Prática de Shadowing: My Favourite Games From GMTK Game Jam 2026 - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo

Video games are all about numbers going up.

Score going up.

Money going up.

Power going up.

They're about adding and multiplying and doing out-of-control combos.

It's just rampant, unchecked greed, and I'm sick of it.

So, I challenged game developers around the world to come up

with games about numbers going in the other direction by asking them to make games with the theme Count Down.

And boy did you all come through.

Because for GMTK Game Jam 2026, more than 37,000 people signed up to make more than 10,500 games.

Which is not only the biggest GMTK Game Jam yet, but it also meant we surpassed Global Game Jam this year.

Which, I guess, means we're the biggest jam now.

Okay.

Cool.

But enough yapping and back-slapping.

Let's look at some games.

As always, I got the community to rate and review the submissions,

which gave me a shortlist of incredible experiences to check out across a bunch of different categories.

And from there I chose my 20 favourite games of the jam.

Here they are, in no particular order.

Today takes inspiration from a photo booth countdown to make a

game where kids can tort their face in the few seconds before their portrait is taken.

So you've got a target expression on the left side of the screen, and then by using all manner of keyboard keys or controller buttons,

you've got to squeeze your subject's facial features to match the mug on the left.

It's one of those things where you never quite get the hang of it.

Even when you internalise where the eyebrows or the lips are situated on your gamepad, you still find yourself stumbling and fumbling at the very last second.

Which is always more funny than frustrating.

Now Picture Day certainly wasn't the only game to play with facial features and camera countdowns, but it's certainly the most polished and playable of the bunch.

11.59 simulates that moment where you're just minutes away from your homework deadline.

And now you're in a mad dash sprint to get it uploaded before time counts down to midnight.

So you've got a rapidly expanding list of deliverables.

And each one requires more steps and side quests than the last.

Like looking up the password to a document, or converting the file into a PDF, or having to watch through a video.

Then your screen is littered with spammy pop-ups.

Then you've got to clear out the task manager by playing Space Invaders.

Then you realise you can leave the computer and walk around your apartment to find more clues and passwords.

What?

No one told me that.

It's a rapid-fire, nightmare-inducing gem of a game, and I absolutely loved it.

1, 2, 3D is a clever game about switching perspective by counting down the number of dimensions.

From an isometric, tunic-looking 3D game to a side-scrolling 2D platformer and even a single dimensional line.

Each perspective has unique strengths and weaknesses, so you'll need to flip through the lot of them to find the perfect place to be.

Ultimately, I'm just super impressed by how the developer pulled this off.

It seems simple, but I'm sure this was a programming nightmare to get done in just four days.

Bravo.

VeggieBrawl is an auto-battler where you watch your squad of pumpkins,

aubergines, and tomatoes duke it out with another group of groceries.

And if it was just that, well, then it wouldn't be in this video.

But what makes VeggieBrawl so brilliant is the way you put together your team.

Because each battle starts at an auction house, where ten vegetable fighters are put up as lots.

You and your opponent each start with a thousand bucks, and then you have to decide how much you want to spend on each warrior by choosing

when to stop this countdown clock.

Now obviously you want to pay as little as possible for each team member, but you can't wait too long or your opponent will snap them up first.

So you have to look at the vegetable stats and decide how much they're worth and if they're worth losing.

It's a brilliant twist on the genre.

So much so that I've recommended it here, even though I lost every single round I played.

Circuit Breaker is a grid-based puzzle game that plays with the countdown of a bomb and its fuse.

In each level, you must connect a stick of dynamite to this fuse, and then exit the level before you're blown up.

Oh, that's no good.

So you'll have to be clever about where you lay the fuse,

perhaps making it as long as possible so you've got time to get out before the whole level goes boom.

Things escalate elegantly from there.

Like, the fuse becomes electrified as the spark passes along it, which means it eventually becomes an impassable obstacle.

And then later, the spark can be used to trigger special switches.

All in all, this is a very clever puzzler with a bunch of thoughtful conundrums that, if you're asking me, strike a perfect difficulty balance.

Major Moo's moonbound Milky Way mission is… a mouthful.

