> [!Abstract] TL;DR > WorkroW is our submission for the GMTK Game Jam 2025. It’s a 3D game about spotting abnormal patterns in the city crowd. Think Pokémon Snap, but for a civilian surveillance state. > [!note] > **People's roles and involvement** > > - [Arthur](https://musarth.itch.io/): Music / Sound designer > - [Gusther](https://itch.io/profile/gusther): Team coordinator / Animator > - [Lucas](https://wandara.itch.io/): 3D assets / Character Designer / Dialogue > - [Remi](https://nocrunchstudio.itch.io/): Developer 🫶 > - [Rody](https://postier95.itch.io/): Character Designer > - [Trognon](https://trognon.itch.io/): UI / Game & Level designer  The GMTK game jam 2025 theme announcement # Our submission In WorkroW you have one job : identify and report those who don't do what they are supposed to do. You will have to constantly repeat your surveillance path to maintain order and make sure citizens are actually repeating the task they were assigned to. Perhaps one day, you would like to taste freedom, like some rebellious citizens, and leave your path ? ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Starting_screen.jpg]] *Title screen* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Failure 1.jpg]] *Scoreboard UI (concept)* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Rules_screen 1.jpg]] *How to play (concept)* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Screen_cage.webp]] *In Game - Patrol* # Game structure WorkroW is built around a repeating 3-step loop across 8 rounds: Briefing (give objective), Patrol (~90s on-rails observation), and Result (performance evaluation). The player’s task during Patrol is to report citizens whose behavior doesn’t match their class animation loop. ### 1. Briefing ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_1_dialog.jpg]] *01 - Dialogue screen (set the tone)* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_1_objective.png]] *01 - Objective screen* ### 2. Patrol ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/path.jpg]] *Map + path from above* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Report_Screen.png]] NPCs spawn in packs and have a random chance to be a rebel (exhibit the wrong animation or wrong class). Note that one pack can only have a limited number of rebels, so anomalies are distributed across the maps. ### 3. Result Screen 3 outcomes are possible depending on how performance meets the round expectations. If expectations are met (success), you go to a new round and the entire sequence repeats. ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Failure.png]] *Failure state 1 - You missed the error rate* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Failure2.jpg]] *Failure state 2 - You missed the minimum number of reports* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Success.jpg]] *Success* # Balance & Progression To ramp difficulty over the 8 patrols, we relied on two clear tuning levers: minimum number of reports (quantity pressure) and allowed error rate (accuracy pressure). As rounds progress, the game asks for more reports while reducing tolerance for mistakes, pushing the player into a deliberate tension between efficiency and ethics (*papers, please* style). The difficulty and variation mostly come from the ramp-up of the requirement, and not really from the signal (how difficult rebels are to spot). Even though the full system wasn’t implemented, I detail how a more robust version was envisioned in the next part : [[WorkroW (2025)|How to populate the maps? Designing a spawn system]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_1_objective.png]] *Before each patrol you could see the requirement* ## Narration WorkroW is not subtle: it’s about a surveillance state, norms as oppression, and alienation through work. The narrative tension is produced by the scoring system: each patrol increases the minimum number of reports while lowering the allowed error rate, pushing the player toward quantity over accuracy. This creates a deliberate ethical squeeze. At times, reporting a citizen you *know* is not a rebel can feel “optimal” just to reach the quota. The story itself is delivered through short dialogue screens between rounds, building a simple arc across the 8 patrols. ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_3_dialog.png]] *Round 3* ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_7_dialog.png]] *Round 7* ## **Patrol stats & dialogue [shipped]** ==🔵*It's blue when it changes between rounds.