With this release of Project Matchmaker, I have published my submission for the latest Code for a Cause x Micro Jam event. I wanted to spend a majority of this post discussing the development of the game and what I experiences designing it.

Day 1 (2/12/26) - Brainstorming

At 5pm when the themes of 'building bridges' was revealed, I was stumped as it was the last possible theme I was expecting. I went back and forth on a few ideas working with the theme such as resource management where you play as a construction worker sending out trucks to meet a quota while handling the resources to keep the bridges in shape. I then decided to think outside the box and get more creative, starting development on Project Matchmaker.

When starting a new project in Gamemaker, I started thinking up on how to figuratively build bridges, so I started work on this new little romance game. Two characters would be set side by side having conversations to build a bond with each other, and the player takes control to select the words to best appeal to the other. Both would have likes and dislikes from the themes of Sporty, Nerdy, Studious, Glamor, Cutesy, and Spooky which are displayed in though bubbles the player would click on to choose as a talking point.

I added in two other objects with a turn manager that goes over 20 second intervals over 6 turns where the player needs to select the words that increase affection within the turn limit. I also added in the score manager for both characters to track and check the current affection and compare it to the maximum. I then added in some placeholder sprites for the character to differentiate the 6 possible characters.

Day 2 (2/13/26) - Expanding

With the basics of the game ready, I needed to fine turn the basic loop of two characters going back and forth. Adding onto the way the wheel saves words and sends them to the other for judging, I added in two new pieces to add in strategy. First is the 'Compliment' option, appearing in the center of the wheel to be a safe option when no words are good for matching the character likes. Second is a limit on the total actions, further adding in some strategy for the player to assess what they should use.

With the addition of the title screen, it allowed me to add in a persistent manager, which would be used for selecting the two characters to send the data to and one more piece to spice up the core loop. I added in a system of 'Charms', which at this point were three different options for a way to change how turns are handled, which would increase the maximum amount of actions from 10 to 13, increase turn duration from 20 seconds to 30, and give two additional turns for players to have more time to meet the goal.

After this was done, it was time to create the cast for the game and put some faces to these likes and dislikes. I decided to have some fun with the character designs by making them have random objects instead of heads, and decided to give each character a unisex name. The first three characters were Quinn, the nerdy eyeball, Artemis, the glamorous camera, and Charlie the sweetheart with a potted cactus for a head. I also designed the first background for the date scene, a hillside picnic. Each character would have three sprites displayed based on the condition; an idle for when its not their turn, a nervous sprite when it is their turn and for when the date fails, and the glad sprite for when the date succeeds.

My friend Lainey also expressed interest in the project and volunteered to help with music and sound effects, which really helped as I was gonna take care of those last as composition isn't my strong suit. We discussed the general theme on some casual tracks similar to the Dating Start music from Toby Fox's Undertale. With three days left, I felt really confident with the progress made.

Day 3 (2/14/26) - Updating Code

In order to separate the title with the persistent manager and the dating scene, I added in a scene to act as the menu and set up both characters and the active charm. One brilliant idea I had that matched the theme of the dating app for the game was to set the characters on the menu to look like dating profiles. It was a clever way to work in the theme while also serving as a great way to get a look of them and know their likes and dislikes before the player sends them on a date. I made the phone sprites for our current three, some arrows to scroll through the options, and some code so the player can cycle through them and not send two of the same character onto one date. I also added in an info button for the player to click on and see a set of instructions for the players to read.

The next step was finalizing the way that points are calculated. Every character would have a maximum affection to reach and you would gain points based on every word scored. Any word pertaining to an interest would give 5 points, compliments would give 2, dislikes would negate 3 points, and any other word is considered neutral and only gives a single point. At the end of this, I added in the check for if both players are at maximum affection, finally adding in the win and lose conditions.

Day 4 (2/15/26) - Cleanup

When working through the rest of the placeholder assets, I created the last three characters; Kai, the studious globe head, Avery, the gothic oil lantern, and Parker, the athletic baseball head. I also designed the second background; an arcade, and added in a funny upside down cat in the background which Lainey suggested I add in. Speaking of Lainey, she told me at the end of the day that she probably wouldn't be able to complete the songs, and I assured her that it was fine and was appreciative of her offer, so the task of composing came back to me which I would follow up on once I was done with everything else.

Day 5 (2/16/26) - Finalize Assets

The last areas for me to touch up on were the menu where the player selects their characters and charm. I also updated the title screen with a new logo that swivels back and forth, and some silhouettes of all the character sprites blinking. on both sides of the screen. My friend Techhead, who is also participating in the jam asked me and several other participants if they want to cameo as pilots in his project. I was happy he offered, and I returned the favor by adding in a third background based on his project.

Day 6 (2/17/26) - Submission

I wrapped up the final pieces of Project Matchmaker just a little past midnight on the day of submission. I converted the game into an executable and tested it as much as I could before submitting the zip file onto the itch.io page for the game. Everything worked as planned, I didn't encounter any bugs, and I got the upload done. This was just to ensure a playable version of the game was ready for the submission deadline at 5pm. With the current upload complete, I went to bed with a plan to add in some music and sound effects in the morning. As previously mentioned, I saved the composition for last because I don't know much about it, but had minimal experience with it using FamiStudio for my project Sort Circuit. I used some of my previously created instruments to quickly put out a jingle for a successful date, a failed date, and a sound effect for clicking a button on the menu.

The last thing to do was create two tracks for the menu and date scenes. I tried to come up with some new melodies and a leitmotif for both to share, but couldn't put anything solid together. I decided to use a previously unused track of mine for the date scene and create a shortened and edited version for the menu. With the music implemented, the code that plays it and stops it when appropriate added, and the game exported a second time, Project Matchmaker, or at least the version for this game jam, is complete.

Special Thanks again to Lainey for offering to do some music, Techhead for adding a cameo of my project in his and allowing me to return the cameo, as well as Jestro and plenty of my other friends for the great feedback and kind words.