In 2015 I participated in “Game Boy Jam”, a game jam which invited contributors to create projects using the constraints of the original Nintendo Game Boy DMG:
- Display Resolution: 160×144
- Colour Palette: 4 colours
- Input: D-Pad, A, B, Start, Select
MY ROLE
I did all of the coding and created all of the artwork myself using GameMaker: Studio. The finished build features:
Dungeon Generation – Dynamic dungeon generation system featuring over 20 unique rooms to generate Chapter 1 the first floor from Binding of Isaac.
Eight Monsters – 8 rank-and-file monsters: Dip, Fly, Mulligan, Mulliboom, Pacer, Gusher, Squirt and Gaper.
Boss Fight – The Larry Jr. boss fight.
Weapon Upgrades – Upgradeable fire-rate and damage output.
Health Pick-Ups – to replenish player health
Bombs – that the player pick these up and deploy them to blow-up rocks and pots.
AUDIO
For audio I collaborated remotely with composer Mike Thal who I met on Twitter during the gbjam. Mike created the soundtrack and SFX following strict Game Boy audio limitations to create an authentic DMG soundscape!
RECEPTION
My first post about it garnered some very positive attention online:
Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen even replied to this tweet of the mock-up Game Boy box art I created for the project
WRAP IT UP
It was a fun project where I learned a lot and massively improved my coding skills. This set the groundwork for the dungeon-generation that would inspire The Dread Director in DARKSPIRE many years later.
You can play Binding of Isaac: Debirth over on gamejolt.com
Andreas Yiannikaris 
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