Developed during the eighth edition of the CITM Game Jam, Man’s Last Duty is a first-person puzzle game with a strong time-loop mechanic. Set aboard a spaceship about to self-destruct in one minute, players must complete a full run, gather clues, and restart the loop with more information than before. The jam’s theme was “trial and error”, and the game was designed from the ground up to exploit that concept — blending fast-paced experimentation with light deduction.

Each run allows the player to interact with several puzzles scattered across the ship: one requires interpreting atomic numbers on a digital periodic table; another involves calibrating a blood-sampling machine with rotating valves based on vague feedback like “too far” or “almost there”; a third demands slicing an umbilical cord in a very specific spot. All of them provide small hints upon failure, encouraging fast iteration and critical thinking under pressure.

As the main designer, I crafted the full layout of the spaceship, designed around 70% of the puzzles, handled the narrative structure, and developed the original concept of the game. I also contributed to the visual design, especially the UI — which played a key role in player orientation and feedback. The game was developed using Unity with no major external libraries.

Despite the simple mechanics (movement, interaction, reading visual cues), the game creates a tense, frantic rhythm where every second counts. Our biggest challenge was time management. Due to uneven team motivation during the jam, the game didn't reach the level of polish we initially aimed for. However, the project taught me valuable lessons about working with mixed engagement levels, staying adaptable, and leading puzzle design in constrained environments.