After an exhilarating whirlwind of 48 hours, we managed to submit our game just seconds before the deadline. For this jam, we made sure to devote ample time to in-depth design discussions. Among our various ideas revolving around the theme, the core idea of having the player act as a game designer consistently cropped up. One concept involved a boss fight where you play as the boss. The player's score would be determined by how much "fun" they provided to the player in this unconventional role.

Eventually, we settled on the fundamental concept of deploying minions into a level to combat a formidable "player." The fascinating twist was that these minions would possess unique behaviors that interacted in interesting and exploitable ways. Our two primary designers, however, presented radically different approaches to the moment-to-moment gameplay. The alternative concept saw the player as a physical entity capable of flying around the level, vulnerable to damage from the player character. The spawned minions would inherit the player's velocity, adding mechanical depth and forcing players to make strategic decisions—weighing the risk of getting shot against the advantage of "Throwing" rather than simply "Dropping" a minion.

This divergence sparked an intense, multi-hour discussion between our designers. Explaining and justifying our respective ideas to each other compelled us to delve deep into the core design of the game. Ultimately, we decided to discard the notion of a tangible player character, as the essence of the gameplay lay in deploying minions. By removing this micro-mechanical element, we opened up the design space and honed our focus significantly. This decision did come at the expense of some depth, which we aimed to compensate for through Meta Progression. The idea was that when players lost, they would level up, while the "Hero" they faced would also gain power. Stat changes and additional mechanics would be introduced to infuse the gameplay with variety, ultimately challenging players to become stronger than the "Hero."

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we were unable to implement this system. However, there is still substantial mechanical depth in the interactions among our minions. In a post-jam version, we would carefully balance these mechanics, ensuring that players are consistently incentivized to experiment with different minion placements if they want to survive.

On the aesthetic front, the development process was nothing short of a roller-coaster. We latched onto the idea of "Doom, but in reverse" early on. It was during a casual conversation that Kevin, our musician, whimsically suggested naming the game "MOOD." This offhand remark sparked a massive discussion about the direction we could take, eventually leading to the birth of "MOO'D." The concept of "The Doom Slayer as a cow" instantly resonated with the team, cementing a strong and distinctive aesthetic.

Our talented artists and musician took this theme and ran with it, infusing the game with a captivating personality that we see as its greatest asset.

While the game may lack some core features, and the gameplay loop isn't quite considered "complete," we couldn't be happier with the unique and captivating mood we've created here.