Hijack Waves
Hijack Waves is a real time strategy game where you take command of a small defense force being overrun by a much superior fleet. Using intelligence units such as spotter planes and radio-jamming boats, you have to break communications between their forces and delay their strike long enough for the support fleet to arrive.
FEATURES:
* Classic RTS control with heavy emphasis on hotkeys
* 3 very different types of units to command
* 4 levels (holy cow)
* Strategy focus on disrupting enemy organization, not reducing them to ashes
* Casualty counter for increased guilt
* Nuclear launch detected
In this conflict, position and knowledge is stronger than the largest cannon!
HOW TO PLAY:
There's a basic guide at the start of each level, but in a nutshell is like this,
* The enemy communicates by sending signal pulses via relays
* Each time a pulse reaches a sub, their threat level rises
* The pulses lose strength over long distances
* When a sub reaches max threat level, nuclear strike
* Use jammers to intercept the pulses, rendering the subs stranded
* Use spotter planes to detect underwater pulses and subs plus their current threat level
* Use bombers to reduce subs threat level and disperse them
* Hold them off until the fleet arrives (cinematic ending was out of scope)
* The THREAT LEVEL meter will always tell you the highest threat level currently in the water
All code, art, "voice acting", sound design and game design was made by me, Juan (Great Oak Games - greatoak.gg), used ChatGPT for some organizational stuff and 2D art but edited all of it. Music was made by Tito Viera.
Tools Used: Unity, GIMP 3, Reaper, ChatGPT, Visual Studio, TASCAM DR-40X
FEATURES:
* Classic RTS control with heavy emphasis on hotkeys
* 3 very different types of units to command
* 4 levels (holy cow)
* Strategy focus on disrupting enemy organization, not reducing them to ashes
* Casualty counter for increased guilt
* Nuclear launch detected
In this conflict, position and knowledge is stronger than the largest cannon!
HOW TO PLAY:
There's a basic guide at the start of each level, but in a nutshell is like this,
* The enemy communicates by sending signal pulses via relays
* Each time a pulse reaches a sub, their threat level rises
* The pulses lose strength over long distances
* When a sub reaches max threat level, nuclear strike
* Use jammers to intercept the pulses, rendering the subs stranded
* Use spotter planes to detect underwater pulses and subs plus their current threat level
* Use bombers to reduce subs threat level and disperse them
* Hold them off until the fleet arrives (cinematic ending was out of scope)
* The THREAT LEVEL meter will always tell you the highest threat level currently in the water
All code, art, "voice acting", sound design and game design was made by me, Juan (Great Oak Games - greatoak.gg), used ChatGPT for some organizational stuff and 2D art but edited all of it. Music was made by Tito Viera.
Tools Used: Unity, GIMP 3, Reaper, ChatGPT, Visual Studio, TASCAM DR-40X
Comments37
xotraz21 Apr 2026, 00:27
Good job! I just wished I was able to shoot these submarines down :angry:.
Also, the top part of the hud was not on the tv screen on my 16:10 resolution.
Also, the top part of the hud was not on the tv screen on my 16:10 resolution.
JuanRod70721 Apr 2026, 01:47
@podrez thanks!, yeah, that bug... I spent a considerable time trying to fix that on saturday, I just gave up, it's something related to the new input system in unity. In the end I played it so much using the number keys that I completely forgot about it.
@xotraz thanks! Killing subs would make the game too easy, and yeah, ultra wide and other ARs that are not 16:9 were way out of scope, but I'll patch it for sure :)
@xotraz thanks! Killing subs would make the game too easy, and yeah, ultra wide and other ARs that are not 16:9 were way out of scope, but I'll patch it for sure :)
Divarium21 Apr 2026, 13:23
Fantastic ambiance. Graphics seems simples but there is some good techart behind it. I like the interpretation of the theme very much.
Vadoha521 Apr 2026, 13:24
Great addictive game
Enver Arco21 Apr 2026, 17:01
Great idea and ambiance
Stormdrill21 Apr 2026, 17:05
Really cool job, there’s so much potential to expand on this theme! The visual style reminded me of classic arcade machines. Overall, the atmosphere is nice and you nailed the theme perfectly
miltage21 Apr 2026, 18:09
Really liked this, the only thing I would change is to have the scout plane circle around the target point instead of flying past it and off the map into oblivion. I forgot the plane while I was moving my ships and he sailed over to the next continent, taking 30+ seconds to return!
