This is a submission to GMTK Game Jam 2026

SUDDEN DEATH! is a neon arcade survival shooter hosted by a game show that hates you.
Every 10 beats, the giant countdown hits zero and a new rule takes over the arena; Reverse Controls, One Hit Kill, Blackout, etc., with zero warning beyond a frantic card cascade. 

Survive the shuffle, chain kills for multiplier score, and find out how long you can keep up before the crowd turns on you!

I entered the GMTK jam last year and spent waaay too long on artwork, so this year I focused most of my energy on 'game-juice' and feel. Hope it shows! I think it makes it a lot more fun than without. 

Mobile: playable on newer phones: tap MOBILE CONTROLS on the title screen for touch sticks and reduced effects. Older devices may struggle; desktop is the intended experience!

How to Play

  • Move: WASD (or left stick)
  • Aim & Shoot: Mouse to aim, left click to fire (or right stick to aim, right trigger to fire)
  • Survive the beat: Every 10 beats, the active rule swaps, watch the card cascade one beat out to see what's coming
  • Score: Kill enemies for points, scaled by the current rule's multiplier - harder rules pay out bigger
  • There's no winning. Just how long you last, and how high the crowd rates you when it's over.

Keyboard/mouse and gamepad both work fine, play with whatever's most comfortable.

Fullscreen, screen-shake, reduce flashing, SFX & Music adjusted from Setting menu! 

High Scores

I'd love to hear your high scores! Highest I've managed to get to is 37650.  


 Post yours in the comments!

Features

  • 20 rules, one arena, zero mercy.  Reverse Controls, Double Speed, No Shooting, Giant Enemies, Mirror Mode, One Hit Kill, Magnet, Friendly Fire, Blackout, Tiny Player, and more, drawn from a shuffled bag so you never see the same one twice in a row
  • Beat-synced meta-layer. The countdown, rule cascade, and score multiplier all snap to a 130 BPM pulse; the shooting and dodging never lock to the beat, only the visuals.
  • Game show presentation. Cascading rule-reveal cards that shatter on activation, a host announcer barking out every twist, and crowd reactions that track how well (or badly) you're doing!
  • Full keyboard+mouse and gamepad support - switchable mid-run with no settings screen
  • Juiced-up combat feel. Screenshake, hit-flash, hit-stop, and particle bursts on every impact
  • Local high score. No accounts, no leaderboard noise, just you against your own last run

Credits

Design & Development

Engine

Code / Components

  • A lot of the groundwork was built using a side-project I've been working on, a personal reusable component library for Godot (movement, combat, juice, audio, and UI components authored for this and other projects), stripped down from a couple of my other projects, Hunter's Hand and Dawn Protocol, wherever I could reuse them

Visual FX

Sound Effects - All from free & purchased asset packs.

  • Casino Audio (1.1) by Kenney Vleugels (https://kenney.nl/assets/casino-audio) - CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)
  • Impact Sounds (1.0) by Kenney (https://kenney.nl/assets/impact-sounds) - CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)
  • Interface Sounds (1.0) by Kenney (https://kenney.nl/assets/interface-sounds) - CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain)
  • Ultimate Magic Spells (Sample Pack) by Miguel Lopez ([Commercial license (attribution not required)

Music

I found this perfect track on free music archive! Wanted to make the music myself too, but don't think I'll have time. Maybe post-Jam...

Fonts

Special Thanks

  • GMTK Game Jam 2026 organizers and community!
More information

Comments

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Dee-Ay Studio2 days ago

I would pay for this game, very well done!!

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Pixel Moon1 day ago

Very kind words! Thanks so much. Maybe I'll consider a full release when the game is over.

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