jam project
Dead By Santa
A 1v4 survival game where naughty kids use voice recognition to outrun Santa.
Multiplayer scope in 48 hours
Our team of three programmers built Dead By Santa, an experimental asymmetric multiplayer game, in 48 hours for Butterscotch ShenaniJam 2019. One player hosts as Santa while up to four other players destroy presents and try to escape.
Voice as a movement mechanic
Voice recognition controls movement speed. The children accelerate by shouting recognized words, while Santa responds to a separate set of festive phrases. This turns the noise and energy around the players into part of the game itself.
We delivered a functional networked prototype despite the risks of multiplayer jam scope. Matchmaking made the finished game difficult to evaluate after the event, but building it was a valuable exercise in sharing programming ownership and learning unfamiliar technology under a deadline.