Sky Maniac

This is a short original game by Jordan Grayson using the prompt of "A game that is fun to watch." 

The design philosophy behind the game is to make something that looks like it might take a lot of skill to play and seems impressive, but actually has a lot of hidden functionality to make the game more approachable. Sky Maniac can often have a lot going on on the screen, but there are systems in place to improve your skill while looking good.
Examples of this include some of the fire which is tracking your previous positions and trying to get close to you without hitting you, the jump that will automatically slow you down if it detects you are going to land on a fire, and the system that notices if you are actively playing but are about to miss a jump and will sometimes jump for you. The hope is that onlookers or even first time players don't see these invisible helping hands and instead think the player is much more skilled than they may be. I hope you enjoy it!

The game design, art, programming, and sound effects for Sky Maniac were made by Jordan Grayson. The music was inspired by Robby Duguay but made by Jordan Grayson. This game was created during a one week period in Pico-8.