I just starting crating my own games a few weeks ago. It was also basically a ball rolling game that had you making your way across platforms to a goal, and teleporting to the next level. (It's on my itch page.)

My second game takes the same ideas, and some of the scripts, and expands upon it. During this weekend I had to learn to teleport (because I wanted the crystals you picked up to stay picked up), and I learned a bit about basic AI motions. I wanted that animated motion of fairies in the scene to make the area come to life. Oh, and glass! I learned how to make transparent layers to create beautiful dreamy scenes. You bet I'll be using that again.

I've also learned that my strong suit is in creating beautiful places to explore, less so the programing. But I'm not giving up. I love seeing my worlds come to life on the screen, and I am going to keep learning, and hopefully keep entering Ludum Dare because I can see how this is forcing me to learn new things.

As an added bonus I have been able to play a lot of really fun games during this weekend. And the month isn't up, so I'll be playing more over the next couple of weeks.