This is a small puzzle platformer featuring Benjamin the Circus Bear. Depending on how you fare with puzzles, it may take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. You CAN win, don't let the game fool you.

Just A Circus was created for the Community Game Jam! The theme of the jam is "The Game Is A Liar". We made this in one week and was our very first game jam (and third game ever!). All artwork and programming and some sound effects were done by me (Sarrah Wilkinson, AKA Ms.RedNebula), with the music and remaining sound effects done by my husband, Robbie.

Please comment, let me know if you figured the puzzle out and if you have any praise, critiques, or just want to say hello! Thank you very much for playing.

Game Trailer (YouTube) | Walkthrough Video (Spoilers!)

YouTube | Twitter | Facebook

9/1/2019 Edit: Thank you for playing and the excellent feedback! I already have some things I want to change after the jam ratings are done. I'll also be doing a walkthrough on my YouTube channel within a few days if you want to see the solution. A couple notes:

1 - Bug - It's possible to push balls or boxes into a corner and end up stuck. At this point, the only option is to reset the game, but I want to add a pull mechanic and maybe a way to just reset one color at a time.

2 - Bug - There appears to be an occasional glitch where resetting won't return all items to their starting point. I'm looking into a fix, but in the meantime, refreshing the browser will fully reset the game!

3 - YOU ARE ONLY DEAD IF YOU SEE THE DEATH SCREEN. If not, assume the game is still in progress and there's more you can do to progress. It is winnable! :D

Development log

Comments

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Great game, but PLEASE add coyote time

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Cool game. It's both extremely cute and immensely frustrating!

Glad you enjoyed it! I'll have an update soon with a pulling mechanic to make it easier to move objects around. Hopefully that'll remove at least a little of the frustrating aspect!

i cleared the game till the part where you bring the ball on first screen but then it again got stuck in the corner really wanted to watch the ending but .....

Thank you for playing! I have some planned updates that will help with items getting stuck (can't upload changes until the jam's voting period is over, though!). In the meantime, if you'd like to see the ending, I just uploaded a walkthrough video showing the whole thing. :D

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I have penetrated the hidden meaning of the madman's scrawls. I have unraveled the secrets of the arcane sigils. I have performed the ritual as prescribed.

I have doomed us all.

:D

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Great lil game, it was different, made you a video: 

Thank you for playing, that was really fun to watch!

np at all ^_^

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You can get into unwinnable situations if the ball rolls into a corner. 

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I'm thinking to do a little more work on it after the game jam rating is done with. I noticed this too, but just never had time to implement a solution aside from restarting. Maybe a pull mechanic. Thank you for letting me know, though!

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Beat it in 10-15 mins. Was fun...cool concept.

Great job! And thank you. :)

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I love the idea, cool game!

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Thank you!

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haha omg poor bear

Hehe :D