*== - Round 1 > [!note] > **Dialog - W representative** > > > > > > > > > Presentations are not needed. Just know that from now on you are under my supervision. > > > > You start right before the return to work. Your targets are workers with rollers and hammers, and some cleaners. > > > > Report to me any strange behaviors, as they reveal the rebels hiding among the crowd. > > > > Keep your eyes open. > > | Minimun report | 8 | | --- | --- | | Error rate | 40% | - Round 2 > [!note] > **W representative** > > > > > > > > > The return to work has been announced. New workers are coming to their city blocks. > > > > From now on, we will be more demanding with you. You have joined a prestigious institution, never forget that. > > | Minimun report | 8 | | --- | --- | | Error rate | **30%** | - Round 3 > [!note] > **W representative** > > > > > > > > > The city layout department decided today was a good day to reorganise the cable management. > > This block doesn’t deserve it, but that’s more work for you. > > > > Don’t disappoint us. > > | Minimun report | 8 | | --- | --- | | Error rate | 30% | - Round 4 > [!note] > **W representative** > > > > > > > > > The rebels are like flies, you keep killing them but they always come back. > > Seems like our work was effective enough to make them more scared and cautious. > > > > But it’s not enough, those bastards needs to be eradicated to make this city a perfect cycle. > > > > Get back to work ! > > | Minimun report | **10** | | --- | --- | | Error rate | **25%** | - Round 5 > [!note] > **W representative** > > > > > > > > > I don’t think you understand the importance of this work. > > > > Consider yourself lucky you're not the one in the crowd risking to be reported, you're barely doing enough ! Why are you this incompetent ? > > > > Unless you're a rebel, uh ? Have you been one since the beginning ? You'll see what I'll- > > | Minimun report | **12** | | --- | --- | | Error rate | **20%** | - Round 6 > [!note] > **W - Worker Well being Assistant** > > > > > > > > > Hello dear cooperator, I’m WWBA, and I’ll be the replacement of your previous representative. > > No questions shall be asked, thank you for your cooperation. > > > > Please get back to work, thank you. > > | Minimun report | **16** | | --- | --- | | Error rate | **10%** | - Round 7 > [!note] > **W - Worker Well being Assistant** > > > > > > > > > Hello dear cooperator. Today is an exciting day to protect the city population from potential harm, like a hunter regulating an ecosystem to make it bloom. > > > > Thank you for your loyal cooperation, please be sure your efforts don’t go unnoticed. > > | Minimun report | **18** | | --- | --- | | Error rate | **6%** | - Round 8 > [!note] > **W - Worker Well being Assistant** > > > > > > > > > Hello dear cooperator. > > > > It is important for you to know that an unprecedented amount of potential rebels have been suspected in this city block, following a rallying operation. > > > > Certainly this is a mission you’re suited to realise without compromise. > > Please remember that the institution truly value your cooperation. > > | Minimun report | **25** | | --- | --- | | Error rate | **0%** | An alternative ending was at some point intended to be implemented but has not made the cut. The player, starting from patrol 6, could have go off the rails to exit the map. An exit spot (in the map) and some UI (Figma file) are remnants of this idea. ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/image.png]] # How to populate the maps? Designing a spawn system `design challenge` > [!note] > It's a game jam, so everything can quickly become a challenge, especially if poorly scoped. Working with that many people is a double-edged sword; You can produce more and aim for better polish in some specific aspects, but you have to reconcile more visions into a singular thing without wasting too much time. > [!warning] > I am currently working on the case study; I will expand it soon. # Resources table | Stack | | | --- | --- | | https://godotengine.org/ | Game engine | | https://www.figma.com/community/file/1409944067637495500/workspace-gmtk-game-jam-2024 | Moodboard, storyboard, asset creation, UI & demo interaction, validated, shared & exported visuals | | https://www.notion.com/product | Game Doc | | [Public] Artefact & outcome | | | https://www.figma.com/community/file/1535610809013080954/workspace-gmtk-gamejam-2025 | Figma Community files | | https://gusther.itch.io/workrow | Play the game on itch.io | ## Gallery ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Cover.jpg]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Starting_screen.png]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Rules_screen.jpg]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_6_objective.png]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Screen_amb.png]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Screen_cage.jpeg]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Patrol_4_dialog.png]] ![[../_site-assets/WorkroW (2025)/Failure.jpg]]