Mini Ludum Dare is an almost-monthly practice for Ludum Dare. It's a chance to get your hands dirty and experience the wonders of 48-hour game development (operating under the assumption that you can't do that on your own, apparently). It takes place on the first Friday of every month, except during months when a regular LD48 contest occurs.
The rules are the same as Ludum Dare, with the following differences:
You can sign up to host Mini Ludum Dare
here. Hosting means you get to decide quite a few things. You can only be on the hosting list once at a time. You can sign up again at the end of the list as soon as your first hosting job is over.
The theme for each contest is dictated by the host, rather than voted on. This theme can be absolutely anything, not just the typical LD48 theme of a very simple concept that can be broadly interpreted.
The rules are allowed to be altered by the host in any way. You can run a super-strict contest where people can only use Pixeltoaster and SFXR sounds, or a rampant free-for-all with no restrictions on content or code, or anything in-between.
The host decides what the start time for the contest will be depending on what's convenient for them. The end time is 48 hours after that. The date of the contest is always the first Friday of the month. Like in regular LD, the host announces the theme at the start time, and then contestants have 48 hours to do their magic.
Besides announcing the theme at start time, the host's other job is to announce the rules, start date and time, and any special circumstances of their contest, by the 1st of the month. Sooner would be better, especially if the 1st of the month is when the contest starts! Announce this information by posting a blog entry on the main compo site. The host should also blog the start and end of the contest itself (including the theme).
The host has to be present to manage their contest, so if you aren't available to run it, you need to be dropped off the list and swapped with someone else. This could happen to you if your announcement has been posted by the 1st of your month. Just don't sign up for a month you can't do!
Mini LD is also an opportunity for hosts to try something different. Don't like how we do things? Run a Mini LD and show us how it's done.
