"Overloaded" Wins Neumont's 2025 Summer Game Jam
“Overloaded” Wins Neumont’s 2025 Summer Game Jam
What was the initial idea that inspired your game?
”We started out not really knowing what we were going to do for the theme, ‘It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.’ It was a difficult theme for this game jam,” explained Jacob. “But as we were brainstorming, an idea stuck: a gun that gets overloaded. From there we took off with ideas, it became about recoil, movement, and the chaos that follows when your shotgun launches you backwards across the arena.”
“If you’ve seen Big Hero 6, it was a similar scene but taken to a larger, more theatrical scale,” added Chase.
Can you explain the core concept of your game?
”The game centers around a chaotic robot-fighting arena called the Robo Ring. Players control custom-built robots that are thrown into battle, where the main objective is to survive as long as possible while taking down other robots. One key element is a discovered ‘bug’ that allows players to reload past their normal ammo capacity, giving an unexpected twist to the battles.” Bennie said.
What makes the experience stand out?
”Beyond the fighting, the game leans heavily into atmosphere,” explained Chase. “From the voice acting to pulsing lights and sound effects, the arena is meant to feel alive and immersive. The energy is designed to feel part underground fight club, part concert, making the action as much about the sensory experience as the gameplay itself.”
How did you decide what to keep or cut?
”Our instinct was to over-scope,” laughed Jacob. “We wanted to add as much as we could, you’re talking upgrades, announcer voiceovers, crowd ambience, explosions, because it gave the game personality, even though not all those elements were necessary for the core gameplay. The only feature we cut was a spiked defense upgrade idea.”
How did you split roles?
The team fell into natural roles: Chase handled back-end programming, Jacob focused on gameplay mechanics, Bennie created the art assets, and Kian worked flexibly across tasks. “We stepped outside our comfort zones, like doing silly voice acting for the announcers,” Bennie added.
Which software did you use, and how did it save you time?
”We built everything in Unity and used Krita for all the art assets. The main thing that sped up our process was Chase developing the Cobra Package. It’s basically a bundle of reusable systems for Unity that helped streamline development.”
What challenges did you face?
”The hardest part was syncing everything,” Chase said. “From tutorials to audio cues, it was about making sure the player felt like bugs were actual features.” Overall, the challenge was balancing what the player knows versus what we know as the developers.
Any funny moments and breakthroughs?
“A common thing for us is not sleeping on the last night” Jacob said. “We usually work in the same room so we can bounce ideas around quickly. My apartment ends up as the home base, even though the room is small, we bring in folding tables and just cram ourselves in there for days. One of the funniest parts was the voice acting. It was goofy and chaotic, but also one of the highlights. We hadn’t done much voice acting before, so it felt fresh and let us decompress while still adding personality to the game” Chase said.
If you had more time, what would you add?
”More upgrades,” the team agreed. “Spikes, shields, healing feedback, making the tanks more customizable and readable for the player.”
What are you most proud of?
”The polish,” said Jacob. “The lights, explosions, and announcer banter gave it a unique vibe. But really, it was how well we worked together.”
When asked for advice for future game jammers, Jacob summed it up:
”You have to enjoy it. Passion is what pushes you through the crashes, bugs, and long nights.”
Overloaded is available to play at the button below.