FATAL EXCEPTION

Jamsepticeye Game Jam 2025: Death is an Opportunity!

Description

FATAL EXCEPTION is a 2D Platformer where survival is impossible, and Death is a tactical resource. The player is a Self-Executing Data Probe within a decaying Digital Archive.

The core loop requires the player to purposefully terminate their short-lived existence to generate necessary genetic "code patches" which are applied to the next clone (process ID). The goal is to reach the dormant central Kernel to initiate a system restart. The challenge is that these patches introduce Code Bloat (negative trade-offs), forcing the player to puzzle out the minimum necessary evolution to succeed.

The game only consists  of a concept tutorial level because I ran out of time (lmao). I'm not much of a game designer or level designer, so any suggestions for an actual level, or suggestions on mechanics would be much appreciated! I spent a lot of this jam just messing around with different visual techniques and post processing instead of actually making something, but I am mostly pleased with the visual results despite the lack of a game and lack of assets (all just reused 64x64 white texture).

Game Mechanics

Key Mutations (Patches) and their Trade-Offs (Code Debt)

Death by a specific hazard generates a patch that overcomes it, but with a cost:

Obstacle (Fatal Exception)	Positive Mutation (Patch)	Code Debt (Trade-Off)
Long Fall (Data Void)	Hollow Bones: Allows Double Jump	Fragile Casing: Take 2x damage from non-fall impacts (not implemented)
Corrupted Spikes	Chitinous Plates: Puncture Immunity (not implemented)	Heavy Code Load: -15% base movement speed (not implemented)
Decaying Code Flow (Acid)	Thick Skin: 80% less damage from Acid	Systemic Heat: 2x damage from fire/laser hazards  (not implemented)

Controls

The game is fully playable with Mouse and Keyboard.

• Movement (Left/Right): A and D
• Jump: Space
• Pause/System Log (Genetic Record): Esc or P

Credits

Music and SFX:

Main Menu Music by MuteHero: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1449120

Ambient Game Music by JamAttackNG: https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1276149