This is the first time I am writing a post-mortem for a jam game. This is gonna be a long one, buckle up.

Development

Initial phase/ Planning

As soon as the theme of the jam was released, I was excited. I loved the theme as it opened so many lanes you can interpret it, but that kind of became a problem. I started with an idea on the first day, made the basic mechanics of that idea but was not satisfied. So I went back to the drawing board, got a new idea, implemented its mechanics but was left unsatisfied again. So I went back again, but they say third time's the charm and that proved to be true this instant.
I finally landed on an idea which I thought might work. I made a prototype, did some playtesting, was somewhat happy but still felt something was missing. So the first 2 days of this jam were used on finding an idea and implementing a gameplay mechanic that matches the theme and is somewhat fun to play. 
The idea I landed on was that you can control any of the present NPCs on the stage but as soon as you leave control of one NPC, a timer starts as the previously possessed NPC regains its consciousness.

Progress

Major work on the game started on Day 3. 

I made the basic movement mechanics, Implemented the main mechanic of the game i.e., taking control of souls and controlling one NPC at a time, and the win condition i.e., standing on two switches at once. While working on this, another idea clicked in my head. Rather than having a timer that starts when you leave control of one NPC, I thought I will let the player switch between NPCs as many times as they want but I will turn the game into more of a puzzle so that the player will have to use both NPCs to solve platforming puzzles. But I also thought that just using two player characters won't be enough so I implemented boxes which the player can push and climb on to give the puzzle-solving a little bit more depth. 

Day 4 was level design day.

I designed around 14 levels, changed them about 84 times, and landed on the final 10 levels. 10 levels might seem like a low amount but considering it's for a jam and most people give about 5-10 minutes for a game I thought that 10 levels would be just perfect. A few more mechanics were also implemented, like making the NPC move when the player leaves control, lose condition, and spikes. 

Day 5 was a nightmare. 

I spent the whole day solving such a minor problem that when I solved it, I felt angry rather than relieved. I wanted that as soon as the player leaves control of NPC it automatically gains control of the other. But both NPCs use the same script and their control was called by the player script. It is a little hard to explain but after about 5ish hours of C# gymnastics, I got it done. 

Day 6 was Art day.

I made the background of the game, made the platforms, did lighting and post-processing in Unity to make the game look good. Also, did some minor tweaks to the overall visual design of the game. 

Day 7 was Art + Misc stuff day. 

I made the character sprites and animations (both the player character in containment and the NPCs), made them work in Unity. I also added a time-ran leader-board. Its main purpose being to give replay-ability and another reason to beat the game. To be honest, at first, I did not think this game needed a timer, as it's more of a puzzle-solving game rather than a fast-paced platformer but playing the game again and again made me think that there are multiple ways of beating a level that will directly translate into beating the game faster and a timer just makes the overall more fun in my opinion. 

Menus were on the menu for Day 8.

I made a Pause menu, Main menu, Made some other scenes like the leader-board in the main menu etc.
I also made an interactive tutorial, I learned from a jam that every game needs an interactive tutorial, No matter what game you are making, So making that was important. 

Day 9 Finishing touches. 

Day 9 was the last day I put major work in the game. I wrote a little bit of story and dialogues to make everything make sense. Also added a starting and ending cutscene.
Music and SFX were also done the same day. A thing I did with music was that I lowered its pitch by 0.1 every stage. That gave the last few levels an eerie feel. I loved that for the game. 

Day 10  The End is near

I submitted the game about 15 hours before the deadline and used the final day to playtest and to fix some bugs that appeared. I also designed the page and made a gameplay video of the game on the same day.

Final thoughts

I loved this jam. The theme was such a blast to work with. I enjoyed the problems found solutions and as always had to cut the scope of the game which is almost a ritual for game jams. Subject: Yama really encapsulates the isolation theme very well in my opinion, As you are isolated from the outer world and your only way of interacting with it is to use other people's souls. I am proud of the work and game.