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snowmanic

Godot Engine | GDScript | Secret Santa Jam

About The Game​

snowmanic (also known as Snowman Apocalypse) is a top-down shooter created for the Secret Santa Jam, an event focused on the spirit of giving. I was assigned to create a gift for a participant named Snax McGee. Inspired by his profile—which mentioned a love for synth music, Legos, and shooter games—I designed this festive, action-packed game.

The game is set in a frosty world where the player wields a snow cannon. The unique twist combines shooter mechanics with a building element: enemies (snowmen) are frozen into ice blocks upon defeat. These blocks can then be snapped together to form patterns that reveal 8-bit images, paying homage to the satisfaction of building with Legos.

Note: You can also watch the gameplay on Instagram.

Media Showcase​

The player character firing the snow cannon at incoming snowmen.
The player character firing the snow cannon at incoming snowmen.
The player character firing the snow cannon at incoming snowmen.Frozen blocks being snapped together to form an 8-bit image.Level Complete Scene showing coloured in puzzle pieces.

My Role & Technical Contributions​

I developed snowmanic as a solo project over a single weekend (approx. 3 days), handling all aspects of development from art and design to programming and audio.

  • Godot Engine Adoption: I leveraged Godot's modular node system to create a flexible architecture where game objects could be easily dragged, dropped, and linked in the editor. This intuitive workflow significantly accelerated the design process.

  • Mechanics Design: I engineered the core "freeze and build" gameplay loop. This involved implementing a state change for enemies (from active AI to static physics objects) and a grid-based snapping system that detects specific block arrangements to trigger the "image reveal" events.

  • Rapid Prototyping & Polish: With a tight deadline, I structured my development into distinct phases: asset creation on day one, mechanics implementation over the weekend, and a final sprint for audio integration and polish. I also incorporated personalized touches for the giftee, such as references to his cat and guitar.

Lessons Learned​

  • The Power of Modular Editors: Using Godot highlighted the efficiency of a well-designed editor. The ability to jump between related objects and visually manage the scene hierarchy made the development experience smooth and enjoyable.

  • Cross-Platform Build Considerations: Developing on a Mac introduced complications when creating the final WebGL build. I learned the hard way that local testing environments can differ from the deployed build, emphasizing the need for earlier build testing in the pipeline.