PONG GONE WRONG

Pong Gone Wrong Made for Major Jam 7: Wild – Theme: “Unpredictable Rules” Hey there! I’m jamie, a 16-year-old solo developer, and this is my second ever game jam. For Major Jam 7: Wild, I wanted to go all-in on the theme — “Unpredictable Rules” — and I ended up creating something a little wild, a little frustrating, but hopefully, a whole lot of fun. Let me introduce you to Pong Gone Wrong — a chaotic, rule-breaking twist on the classic game of Pong. Instead of two paddles and a calm volley, Pong Gone Wrong gives you just one paddle. That’s right — you’re on your own, and you’ll need to rely on the walls to bounce the ball around. But here’s the catch: every bounce makes the ball faster. It’s a simple twist, but it quickly spirals into high-speed madness. And it doesn’t stop there. Every 10 seconds, the game throws a new curveball by changing its own rules. I built a custom event system that randomly tweaks the gameplay — maybe your paddle shrinks, maybe gravity flips, maybe multiple balls appear, or the controls reverse. You won’t know what’s coming next, and that’s exactly the point. The result? A completely unpredictable match every time, where survival depends on quick reflexes, adaptability, and sometimes, just pure luck.  How It Was Made I started this project by prototyping basic Pong behavior in the Python IDLE shell, then moved over to PyCharm to develop the full game using the Pygame library. Over the span of 6 intense days, I built out the paddle mechanics, designed the rule-changing system, and made sure everything worked together without the game completely falling apart (well, most of the time). What started as a simple idea quickly turned into a whirlwind of: Timed events Unexpected physics Frantic gameplay And a bunch of late-night debugging sessions Even though it was a solo project and my second jam ever, I challenged myself to go beyond what I thought I could do — and I’m genuinely proud of what came out of it.  Highlights  Built for Major Jam 7: Wild in 6 days Features random rule changes every 10 seconds  You only get one paddle — use walls to your advantage  Ball speed increases with every bounce, so things escalate fast  Made in Pygame with Python 3, fully coded by me Developed solo at 16 years old If you're into fast-paced, unpredictable arcade chaos, or just want to see how far a Pong game can be pushed, definitely give Pong Gone Wrong a try. I had a blast making it, and I hope it brings a smile (or a rage quit) to your face. Thanks for checking it out — I’m still learning, still growing, and this is only the beginning of my game dev journey. Enjoy the madness!

Important: im aware of some bugs and sound not working for some of you but im too busy studying for exams to fix that so i hope you guys understand and thanks for playing.