This was the best Ludum Dare I have participated in so far. I actually managed to get into the top 50 this time! (38th to be exact)

Thank you everyone who played and rated my game and gave feedback! And to those of you who couldn’t play my game or didn’t want to download anything, I have good news: I’ve finished an improved html5 version of my game!

Unfortunately that doesn’t mean everyone can play it now, since in order to keep a lot of things in, the game requires WebGL. But people with a recent version of google chrome or firefox should be able to play it. Let me know if it works for you, since I’m getting mixed reports.

Play it on Kongregate!

Just in time, I’ve finished rating 100 games, a LOT of them were really good. I’ve made a list of 25 games. I’ve listed some of the best divided into 5 categories.

Play these games because they are original!!

These games all added something new to their genres that I hadn’t seen before in other games.

1. Boxed by Starpixie

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12750

I was pretty awed by this concept. It’s about a box that is inside a box. However, the second box is also inside the first box and one box influences what happens in the other. Can’t get your head around it? Play the game and you might. A really great take on the theme. The game has it’s problems however, but it was too original not to place on number one.

2. Recluse by Chambers

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11981

I disliked this game at first because of its small game window. That was until something really surprising happened that had everything to do with the window size.

3. Moon base by morganquirk

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=4243

A game that shows what happens when the world is as small as a beach ball but still has the same gravitational pull. This game is also very polished, but has a difficulty curve that is a bit steep.

4. Bottlecolonies by tcstyle

play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=4834

I don’t think I have ever seen a videogame that appears to be so simple, and then turns out to be surprisingly well thought through. That’s a pretty original quality in a videogame if you ask me.

5. Spaceship in the sky with colors by quixotic-project

play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=10726

Collect colors to be able to fly in the sky with the same color without dying. It gets pretty tricky. Not a perfect game but it provides a very unique game experience.

Play these games because they have a lot of depth (for a 48 hour game!)!

These games are ambitious and have depth, but you need to take your time for them and they have their flaws. But they are worth figuring out.

1. Gale Axile by free_napalm

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12423

A random galaxy is generated and you have to try to build a spaceship and get away. To do this you have to plant and harvest fruits, trees, make weapons, collect ore, kill spacemice and find a way to get to the right planets, while not starving and keeping warm (your choice between a campfire or a piece of uranium.) The downside to a game having all these elements is that you have to give the game a couple of tries before you even know what you have to do.

2. ONLY US by Datamosh

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=10942

In this case the game is deep for a different reason than the other games in this list. You are on the moon with your astronaut partner, and while your partner stays behind at the ship, you go explore the moon. But if you go further, you get lonelier, and it keeps getting harder to go back.

3. Deconstructorium by GreyShock

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11045

Collect molecules and make them interact with each other to gain new powers, only to lose them again when one of your experiments goes wrong. Playing this game truly feels like experimenting with the world, and there are a lot of possibilities.

4. Tinysasters by Volute

play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11243

A tiny world has four types of land. If you build a shrine on that land, each land will produce a different type of mana. If you build a workplace on it, each one will produce a different kind of resource. You have to keep improving the world, but often natural disasters happen that will ruin everything again.

5. Exposed by 01101101

play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5105

In this very polished game you have to evolve little creatures by exposing them to different elements in the lab. It feels a bit like deconstructorium mentioned above, but is a bit more limited.

Play these games because they are epic!!

I can’t really define what makes these games so great, so don’t expect any good arguments. Just play the games.

1. Tiny World: The Musical: The Game by pdyxs

play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=2440

A game that’s also a musical, why is that epic?

Because it is.

2: Prince of Leaves by evilseanbot

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=7902

As with number one, it is the audio that makes this game truly epic. You won’t understand until you have played it.

3. T in Y World by Tom 7

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=1984

I still have no clue what this game is and what makes it so awesome, but it’s just amazingly original.

4. Hero of rain by 31eee384

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=1712

The idea of a tiny world in a raindrop that is in the last fase of it’s fall, facing inevitable destruction just gave me chills.

5. Eye Quest – eigenbom

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=1695

I don’t know why. Just play it.

Play these games because they are polished!!

These games all feel really complete and polished. Most arn’t really original, but they are all beautiful and you won’t be getting stuck in any walls.

1. Memento XII by deepnight

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=2982

I think this was my favorite game of all. Very polished and very beautiful in more than one way. You just have to play this one.

2. Tiny Island Adventure by AdventureIslands

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11391

No flaws. Looks great, sounds nice and well animated. The only negative thing you can say about it is that it’s ‘just’ another platform game. But it’s a very, very polished one.

3. Zephyr by cadin

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=7233

This one really needed it’s own category, it’s really relaxing. It’s a simple, beautiful game where you have to guide forest sprites to a flower. It makes great use of audio that sets the right mood and gives feedback at the same time.

4. Dude, where’s my planet by Zamando

play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12041

One of the many games with small round planets that you have to travel between, what makes this one stand out? It looks absolutely amazing. (And the fact that it has an added mechanic.)

