REFUSE - My entry for the solo Unreal Mega Stack O Jam

metagrafox
Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:56:10 +0000
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REFUSE was made for the Unreal Mega Stack O Jam https://itch.io/jam/mega-stack-o-jam
I joined the jam late and finished this in 2 days and didn’t even have to stay up all night!

I really enjoyed trying to use the kit from the Stack O Bot 2 sample project. I usually make everything myself so it’s super nice to have assets at your disposal (pun intended).

So get this…

You’ve been hired as a waste management robot, prove to your human overlords that you yourself should not become refuse!

Remember where you placed your most RECENT BOMB because the lids open and close based on the last disposal pipe you use.

You can use tricks like placing bombs in the recycling to get a new bomb but it comes at a cost as more trash will pop out and potentially another bomb.

Use the physics of the explosions to launch red boxes and the barrels down the hallway to create small efficiencies. It’s not always smart to keep running every explosive to the disposal.

Fail condition is when there is too much refuse in play [30 pieces].
Win condition is when you get to LEVEL 7.

Thanks for playing!

Here is a longer 6 minute video of gameplay if you don’t feel like downloading it!

Refuse Gameplay

Lemme know what you think and how you would have shifted the balance of the game pacing! The only thing I’ve noticed is that if I’m too efficient around level 5 or 6 you can hit the upper interval of trash chuting which is 12 seconds and it becomes a little too easy, but maybe that’s the reward you should get for being so good at it!
Trash chuting ranges from 2 seconds to 12 seconds; every loop it reduces the time by x.96 and when you sort a piece correctly it goes back up x1.03. This SOUNDS like it would reduce no matter what but 2 pieces come out at 1x.96 but if you place both pieces correctly it’s 2x1.03, so if you’re hitting a consistent combo you’ll hit the 12 second ceiling. Getting them wrong drops a bomb instantly. Exploding bombs drop another bomb too. So that’s the main reason you need to deal with the bombs because they will stack up and also cause physics chaos! You can create small efficiencies too like placing non-timer explosives(red box and red barrel) in the entrance to the bomb disposal hallway, and then place a timer explosive behind them. You can essentially launch a group of non-timer explosives back there and then take care of all of them and then come back to sort trash and recyclables. Since the bomb disposal lids alternate and you have to remember which one is open, this makes it even easier back there because you can just go back and forth with 2-5 that you launched back there.

I would actually like to update this game, do more with progression and levels, have small pauses between levels, allow for upgrades to the character kinda like a roguelite. Maybe even the ability to place little conveyor belts anywhere you want as you can afford them. Pick up two pieces of matching waste at once, stuff like that!

I like dumping my thoughts after I make these game jam games, leave a message!

7 posts - 4 participants