Gridshift

Compete in a series of races across circuits that you design! Buy and sell cards to build your dream circuit and race against ever-improving opponents. Be careful with your speed management throughout a race though, taking corners too fast will cause you to spin out and potentially lose the lead. Everything is within your control, but will a chaotic race lead to your opponents having the edge over you?

Gridshift is a game I made for Godot Wild Jam 80 (April 2025 - theme: Controlled Chaos). Almost everything was created from scratch by myself, including the game design, art and code. The only premade assets used were the following:

Gum by SoulProdMusic (https://pixabay.com/music/funk-gum-139285/)
Giphurs Typeface by Corne2Plum3 (https://fontesk.com/giphurs-typeface/)
Stifly Font by Namara Creative Studio (https://fontesk.com/stifly-font/)

Before the jam theme was announced, I already had the idea for this game in mind, so wanted to build the Proof of Concept and shoehorn it into the theme if I could. It was originally going to be a turn-based racing deck-builder, but soon became real-time after the announcement of the theme. I wish I could have made the races more chaotic within the timeframe of the game jam, but I ran out of time to add mechanics like weather or engine overheating which would've added some chaos into the mix. I also wish I'd spent a bit more time balancing the game  and removing a pretty huge softlock the player can access almost immediately, but I'm just hoping 99% of players don't encounter that.

How To Play

Gameplay consists of two main phases, setup and race.

In the setup phase, build the circuit for the upcoming race using the track cards provided (they spawn in the top left of the play area). Bear in mind that the sharper the corner, the lower you have to be moving in order to safely navigate it (and the same goes for the CPU racers). At the start of the game you are provided with 3 cards to build your first track. In the shop you can also purchase different cards to use or upgrade your car for future races!

In the race phase, navigate your track as quickly as possible to beat the CPU racers. Spam the accelerator to gain an early advantage and make sure to slow down leading into sharper turns (a caution light will appear if you're going too fast for an upcoming corner).

Controls

LMB - Drag and drop cards, interact with shop

RMB - Rotate cards (while dragging), sell cards (while disconnected from circuit)

MMB/Space - Move camera

W/Up - Accelerate (during race)

S/Down - Decelerate (during race)

Tools Used

- Godot 4.3
- Aseprite
- FL Studio

Please leave a rating and feedback.

Thanks for playing, and enjoy!