Here is the postmortem for our LD22 jam entry : Gemclusion.  This was our second Ludum Dare (this first being LD21), and learning from our experiences from the last one we decided from the beginning to make sure to keep the game simple (K.I.S.S.).

Warmup

This time around we benefited greatly from an accidental warmup contest: Game Prototype Challenge.  It’s another for fun game dev contest, but it’s on a smaller scale than LD (29 entries in the last one).  During the GPC contest, we made a point to keep it simple and have fun with the contest.  This is an important thing to remember when doing these contests.  Too often we get caught up in the malaise of trying to make the ultimate game and forget about having fun.  It was after the GPC contest that we happened to remember that the next LD was starting soon.  Once we realized that LD was coming, we started getting ourselves ready.  The next week or so was spent relaxing and waiting for the Theme.

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Here is our game idea for LD22.

We decided to make a puzzle game – The name is yet to be decided.

Here is a screenshot:

LD22 Entry - Alpha 0.5

The premise is pretty simple:

There are a number of pieces on the level and you need manipulate them to that you end up with one piece alone.  You use the arrow keys to move the pieces in that direction (IE: up – moves them up).  The pieces move until they hit something or go off the board.

Try out the Alpha and let us know what you think in the comments.

We have a few gameplay additions that we are planning and hopefully we can get them all added in time.  For the end game we are hoping to get 10 – 20 levels in place.