Threshold

THRESHOLD:

Stranded on a dying Earth, a Technician mans a failing comms array, for one final conversation with their partner, who is safely aboard the last colony ship escaping the Planet. The signal is degrading. The grid is failing, and the ship's captain wants to turn around, as the clock counts down to separation.

A 10 minute kinetic visual novel about duty, devotion, and the weight of a countdown...

This game is a thesis of my own regrets, on the nature of communication, and the choices we make, even as we approach the inevitable, there are 4 endings, only two are valid, one hurts, and one leaves you with regrets

FEATURES:

• A tight less than three thousand word branching narrative where every choice impacts the final moment.
• Customizable name and sex for both the Technician and the Captain. (Currently two genders, more to be added in V1.0
• An escalating UI countdown mechanic tied directly to your choices.
• Original, Processed Photography and Free Assets making up the Art for the game.
• An Integrated "Epitaph" system, allowing you to leave your final mark in the dark.
• Three Standard Endings, One Secret Ending
• More features in development (This is a rush job for the Game Jam, but i promise at least ONE big update, pinky promise
• Forever Free, my word is my bond (yes, its a reference)

ABOUT THE DEVELOPER (AND THIS PROJECT):

Hello, My name is Hamza, and Threshold is my submission for the GMTK Game Jam 2026.

Before Friday, I had literally ZERO experience with Game Development, i do not know how to code, i am not a digital artist, and i certainly don't know how to compose music and my weak laptop can not run anything worth running. I built this entirely solo over a three day sprint, while holding a job, doing my master's thesis, and using Youtube and a few calls to my friends when i got stuck.

Because of these limitations, i leaned into what i could do feasibly:

• The Code: I learned the basics of Ren'Py from scratch this weekend. There are no complex mechanics here, just raw branching narrative logic using diamond structures to manage choices.
• The Art: I can not for the life of me do any visual art, so i went outside, took photos on my old phone, used Photo Demon to edit them. I also used various free assets which will be credited in the end credits.
• The Scope: I kept the runtime strictly within 10 minutes.

This is my first ever time releasing a game,. It is short, its gritty, and it was held together with caffeine, willpower, my Pookie's motivation, and my friend's excitement. I hope it makes you feel something.

CONTROLS:

• Click/Spacebar: Advance Dialogue, Make Choices.
• Keyboard: Enter Custom Names/Epitaph.

CREDITS

Created by: Hamza

Playtesting & QA: Ahlem & Naomi

Backgrounds & Visual Assets:

• NASA (Artemis Program)
• Nimbuspawtales (Cyberpunk Industrial Background Pack 1)
• Character Sprites generated via Charat

Audio & Music (via Pixabay):

• databend - Dark Electronic Pulse Background
• metriko - Somber Constellations Ambient
• samuelfjohanns - Dark Spectrometer
• tomomi_kato - Winter Morning
• viramiller - Deep and Mysterious Music for Cosmic Themes