But it's also a manic rocket building farce where you've got to construct the perfect spaceship in the few seconds before liftoff.

Now, okay, this game does also count up as you make more money the higher you go.

And then you can spend that cash to unlock upgrades like a longer countdown, better fuel consumption and improved durability for your ramshackle cow construction.

Although we're not exactly escaping the number go-up grind here.

But I gotta admit, I put a lot of time into this game as there was something oh

so addictive about slowly improving my rocket-making skills and getting closer and closer to the moon.

God damn it, that's why so many games are all about counting up.

I've been had.

Count Your Clones is a mind-bending, single-player co-op game.

Basically, you're a little alien who is trying to explore a

planet before they're killed off at the end of a six second countdown.

Now you've got to start again, but your previous self is still here, repeating everything they just did in the previous loop.

So if Alien 1 stands on a pressure pad and dies, Alien 2 can walt through the door that's linked to said pressure pad.

Things get more complex from there.

You'll find items that let you take shortcuts and open up new parts of the world.

And eventually, you'll get a gun.

And realise that not only can you use it to break boxes and hit buttons,

but you can also kill your previous clones to stop them from doing what they did last time.

What?

Help?

How?

I'll be honest, it'll get a little bit much, as dozens of old ewes are swarming the screen like confused mice.

But I've got to admit, it's one of the most creative and ambitious games I played during the jam.

I was seen as the weakest hero

but I can secretly edit the metadata of the world is… a name and a half.

So this one is a simple story game about a knight and a princess.

In each scene you're given a short paragraph, and then must remove words until you've whittled down the word count while still keeping it as a plausible English sentence.

It's easy, but I ended up kidnapping the princess, stabbing her, bribing a horse with a guard ,

and then riding off into the sunset with truly awful karma.

Ah.

Turns out you can omit other words and make different stories, and the tale will branch out in other directions.

It's silly, funny, and actually pretty darn clever.

I'd like to see an expanded version of this idea.

100

Even Segments is one of many games that use the literal digits of a countdown clock.

101

This one is my favourite, though.

102

A mini Metroidvania that has you scouring a map for levers and buttons that make the clock do different things.

103

So at first, you'll have to wait until the numbers are in the perfect position.

104

So you can slip past the thin one, or use the three as a ladder.

105

But then you'll find a switch to make the numbers stop.

106

Or count up.

107

or flip the digits, and so on.

108

It turns the whole thing into a digital Zelda dungeon, as you must zigzag around to make everything line up perfectly.

109

This is also a good example of why presentation doesn't really matter in game jams.

110

This one has no audio, and the main character is a rectangle, but if you look past that, you get a puzzle platformer that will have your head spinning.

111

My Hand Is A Gun is a top-down shooter with just five shots.

112

You start with an outstretched hand, which works like a big ol' baseball bat.

113

But once that's been used, it's onto forefingers, which acts like an SMG.

114

And so on until you're out of digits.

115

It turns each battle into a tense tactical fight where you have to carefully use each of your powers.

116

And you'll have to internalise what each finger combo does, right in the heat of battle.

117

else you'll waste your awesome pointer finger laser by shooting at the wall.

118

Between rounds you'll get to level up your weapons, adding an addictive meta-level structure to the whole thing.

119

Fun.

120

Rudimentary, unfinished shooter entry is, well, a ruse.

121

Sorry for the spoiler, but I can't really talk about this one without telling you

122

that it's a bit more than just a dodgy twin-stick shooter prototype

123

that looks like the creator struggled to get it in on time.

124

No. Because once you get past the intro, it turns into a clever puzzle game about shooting orbs to swap their position.

125

And using temporal zones to slow down your bullets so you'll have time to get in position before the shot hits.

126

Clever stuff.

127

And then it does something I've never seen in a game before.

128

Because if you refresh the page, the game world resets but your character's position stays the same.

129

Which can be used to solve certain puzzles.

130

That's slightly unnerving, this is not how games are supposed to work, but it also adds a bizarre extra dimension to proceedings, as you must always remember

131

that you can break outside the confines of the game to unlock more angles for your puzzle solving.

132

Huh.

133

By the numbers?

134

Made my brain hurt.

