I’m happy to announce the release of my game for the Defold Game Jam 2026, as well as my first “completed” project made with Defold: Rollrend!
(Although, if everything goes according to plan, I might actually finish my first real game made with Defold in the next few days!)
As soon as I found out about the jam’s theme, Chain Reaction, I started thinking about something that could fit both the theme and the kind of games I enjoy making: games that take place entirely on a single screen.
At first, I thought about making a game where the player had to manage a zombie outbreak and spread the infection through chain reactions. However, the idea started to feel a little too predictable, so I decided to look for something slightly more original.
That’s how I came up with the basic idea behind Rollrend: a fantasy battle based on abilities that require chains of dice rolls.
The fantasy setting was also a practical choice, since I already had all the assets ready from another game I had been working on for a few months. With the limited time available for the jam, I decided to reuse them rather than create everything from scratch.
Since I don’t have an unlimited amount of free time (I have a full-time job and a girlfriend to keep happy 
), I immediately started working on the core gameplay.
During the first playtests, however, I realized that the gameplay was a little too repetitive and relied too heavily on luck. The ball was always launched in the same direction, and the player’s abilities were fixed, leaving very little room for interaction or strategy.
So I decided to add two more interactive elements to the game.
First, the ball could be controlled and bounced multiple times, using a mechanic inspired by the classic Breakout. This meant that, with a bit of skill, the player could keep the ball alive for longer and create longer chains of dice.
Second, abilities could be rearranged to create a custom sequence for their execution. Abilities require specific dice, which are consumed after being used, so the player can develop their own strategies by creating specific ability sequences and exploiting synergies between the abilities they acquire to create unique chain combinations.
At that point, the core mechanics of Rollrend were finally defined, so I continued working on the rest of the game.
Once the gameplay was complete, I spent the remaining time creating a small tutorial. I realized that, although the mechanics are relatively simple, they might not be immediately clear to someone playing the game for the first time.
Finally, during the last few hours before the deadline, I managed to put together a simple main menu and add some sound effects to hopefully improve the overall experience.
The game was primarily designed to be played on mobile, but I also did my best to make it playable on PC with mouse and keyboard.
I also tried to keep the build as lightweight as possible (the final build is only about 3.4MB).
Of course, Rollrend is still very much a prototype, especially when it comes to the balance of abilities and enemies. Those systems would have benefited from much more playtesting, which unfortunately I didn’t have enough time for.
Nevertheless, I managed to finish Rollrend and submit it to the jam, and I’m really happy with how much I was able to accomplish within the time available.
If you’d like to give it a try, you can play Rollrend on itch.io here:
https://vallo92.itch.io/rollrend
Whatever happens, I’m genuinely happy that I took part in my first game jam. It was a really fun experience and a great opportunity to learn more about Defold.
Good luck to everyone participating, and have fun!