OLEGATOR027021 Apr 2026, 18:57
Incredibly high quality jam game!
Vilumpulump21 Apr 2026, 18:57
The visuals and interpretation of the theme are really nice.
It was a bit annoying that I couldn't do anything about a rocket that had already been launched, which made me feel frustrated (or maybe I just didn't understand something).
But the idea and execution are really good.
It was a bit annoying that I couldn't do anything about a rocket that had already been launched, which made me feel frustrated (or maybe I just didn't understand something).
But the idea and execution are really good.
kayrum21 Apr 2026, 20:03
Great look and feel.
Boxofcuriosity21 Apr 2026, 21:56
Strong vibes! I didn't really get what I was doing until the 2nd level, probably because I had more units to mess around with to understand the game. Ended up enjoying it a bunch once I did.
FLOWERFIELD Games22 Apr 2026, 11:56
Nice tactical game, i don't understand everything as often in tacticals (for me ahah) but the graphics and audio are really cool.
Bambutcher22 Apr 2026, 15:21
Great visual style! It reminds me of the arcade machines from my childhood)
LLlarsO22 Apr 2026, 15:21
I really like the voices in that game. Gave me strong oldshool-RTS vibes like in Command & Conquer.
I think some easy and quick tutorial levels would have been better than just text boxes.
I really like the graphic style. Everything fits together and the colours look good. The UI is very clear and the controls are very responsive. The music adds a lot to the already good atmosphere. :)
I think some easy and quick tutorial levels would have been better than just text boxes.
I really like the graphic style. Everything fits together and the colours look good. The UI is very clear and the controls are very responsive. The music adds a lot to the already good atmosphere. :)
Andrian22 Apr 2026, 15:28
"It’s really cool to see a tactical game made for a game jam with an art style that reminds me of 80s arcades. Such a unique combination! The visuals look great. Well done!"
parkuhrmd22 Apr 2026, 16:51
This was a really fun game and very engaging! The concepts are easy to grasp and create really interesting situations that always keep you on your toes. I wish I could block signals to the relay boats!
I had to tap out on Mission 4 due to the difficulty, but I got around 2.5k points on Mission 3, which I was very proud of. Nice entry!
I had to tap out on Mission 4 due to the difficulty, but I got around 2.5k points on Mission 3, which I was very proud of. Nice entry!
jnur22 Apr 2026, 21:46
I'm probably just not an RTS person, or I did not understand something, but I really just kept getting nuked in under a minute :sweat_smile: But I can still tell that the idea is great, and twisting the usual RTS tropes like this is fun. And the visuals and overall vibes are great!
50024 Apr 2026, 03:29
What a cool style! It's rare to be able to do it so completely within 72 hours
vikingx8424 Apr 2026, 07:14
The implementation is 5+, but I didn't understand how to play at all, I was immediately bombed, but I was too lazy to figure it out, because the game is quite simple, we've played this many times. The graphics are excellent, it's done very well.
cedaoan25 Apr 2026, 10:01
Wow the whole Ui and design are insane, nice job!
IRKAR25 Apr 2026, 10:57
Cool visual in UI. Good job!
jka25 Apr 2026, 15:45
Nice game! Well polished, the graphics are great. The music gave me Command & Conquer vibes. :slight_smile: Well done!
wdebowicz27 Apr 2026, 11:39
Very solid entry! The controls feels super smooth which is always a challange in RTS.
quasilyte28 Apr 2026, 17:01
That's a very unusual RTS take :D
Cazik2129 Apr 2026, 18:12
Playing online, I had a problem where the game wouldn't start; maybe it's a problem with my PC lol, can you export it to Mac? If so, I'll come back here to test your game.
Baturinsky29 Apr 2026, 19:11
Looks cool, but no idea what am I expected to do. Park ship on top of the one submaring and shuttle the plane to the other?
Could use more feedback to demonstrate player the effect of their action. Such as, make signal continuous and make subs panic when they loss it and signal "Hey, HQ, we do not read!".
