees and shrubs that are home to aphids, which are the main food source for ladybugs. In addition, ladybugs can lay their eggs on plants where food for their larvae is immediately available. Furthermore, forests provide a suitable microclimate – they are usually more humid, and the temperature is more stable than in open areas. These conditions are favorable for many insects, including ladybugs. That is why forests are a good environment for ladybugs to live, feed, and reproduce.
This is what the Instructor says during the mission. You have a limited time of 3 minutes and 20 seconds to place all three bombs one by one.
During the stroll through the labyrinth the player gets calls from the Instructor dude. The calls are a reference to Metal Gear Solid games made by our great visionary of stealth games Hideo Kojima. There are a lot of these calls in the game and they might be a little annoying (I’m sorry).
Another reference to MGS is the behavior of enemies who scout the place looking for intruders. You need to avoid their sight to pass them (optionally you can run fast through them). Another obstacles you may encounter are fallen tree trunks. You can easily jump over them.
Once the player places all three bombs we can go to the end of the labyrinth and then we get a cutscene of surprised Supervisor after the bridge exploded.
Conclusion
This game was fun to make. I had a blast providing voice acting for the game (even if it went poorly). Since the game jam theme was “A Matter of Time” it was a pretty fitting game. It was the only game that explicitly mentioned the jam theme in-game. Most Wanted is more of a running-joke game than a full-fledged title connected to other games and that’s why it’s special.