Game Design, Level Design & Puzzle Design | Unreal Engine | Brackeys Game Jam 2026.2
Team Size: 9 Developers
My Role: Game Designer / Level & Puzzle Designer
Development: Game Jam Project
Theme: Trust No One
Project Overview
Playtime’s Over is a game created for Brackeys Game Jam 2026.2, where the theme was “Trust No One”.
The idea behind the game is that the developers themselves are trying to stop you from progressing. As you make your way through the game, you have to deal with obstacles, tricks and unexpected changes designed to make you question whether you can trust what’s happening around you.
We wanted to take the theme in a slightly different direction by making the developers part of the challenge, rather than having a traditional enemy that the player needs to avoid.
My Role & Contributions
I worked as one of the game and level/puzzle designers in a team of nine. My main focus was helping develop gameplay ideas, working on level and puzzle concepts, and thinking about how the different mechanics would affect the player’s experience.
A big part of this was considering how we could make the game intentionally unpredictable without making it feel completely unfair. Since the whole idea was that the developers were working against the player, we needed to find a balance between surprising players and still giving them a chance to figure things out.
I also worked with the rest of the team to discuss ideas, make changes and decide which features were realistic to complete within the game jam.
Challenges & Development
One of the biggest challenges was the limited amount of time we had.
Working in a team of nine meant there were lots of different ideas being suggested, but we couldn’t realistically include everything.
We had to make decisions fairly quickly about which ideas were worth developing and which ones needed to be simplified or cut.
This was a really useful experience for me because it showed how important scope and communication are, especially when multiple people are working on different parts of the same game.
What I Learned
One of my biggest takeaways from this project was learning how to make design decisions under pressure.
I also gained more experience collaborating with a larger team, discussing gameplay ideas and adapting designs around what was achievable.
It helped me understand that even if an idea sounds great on paper, it isn’t necessarily the right choice for the project, especially when time and resources are limited.
Overall, Playtime’s Over was a fun experience and gave me a better understanding of how game jams work, from coming up with the initial idea through to getting a finished game submitted.
Created as part of Brackeys Game Jam 2026.2.