135

The game features a line of people, each counting down one number from 20 to 1.

136

So when it's your turn, remember the last number and say the next in sequence.

137

Easy, right?

138

Ah.

139

Except there are other rules to remember.

140

Like if the number is a multiple of three, you've got to say fizz instead.

141

And if it's a multiple of five, you've got to say buzz.

142

Oh, and if it's both, say fizz buzz.

143

Of course, if you're a dog, you've got to say woof.

144

And if you've got an afro, you just have to say alright.

145

it becomes a game of mental gymnastics where you have to keep track of the sequence

146

and do a bunch of calculations and quick-fire assessments before answering.

147

I ended up saying everything out loud to my computer like some sort of maniac shouting fizz, buzz, 16, woof, and so on.

148

Good stuff would woof again.

149

Game Jam Simulator 2026 is a silly little slice of life,

150

showing exactly what it's like to make a game in a ridiculously short period of time.

151

So with just 80 seconds left to go, you've got to cut the scope, draw the graphics, fix the bugs,

152

and so on in a series of silly minigames.

153

At least the Game Jam website doesn't crash at the last second.

154

A Bug's Short Life is a platformer about a tiny bug who can only survive for about five seconds.

155

So hopefully you can use

156

that time to quickly grab a bunch of golden leaves you can then spend those to unlock more time, more powers, more speed, more mid-air jumps.

157

Now you can go further, get more money, get more powers.

158

Oh my god, we're counting up again, aren't we?

159

But it's so much fun.

160

Because the level layout is exactly the same each time, you learn the best routes and the best ways to make money.

161

And eking out a little more distance with each run just feels oh so satisfying.

162

It's hard not to keep going until you manage to make the final rush through the hardest bit

163

and get to the end.

164

Null Rush is the brilliant Balatro successor we've all been waiting for.

165

It's a game where you fight a number by playing cards that make it count up.

166

Or more importantly, count down.

167

Because if you get it to zero, you win and move on.

168

But if you mess it up and run out of cards, the number is removed from your health bar.

169

And so begins a ludicrously clever game about maths.

170

Where you'll need to perhaps add to a number, temporarily making it more deadly, before you chop it down to size with a deadly division symbol.

171

There are also special cards with powerful extra abilities.

172

It's just about playable for mathematical morons like myself, though at one point I did have, like, a children's six times table on my phone,

173

which felt like a particularly pathetic way to cheat.

174

The animal clipart really rubs it in.

175

Otherwise, Null Rush is an absolute belter and one of the games I'd really like to play more of.

176

Quick shout out to Number, which had a similar idea and is also pretty swell.

177

Research and Detonation is a game about carefully placing down bombs.

178

Your goal is to move boxes into goal spaces by blowing the boxes across the room with a bomb.

179

And each bomb counts down at a different rate, so you'll need to get the timing right to make everything line up.

180

It is perhaps a little… clean and clinical.

181

Soulless, if you will.

182

Check out Minibolf or Cat-Esposion for other games with a similar idea.

183

But there's something so sharp and elegant about this one that I really like.

184

I feel like it could have come on a demo disc for Windows 95

185

and I would have played the hell out of it in the mid-90s.

186

Dexfusal is a game about driving a car while looking at your phone.

187

Which normally I would wholeheartedly oppose.

188

But, seeing as you need to play mini-games on your mobile to defuse a stack of dynamite on your dashboard, I'll let you off just this once.

189

And so it becomes a game of dividing your attention.

190

Between a driving game where you swap lanes to avoid crashing into mountains, and a mini-game collection where you answer math problems,

191

play two-button DDR, and return ping-pong serves.

192

It's manic, lots of fun, pretty addictive, and has a great pixel art art style.

193

Drill Dracula, the count goes down, is wow.

194

How has it taken this long to get to a Dracula-themed game?

195

Yeah, that's right.

196

As with all GMTK Game Jam themes, there's a way to be cheeky and find some alternative definition for one of the words.

197

And so a lot of people made games about the most famous count of all, Count Dooku.

198

No, sorry, wait.

199

Count Dracula.

200

But this one is also about counting down, as Dracula drills deep into the earth,

201

dodging moles and collecting gems before time runs out and he explodes.