5. Evolve by jerombd

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12512

This isn’t even a game, really. You have a planet and each round you have to make a choice, deciding the fate of the planet. It just looks really amazing and has some very funny outcomes.

Play these games because they are fun!!

These games are all really simple in design, but extremely fun.

1. Overpopulous by Make A Game

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5631

Great theme! You have to ‘colonise’ new planets by crashing into them with your own planet. It’s chaotic, it’s funny, it’s fast.

2. Astro Break by hulahulahest

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=528

The presentation, the sound effects, the simple gameplay, the fact that you shoot at things, it all just screams fun. And it is.

3. Eight O’Clock by Kendja

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12019

A small adventure game where you search for keys and talk to strangers who say silly things.

4. Dave is in a Fish Tank by Toast

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=6788

Dave is a tiny guy who is in a fish tank. You need to feed him, but not everything you drop in the tank is food. There are some really surprising and fun elements to this game.

5. Nom Nom Planet by Arkazon

Play it here: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=6492

Aliens are eating your planet. You don’t want aliens to eat your planet. Shoot them.

Play this game because I made it

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5496

Best Ludum Dare I’ve entered yet! I’ve played 75 games now, when I get to 100 I’ll post a list of games I liked most. But first my post mortem.

What went wrong
I start with what went wrong to end positive.

Wanting complicated things

I promised myself I would make something simple and polished. I knew I wouldn’t have the full 48 hours for my game (I had other things to do as well) and after having made an entry that was too confusing to understand (escape) and a game with controls that were too slow to be enjoyable (alone), I wanted to make something simple and fun.

Well forget it, what I want and what I want are two completely different things. I decided I wanted to make a game where you can walk on each side of the platforms, causing a lot of problems with the controls.

There is no right solution to this!

It turned out that not a single control method I came up with worked well. When I used the method where left always makes you walk to the character’s left and right to the character’s right (the method most similar games have used in this competition), players got confused when the character was upside down. So I decided that it would be better if you always walk in the direction you press, with the option to press space to jump regardless of direction. I, and people who tested this game, thought that this worked pretty well, but quite some people have disagreed. My guess is that it feels natural for people who don’t play games often (my testers this weekend) but not for gamers. Perhaps there is an option I have missed?

Funny glitches

The game has no known ways to get stuck or cheat, which deserves a place in “what went right” since that’s pretty rare for me, but I’ve already said it now. However, there are quite some funny things that can happen due to the gravity switches.

What went right

The theme

I loved it! I was so afraid that the theme would be “death is a new beginning” or some other theme that seems to be based on games that already exist. You can do so many things with “tiny world” but it still manages to inspire you. Those are the best themes.

Starting with the music works for me.

This is the third time I composed the music first, but this time I took it one step further. Before I even had a concept I made this song based on the theme alone: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4358735/TinyWorldJaj.mid . Nothing is as inspiring to me as a piece of music, and I guess having this so early made it a lot easier for me to create the mood of the game.

Autopilot.

I don’t know what came over me, but I just worked and worked without actively thinking about what I was doing too much. Going forward and not looking back. And when I finally looked back, I liked what I saw. I still can’t believe I managed to finish this game in less than 48 hours, with time left to tweak, test and polish.

I’m already looking forward to next Ludum Dare to make something even better!

Play and rate here!

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5496

I have entered my game. I may still make some adjustments.

New in this version:
Space to jump added
Gravity works better

 

Go here for a gameplay video

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5496

I have a version of the game that is “finished.” It’s a short platformer with two possible endings. There are probably still ways to get stuck, but I havn’t found them yet.

Here is the game: Download

Use the arrow keys to move. You can save with F5 and load with F6

As I said, I havn’t been able to get stuck, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get stuck. If anyone finds any problems, please comment

I added some characters and also made an uptempo version of the theme song:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4358735/GiganticWorldJaj.mid

I won’t spoil what it’s for.

This is how the game looks now ^^^

I have a technical demo with the graphics and music in it. I’m not sure I’m happy with the controls yet. When you walk upside down, the controls are not reversed, so when you keep walking without jumping this feels great, but when you jump and you are pulled to the ceiling, it can be a bit disorienting.

Try it out! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4358735/AncestorsSwordTech.zip

So I’ve got a concept. It’s about boredom and living on a tiny floating planet/ moon. I’ve seen that same idea being posted here about an hour ago, but since my game seems to have an entirely different take on that theme, I’m just going to continue building. I can’t waste any time now.

I’ve also got a mockup/ tileset:

Concept and tiles are inspired by the music I posted earlier: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4358735/TinyWorldJaj.mid

This is my third time entering. I’m trying to make something less ambitious and focus on polish this time. I also only have one day this time, so I really have to hurry up.

I have no concept yet, so I decided to make a piece of music inspired by the theme and work from there. That piece of music is done now, two hours in. I like it a lot personally.

Have a listen! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4358735/TinyWorldJaj.mid