🏆 Judges' Choice — Diversion Summer Jam 2025
dev.Run is a minimalist roguelite runner developed solo in approximately 3 days for Diversion Summer Jam 2025.
The jam was organized by Diversion, a version control system for game development, and its theme was — appropriately — "Branches".
I interpreted the theme quite literally: in dev.Run, the player controls a repository branch, collecting good pieces of code while avoiding bugs and other development hazards.
Play on itch.io: https://az7atoth.itch.io/devrun
At its core, dev.Run is an endless runner with roguelite elements.
During a run, the player collects upgrades and encounters different modifiers that affect gameplay. A perk system allows individual characteristics to be improved, including survivability and other gameplay parameters.
The combination of perks, buffs, debuffs and time-manipulation mechanics means that different parts of the game may need to progress at different rates.
Despite the short development time, the project contains several systems built specifically around its gameplay requirements:
- Multiple independent time modifiers — gameplay speed, transitions, perks, buffs, debuffs and individual events can operate with separate time coefficients instead of relying entirely on a single global
Time.timeScale. - Reactive game state — gameplay parameters and time modifiers use reactive properties, allowing systems to respond to state changes without requiring direct references between every component.
- Data-driven perk system — perks are configured through ScriptableObjects, including their effects, progression and presentation data.
- Async transitions with UniTask — gameplay transitions and time changes use asynchronous flows with cancellation support.
- Object pooling — reusable gameplay objects such as generated branches are pooled rather than repeatedly instantiated and destroyed.
- Timeline and camera transitions — presentation sequences are integrated into the game flow alongside asynchronous UI and gameplay transitions.
The game's minimalist visual style was created specifically for the jam and designed entirely by me.
Despite the very short development time, I put significant effort into making the game feel polished through:
- Animation
- Visual effects
- UI and graphic design
- Camera work
- Timeline sequences
- Gameplay feedback and transitions
The deliberately minimal presentation also fit the programming/version-control theme of the jam.
The jam itself lasted longer, but I initially decided not to participate because I did not have an idea I was happy with.
After coming up with the concept, I changed my mind and built the game solo in approximately three days.
With such a short deadline, the priority was rapid iteration and getting the complete experience to a polished state rather than designing production-level architecture. Some systems — particularly the interaction between multiple independent time modifiers — became more complex as new mechanics were added during the jam.
The repository is preserved largely as it existed at the end of the event and reflects those development constraints.
dev.Run received the Judges' Choice award at Diversion Summer Jam 2025.
For me, the project is primarily an example of rapid prototyping, working with unusual gameplay requirements, managing interconnected game systems, and delivering a polished solo project under a very strict deadline.