# GMTK Game Jam 2026 - Ball Fall

**URL:** <https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861>\
**Category:** Show and Tell\
**Created:** [July 27, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861 "2026-07-27T14:53:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![wolfadex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/wolfadex/32/2461_2.png) [@wolfadex](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/wolfadex)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/1 "2026-07-27T14:53:53Z")

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The GMTK Game Jam was this past weekend and I made a game for it [Ball Fall by wolfadex](https://wolfadex.itch.io/ball-fall)! It was a lot of fun to work on. If you want to see the code behind it, that’s available here [GitHub - wolfadex/ball-fall: A game for GMTK Game Jam 2026 · GitHub](https://github.com/wolfadex/ball-fall).

The only code that isn’t Elm is a tiny bit of JS glue for playing the sound effects and minimal localStorage. The audio is a combination of GarageBand and an old keyboard from my father-in-law. The 3D art was done in Blender.

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**Author:** ![dirkbj](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/dirkbj/32/3162_2.png) [@dirkbj](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/dirkbj)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/2 "2026-07-27T20:52:38Z")

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Well done! Fun to play and look at. 🙂

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**Author:** ![evancz](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/evancz/32/16_2.png) [@evancz](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/evancz)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/3 "2026-07-27T21:29:07Z")

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Looks and sounds great! The best I could do so far was -48, but it seems like it’s possible to get much better at lining up multiple levels. Do you have an idea of how deep people can get?

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**Author:** ![wolfadex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/wolfadex/32/2461_2.png) [@wolfadex](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/wolfadex)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/4 "2026-07-27T21:54:46Z")

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The best score I’ve heard of, from two people, is -56. I haven’t done that well though! After the game jam review period is over (roughly 4 days from now) I plan on a new release. So far it will include: ball choice, gyroscope input (where available, which looks to only be chromium like browsers for android). I’d also like to get in input customization (if you don’t like WASD or arrow keys).

I’ve been thinking other things to add/change, but that’ll depend on how they change the feel. I did a lot of iteration around things like floor size, friction, bounciness, and more so whatever gets added needs to keep that same feeling of “I think I can get just a little further!”

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**Author:** ![wolfadex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/wolfadex/32/2461_2.png) [@wolfadex](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/wolfadex)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/5 "2026-07-27T22:18:14Z")

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Bekah said her best score is -52.

She’s also requesting that I add the ability to share the random seed so that you can replay the same level or share it with others. So probably going to do that 😄

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**Author:** ![paulh](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/paulh/32/5022_2.png) [@paulh](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/paulh)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 7:39am UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/6 "2026-07-28T07:39:55Z")

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Really cool, -42 my best 🙂

Does it have to be time based? What about explosive obstacles to avoid? One good hole to fall through to the next level, bad holes lose your life? Fall of the edge, lose your life? Just a few random thoughts?

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**Author:** ![dwayne](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/dwayne/32/5478_2.png) [@dwayne](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/dwayne)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/7 "2026-07-28T12:53:31Z")

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Very cool. It’s so simple yet so addictive. -51 is my best. It depends on the random level I get because sometimes I get the holes all lined up and other times I have to move to the hole on each level.

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**Author:** ![wolfadex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/wolfadex/32/2461_2.png) [@wolfadex](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/wolfadex)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/8 "2026-07-28T13:48:32Z")

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The holes lining up does give you more points really quickly, but I’ve noticed you also bounce higher afterwards which slows you down getting to the next hole. I’m not sure yet if consecutive holes is a good thing to have or not!

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**Author:** ![turboMaCk](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/turbomack/32/355_2.png) [@turboMaCk](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/turboMaCk)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 2:30pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/9 "2026-07-29T14:30:13Z")

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I got reasonably good layout on my 3rd try and scored -45. But I don’t think randomness like this is game breaking. It’s part of a fun that you can’t really anticipate what is coming. Maybe you can have a seed based mode for competitive gameplay but I would keep basic mode as is. And if you want to get more fancy, maybe some effects especially if you hit the combo (fall through more than one level at the time). Like with everything - sky is the limit 😃

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**Author:** ![wolfadex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/wolfadex/32/2461_2.png) [@wolfadex](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/wolfadex)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 6:53pm UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/10 "2026-08-02T18:53:26Z")

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I published an update today that includes:

- new skins
- tilt controls (for mobile)
- the ability to replay levels
- and various other improvements

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**Author:** ![wolfadex](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/user_avatar/discourse.elm-lang.org/wolfadex/32/2461_2.png) [@wolfadex](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/wolfadex)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 2:04am UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/11 "2026-08-12T02:04:53Z")

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Another day, another update:

- 4 new skins
- the ball selection has a slight animation

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex035/uploads/elm_lang/original/1X/50a05e53677a2c3b47776d7abd0f113eb50193a1.png) [@system](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [August 22, 2026, 2:05am UTC](https://discourse.elm-lang.org/t/gmtk-game-jam-2026-ball-fall/10861/12 "2026-08-22T02:05:51Z")

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