Hello all,

As I am a first timer to LD, as well as any sort of time restricted game jam, I’m interested in discovering best practices from those more experienced in this type of competition.  Any tips or pointers would be greatly appreciated.  Reading through a lot of the introductory posts here, I’ve noticed an overwhelming amount of first timers like myself, so I think this information will be valuable to a large number of participants.

Some things I’m specifically seeking advice on:

• Time management – Specifically, I’m wondering if you’ve found that spending some time thinking through the design of your game before starting work (perhaps even writing down a few things about the gameplay, story, characters, etc.) was most helpful, or if diving right in and prototyping your idea(s) worked better
• Art assets – Personally, art is my biggest weakness.  I honestly can’t draw at all.  I’m planning on either doing A) pixel art or B) a very sparse/minimalist art style, akin to Asteroids.  So I’m wondering how those less gifted with all things art related have dealt with this weakness and how it has worked out for you in the past.  Judging by past successful LD projects, having good art and presentation is immensely important.
• Scope creep (or, overambitiousness) – Obviously, trying to do “too much” in a game in 48 hours would be a killer, but it’s kind of hard to judge or quantify what “too much” would be.  Any past experiences would be greatly appreciated here.

Thanks so much for any responses!  Certainly feel free to pass down any other advice you may have that I have not specifically asked about.