202

Of course, there's a shop in between runs where you can level up, get more abilities, and oi, we're counting up again, cut it out.

203

Sketch Down is a game about taking rapid-fire notes.

204

You're shown a series of paintings and have to quickly draw your own sketch of what you see,

205

and make sure it's accurate because you'll have to link this sketch to the right picture at the end of the round.

206

Soon enough you'll get the joke.

207

The pictures are all alarmingly similar, and you have just seconds to make your sketch.

208

So it becomes a game of finding the most unique parts and identifying features.

209

Like that's the one with the dog.

210

The one with the flag.

211

The one with the horse.

212

Oh crap, that one also has a horse.

213

Despite the challenge, I managed to get 10 out of 10 thanks to my quick thinking

214

and smart sketching which feels like a bit of a redemption after my maths fail earlier.

215

And finally, some reassembly required is my actual favourite game of the jam.

216

I lied when I said there was no order.

217

So this is a Zaktronic style game where you have to

218

instruct two robot arms to build a spaceship by giving them simple commands.

219

But the twist is that you've only got ten instruction slots, because you have to get everything done before liftoff.

220

And this time limit adds an excellent new wrinkle to the spacechem formula.

221

And the second arm is a lot of fun to play with, as you can even drop pieces from one arm and catch it with the other.

222

And there's even a time scrub feature, so you don't have to watch the whole thing play out in order to find bugs.

223

Which should make it easy, but it's still a tricky game, where even the first easy level is a bit of a head-scratcher.

224

Lovely stuff, and a truly excellent take on the theme.

225

So there we have it.

226

As for some honourable mentions, Mok Mok is like WarioWare as an adventure game,

227

as you must figure out how to fulfil the hidden requirements on each screen.

228

271 seconds is a slick, time management snipe-em-up where every action takes a certain amount of time to perform.

229

Kitchen Master Cook-Em-All is a JRPG where stopping a clock as close to zero is your combat system.

230

Down for the Count is a typing game where a coach must talk his boxer into getting back up.

231

Clink-plonk is Bellatro Pachinko.

232

Which is a real sentence.

233

All of those words do have meaning.

234

Chrono Sync Clockwork feels like a lost Super NES game.

235

And Heist Watch is Hotline Miami meets Superhot.

236

And if you run out of time, you have to battle the Time Police.

237

Cool.

238

What an incredible collection of games.

239

And I literally only scratched the surface.

240

Because despite playing over 100 games, I've barely seen 1% of the entries.

241

So I implore you to go to the submission page on itch.io and look at the games for yourself.

242

Almost everything you play will be inventive, ambitious, fun or funny.

243

Let me know if you found a hidden gem in the comments down below.

244

And if this has inspired you to enter for yourself, then I've got some good news.

245

Because GMTK Game Jam will return in 2027 on August 11th.

246

That's right.

247

I've heard the feedback that you need more notice before the jam begins, so here's a full year to get your ducks in a row.

248

Take time off work, practice your skills, get good with your engine.

249

Maybe check out Godot, which actually surpassed Unity as the most popular engine of this jam.

250

Anyway, you can register for GMTK Game Jam 2027 right now.

251

Link in the description.

252

Thanks so much to everyone who took part, as well as my faithful moderation crew over on the GMTK Discord.

253

Thanks for watching, see you next year.

O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?

Shadowing é uma técnica de aprendizado de idiomas com base científica, originalmente desenvolvida para o treinamento de intérpretes profissionais. O método é simples, mas poderoso: você ouve áudio em inglês nativo e repete imediatamente em voz alta — como uma sombra seguindo o falante com 1-2 segundos de atraso. Pesquisas mostram melhora significativa na precisão da pronúncia, entonação, ritmo, sons conectados, compreensão auditiva e fluência na fala.

Prática de Shadowing: My Favourite Games From GMTK Game Jam 2026 - Aprenda a falar inglês com vídeo

Por que esse vídeo é perfeito para prática de conversação em inglês?

Desvendando a naturalidade do diálogo

Rota de prática: shadowing em 3 passos

O que é a Técnica de Shadowing?