Results are in! I almost didn't participate this time around, but my wife said she'd be disappointed if I didn't make a game. She seemed pretty excited about it, so I couldn't let her down. I don't remember exactly where I got the idea from. I was watching some of the LGR Edutainment Month reviews and at some point must've put rockets and Oregon Trail together. I drew the rocket cutscene and the rest of the game planned itself.

From the start I wanted a parody of the Apple ][ version of Oregon Trail... the one I played in elementary school where we had to double up on computers because there were only enough for half the class. Your party was doomed from the get go if your partner insisted on spending all the money on bullets. Oregon Trail--Test of Friendships.

This was my best rated LD game since I started with LD 31. First place in humor? Exciting! Thanks to everyone who played and rated!

Usually I like to go all out with game mechanics and code. I'm a programmer, not an artist, musician, or designer. I like solving programming challenges. But this game was what I needed--an excuse to be silly. It's not the LD game I'm the most proud of, but it was the one I had the most fun making. I like to think that shows.

What Went Well-- I didn't lose much time to hunting down bugs. From the start I had a good (and accurate) idea of how long each piece of the game would take. Planning is very important. I spent my first hour creating a roadmap of the entire game, and I knew exactly what to cut if time started running short. I had a reasonable scope for this project. Everything I felt was an important feature did get implemented... even the little hunting minigame.

What Didn't Go Well-- Balance. I threw the difficulties in at the last minute as a last-ditch effort to strike a balance between the two ends of the difficulty spectrum. I think it turned out okay after I put that selection in, but I can't claim it isn't luck. Variety. It's a parody of Oregon Trail and racing games. Well, mainly Oregon Trail. As a child of the 80's and 90's, I grew up on a lot of edutainment games. There were plenty of opportunities to poke some fun at the more absurd parts of the genre. Unfortunately, I had to pass them up. Maybe next time.

Closing-- Congratulations to everyone who participated. See you next time!