This is a submission to GMTK Game Jam 2026

GMTK Game Jam 2026 Submission — Theme: Count Down

Game Engine: Godot 4 | Created by 1 Solo Dev (Dev / trezone)

What is Calculated Chaos?

Hey everyone! I made Calculated Chaos for the jam because I wanted to try making a top-down magic survival game where you actually craft your own spells from scratch instead of just mashing one button or buying boring passive stats.

You have to survive across 5 Days & Nights against growing slime armies, beast riders, and eclipse bosses. Every round confronts you with an exact wave countdown of enemies (like "Spawns Remaining: 15 to 0"). Between combat phases, you open your Grimoire spellbook and wire elemental nodes together to invent whatever magic combo you need to clear that exact countdown before time runs out.

How to Craft Magic in the Grimoire

In the spell crafting table between rounds, you connect the four core elements (Fire, Water, Earth, Air) to assign custom abilities to hotkeys 1 through 9. How you wire the circles together completely changes the spell:

DIRECT CHAINED FUSION (Attack Spells):
Connecting two elemental runes directly together in the same chain fuses them into an offensive weapon:
  • Water * Air = Hurricane — Spawns a high-speed raging cyclone that pushes back and clears huge enemy groups.
  • Earth * Fire = Meteor — Calls down a flaming rock from the sky that explodes on impact.
SEPARATED CIRCLES (Utility & Survival Spells):
Placing runes in separate, disconnected circles side by side creates tactical support skills:
  • Water + Air = Invisibility Mist — Drops a fog cloud over your mage, making you invisible and invulnerable for 3 full seconds! While hidden, monsters lose track of you and inspect your last known position. (Note: dashing or firing an attack spell immediately cancels your stealth!)





Secret Easter Egg (Spoilers!)

I left a secret recipe in the spell engine for anyone curious enough to experiment outside normal pairs. What happens if you connect ALL FOUR core elements into one massive formula?

Fire * Water * Earth * Air = Wards of the Ancients!




If you combine all four runes, you unlock the Wards of the Ancients. Three invulnerable magical shields appear and spin in orbit around your mage, pushing and shattering incoming slimes automatically.

Controls

  • Move: W, A, S, D or Arrow Keys
  • Dash: Spacebar (Quick speed burst to escape crowds)
  • Meditate / Recharge Mana: E or M (Stay still to recharge mana fast; taking a step breaks concentration)
  • Cast Spells: Aim with your Mouse & press keys 1 to 9 to activate equipped custom spells
  • Open Grimoire: Press Tab or B between rounds to create and equip spells




Asset Credits: Huge thanks to the creators of these community open packs used during the jam: 400 Sounds Pack, DSOP Slime Asset Pack, Raven Fantasy Tilesets, Free Mana Seed RPG Starter Pack, and Tiny Swords GUI.

If you had fun inventing custom spells and want to support future expansions with even deeper mechanics and boss battles, feel free to support over on Ko-fi:

Support me on Ko-fi

Thanks for playing!

More information

Comments

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Malash1 day ago

Great work—keep it up.

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