I did it. My first game jam is in the books. Scream Jam 2025—seven days of terror, both in-game and on my development timeline.

As a solo developer, the experience was equal parts exhilarating and exhausting. I’m incredibly proud to have shipped Static Echo, a short horror experience where you must use a strange pair of glasses to solve a musical mystery while being hunted.

This is a look behind the curtain at what went right, what went wrong, and the brutal, beautiful process of cutting your darling features to just finish.

The Grand Vision vs. The Jam Reality

The original idea for Static Echo was part of a larger concept I’d been mulling over: using a found object to see glimpses of the past. The broken glasses were meant to be a window, using a complex stencil portal shader to show a vibrant, colorful past layered over a desaturated, grim present.

The “Oh No” Moment: This technical setup was my first major hurdle. The stencil shader fought me every step of the way, with limitations in shadows and post-processing that I hadn’t fully anticipated. It was a classic jam mistake: picking a technically complex core mechanic. I spent days trying to bend Unity to my will.

The “Heck Yes” Moment & The Pivot: The breakthrough came when I admitted defeat on the grand scale. I chopped the idea down to its absolute core. The “colorful vision of the past” became a functional tool: a way to see the memory of a music box to learn a melody. The fancy custom Houdini tool I built to auto-process assets for the portal? Shelved. It was a hard pill to swallow, but this radical simplification is what allowed me to finish. The final mechanic is a ghost of its original self, but it works.

What Went Right: Embracing the “Good Enough”

• The Power of Meticulous Pre-Jam Planning: The single biggest factor in my success was the time I invested before the jam started. I didn’t just have a concept; I had a battle plan.

I prepared a library of 3D models and sound effects. While I ended up using only a tiny fraction of it, knowing I had a deep bench of resources to pull from was a huge psychological and time-saving advantage. I never had to stop and search for a basic prop.

Every plugin and the engine itself were decided, installed, and tested before the jam. This meant I was building the game from hour one, not setting up my workspace.

• Embracing the “Kitbash & Polish” Workflow: I was determined to avoid the “grey box prototype” look, but I also accepted I couldn’t model everything from scratch.

This philosophy applied to almost everything. From the monster to the environment props, I became a master of quickly mashing up, modifying, and repurposing assets to create something new and fitting. It’s the ultimate way to achieve a custom look on a jam timeline.

I even created a custom Houdini tool to automate UV and color mapping. While I didn't end up using it for the final build (as the core mechanic pivoted), having it prototyped and ready was part of that crucial pre-jam safety net.

• Behavior Designer: An AI Lifeline: As a solo dev, coding a robust AI in a week is a nightmare. Behavior Designer allowed me to visually script the monster’s logic. Setting up Idle, Patrol, and Hunt states became a manageable puzzle. When the AI broke horribly right before submission, having a visual tree made it possible to find and fix the bug under pressure.

• The “Minimum Viable Soundscape”: I had never seriously worked with audio before. Ever. This jam forced me into it. While my elaborate plan for a 3-tier sound detection system was abandoned, I identified the 5% of audio that mattered most: the monster’s glitched scream, the player’s panicked breathing, the distorted music box melody, and the final door unlocking. The rest is silence, which, ironically, adds to the tension.

What Went “Jam-ish”: The Triage List

My pre-jam task list is a monument to ambition. My final build is a lesson in triage.

• The Audio Graveyard: My beautifully organized library of ambient loops, glitches, and detailed footsteps went almost entirely unused. The game is quiet, but it has a voice.
• The Polish That Never Was: Dust motes, screen fracture effects, complex search behaviors… all were sacrificed on the altar of the “Submit” button.
• Four Days in the Code Cave: I spent the first four days almost entirely on code and mechanics. It was terrifying to have nothing that looked like a game for so long. The “Heck Yes” moment of finally importing the 3D assets and seeing a cohesive, playable scene emerge in the last 48 hours was an unbelievable rush.

Lessons Learned

• Scope for the Demo, Not the Epic: Your core mechanic should be simple enough to implement in two days, not five. Test your riskiest tech first.

• “Good Enough” is a Superpower: Kitbashing, flat UVs, and a 5-sound soundscape can create a compelling experience when paired with strong core gameplay. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of done.
• Tools are Life, But Stay Flexible: While my Houdini tool went unused, Behavior Designer saved my AI. Invest in tools, but be ready to abandon them if they become a time sink.

Final Thoughts

Shipping Static Echo was a whirlwind. The game that exists is not the game I planned. It’s simpler, quieter, and rougher around the edges. But it’s also complete. For anyone thinking about their first jam: Do it. You will be humbled, you will have to make hard cuts, but the feeling of crossing the finish line with a game—any game—is unlike any other.

A Glimpse into the Static

While I’m thrilled with the completed jam demo, the world of Static Echo has more stories to tell. The vision of using the glasses to see vibrant, layered echoes of the past—the original core of my idea—is something I’d love to explore further. Imagine a world where every object has a memory, and the static isn’t just a monster, but a force actively erasing history. This demo is a proof-of-concept for that larger mystery. Depending on the response, I may just return to this haunted, glitch-ridden world to fully realize that vision.

Thank you for playing Static Echo. I hope its silent halls and static-filled monster leave a mark.

Play the Game & Cast Your Vote!

The jam may be over, but ratings and feedback are still open!

>> You can play Static Echo and rate it right here <<

I’d love to hear what you think! What was the scariest part for you? Your feedback and your rating mean a lot!

Toolbox & Credits

For fellow developers curious about the tech and assets that made this possible, here’s a breakdown of the key tools and resources I used. Supporting these creators is a great way to ensure we keep getting amazing dev tools!

Engine & Core Framework:

Unity v6

VSCode

Blender 4

Krita

Critical Plugins & Tools:

Amplify Shader Editor Indispensable for creating and tweaking the dual-vision shaders and VFX.

Behavior Designer This visual behavior tree system is what made creating a functional monster AI in a week possible for a solo dev. A total lifesaver.

Key Asset Packs & Resources:

Interior House Assets

MIX FURNITURE PACK

Next-gen Furniture Pack

Kitchen Set - Interior

freesound.org

A Note on Assets: A huge thank you ❤️ to all the artists and developers who create and share resources online. Being able to leverage these assets allowed me to focus my limited time on the unique mechanics and story of Static Echo rather than modeling every single book and piece of furniture from scratch.