How to play Door Jam (Kẹt Cửa): get every critter through the door
What you need, the controls, keys, blocks, buttons and lifts, stars and awards, and tips, for 2 to 8 players.
Door Jam is a co-op platformer for the whole room, in the spirit of Pico Park. Everyone plays a little critter on one shared level on the TV, and the level is only cleared when every critter is through the door. Nobody wins alone: you stand on each other's heads, push the heavy block together and wait for the last one.
In GatherPlay's Door Jam every phone becomes a gamepad, held sideways. The TV runs the level, and the server replays every move to keep the score honest. Each level has a layout for small, medium and large groups, so it works the same with 2 players as with 8.
The goal
Find the key, open the door, and get every critter inside. Four levels make a chapter, and at the end everyone gets an award.
What you need
- A TV or a laptop as the shared screen. Door Jam needs one: the game will not start without it.
- One phone per player, 2 to 8 players, held sideways.
- The phones and the TV on the same Wi-Fi. Presses then reach the TV in a few milliseconds, and the lobby shows ⚡ next to each phone.
- For the quickest picture: a laptop screen, or a TV over an HDMI cable with Game Mode on. Casting adds a lot of delay.
The controls
- ◀ and ▶ run. Slide your thumb from one to the other to turn around.
- Jump jumps about two critters high. It forgives a press that is a moment early or late.
- ▲ Enter goes through an open door. It lights up on your phone when you stand at one.
- 📣 Honk shows BÍP! over your critter, so everyone knows which one is you.
- Tap your critter on the phone to pick a hat and a face. Your phone remembers them for the next game.
How a game goes
- The warm-up yard: run around, try your hat, and walk through the READY door. The first level starts when everyone is in, or after a minute.
- Each level opens with a card: its name, what is new in it, and the numbers for your group, like how many critters a block needs.
- Play the level until every critter is inside the door. The host can restart a level or skip it.
- After four levels the chapter ends with the stars you earned and one award for each player.
Things in a level
- The key: touch it to carry it. Whoever holds it opens the door by touching it.
- Critters are solid: stand on someone's head to reach a high ledge, and ride along when they move.
- A heavy block shows a number. It moves only while that many critters push it together, in a line. Pushed over a pit, it drops in and becomes floor.
- A red button shows how many critters, or a block, must stand on it. While enough do, its gate stays open.
- A lift rises while enough critters ride it, waits at the top, and sinks back when everyone gets off.
- Spikes, and falling off the bottom of the screen, are what you have to avoid.
When someone falls
Ối! The screen shakes, the critter that fell gets a bandage, and the whole team goes back to the start of the level, key and all. If that is too harsh for your group, the host can switch on Gentle mode: only the critter that fell goes back.
Stars and awards
- Each level gives up to 3 stars: one for clearing it, one for beating its time, and one for no restarts and no falls. A chapter has 12.
- Every player gets exactly one award, and no award is given twice: Golden Pillar for being stood on the most, Key Keeper, Muscle for pushing blocks, First Through, Frog for jumping, Fall Champion, Loudspeaker for honking, and Cheerleader for cheering from inside the door.
Three chapters
- All Together (Đồng lòng): heavy blocks, stacking up and filling pits.
- Press Here (Bấm nút): buttons that hold gates open, so someone has to stay behind for a while.
- Going Up (Đi thang máy): lifts that need riders, and a finale with a block and a lift.
Tips
- Talk. Shout who goes first, who holds the button and who carries the key.
- Build the stack where you need it, then climb: the bottom critter keeps still and the top one jumps.
- Don't go in early. A critter inside the door can't help anymore, so whoever holds a gate open goes in last.
- Lost track of yourself? Honk.
- When a level gets close to a fall every time, slow down. A clean run is worth a star.
Start a game
- Open GatherPlay on the TV or laptop and host a Door Jam game.
- Everyone joins with the QR code on the screen, on the same Wi-Fi as the TV.
- Pick the chapter and whether Gentle mode is on, and start.