Would be also cool if you would have to intercept signal with some intelligence.
Could use more feedback to demonstrate player the effect of their action. Such as, make signal continuous and make subs panic when they loss it and signal "Hey, HQ, we do not read!".
Would be also cool if you would have to intercept signal with some intelligence.
igorekkedziorek29 Apr 2026, 22:34
looks good but i'm not sure if im doing anything corectly
JuanRod70730 Apr 2026, 23:17
@cazik21 no shot of making a Mac build, I lack the hardware to do so. HTML version works fine from itch, LDJ site always has problems with the browser player.
@baturinsky @igorekkedziorek @vikingx84
The goal is to prevent the threat from escalating, hold until the timer reaches zero
- Use the spotter planes to know where the subs are.
- Use the boats to jam the signals from the relays before they reach the subs.
- Use bombers to reduce the threat.
Sometimes you need to park your boats on top of the subs because their threat level is almost full, sometimes you have find the best position for a jammer to block most angles of communication between relay and subs.
It's a game about positioning your units between enemy lines
@baturinsky @igorekkedziorek @vikingx84
The goal is to prevent the threat from escalating, hold until the timer reaches zero
- Use the spotter planes to know where the subs are.
- Use the boats to jam the signals from the relays before they reach the subs.
- Use bombers to reduce the threat.
Sometimes you need to park your boats on top of the subs because their threat level is almost full, sometimes you have find the best position for a jammer to block most angles of communication between relay and subs.
It's a game about positioning your units between enemy lines
LDJam user 2215612 May 2026, 17:55
Visual style looks great but MI1 is very confusing. Somehow doing nothing and getting destroyed with 7.2M people killed lands me a victory with a score of -980? MI2 made slightly more sense with the jammer and bomber but your explanation above of how to play needs to be clear in game.
Kaijiro3 May 2026, 15:31
Interesting take on the genre and on the theme ! Didn't vote the graphics because ChatGPT is involved but I think the idea is really promising.
okkolobr3 May 2026, 15:32
A bit bummed by the use of ChatGPT, but at least you were honest about it. I won't give a note for the graphics part though. Other than that, I quite enjoyed your game, really nice take on the theme and the gameplay was original and fun ( and quite hard !)
JuanRod7074 May 2026, 15:12
@kaijiro @okkolobr thanks both for the praise, I understand your opinion in the subject, I'd say I used to be the same but changed my mind over time.
I think the ethical discussion applies to useage of AI tools in high-budget projects, but when it comes to smaller indie or even prototype-size stuff, the use of these tools help bring the polish level to a higher level. That being said, I would have opted-out of the graphics category if more than 15% of the assets were generated with AI, which is not the case, I used AI to generate 3 assets in total and edited the results, the rest of the assets, including the voice lines were all created by me in the 72-hour period.
I think the ethical discussion applies to useage of AI tools in high-budget projects, but when it comes to smaller indie or even prototype-size stuff, the use of these tools help bring the polish level to a higher level. That being said, I would have opted-out of the graphics category if more than 15% of the assets were generated with AI, which is not the case, I used AI to generate 3 assets in total and edited the results, the rest of the assets, including the voice lines were all created by me in the 72-hour period.
okkolobr4 May 2026, 20:17
@juanrod707 Thank you for the clarification, I've given a note for the graphic part now ;)
UnitedFailures5 May 2026, 14:28
This game is awesome! I also really love the art style, and all the effects. I'm assuming y'all were inspired by Defcon -- which is funny because our submission was ALSO inspired by Defcon lol.
I really enjoyed the game's loop of scouting the enemies to perform the most optimal strategic strikes. I also can't get over how polished this whole game is! Great work!
I really enjoyed the game's loop of scouting the enemies to perform the most optimal strategic strikes. I also can't get over how polished this whole game is! Great work!
Arnage5 May 2026, 15:56
Well done, very polished and complete entry! (And indeed very Defcon)
GuyUnger7 May 2026, 05:53
looks beautiful and very strong mood, great entry!
It slightly lacks dynamics, but overall it plays well
Fix please so that when clicking on the unit icon the unit that is currently under control does not perceive it as a command