Slo Moe’s Space Salvage was our first 3D game, built for the LowestPoly GameJam in March 2022. The jam was–honestly–more about low-poly tech demos than actual games, but we wanted to make something you could actually play.
You’re Moe. Moe is a sloth. Moe runs a space salvage company, which is the sort of career choice that makes perfect sense for a sloth in zero gravity. Guide Moe’s ship through rocks and debris to collect cargo (conveniently shaped like crates of bananas, because even in space, sloths have brand standards).
WASD rotates your ship, spacebar boosts in whatever direction you’re facing. The catch is that boosting commits you to a straight line–no turning until the boost runs out and recharges. So you’re constantly weighing “do I boost now and hope nothing’s in the way, or do I drift slowly and run out of time?” It’s a simple tension, but it works.
This was Fintan’s project on itch.io (under the 7isanoddnumber account), and our first time wrestling with 3D in Unity. Turns out that going from 2D pixel art to 3D–even low-poly 3D–is a completely different discipline. But the low-poly constraint actually helped, because we couldn’t over-scope the visuals.