100 ratings in one week
Hey all. I wanted to give all of you my thanks, as Star Driller Ultra has reached 100 votes in one week. I find this amazing, especially since it took two weeks for The Sentient Cube (LD26) to reach 100 votes, and Laundry Day (LD31) never got that far. It moves me intensely to see a game I’ve made become popular so fast (even though I may hate it). This Ludum Dare was really busy for me, with setting up and organizing Tech Valley Game Space real-world meeting location, as well as making both a Compo and a Jam game. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from myself, but the results says otherwise. Wow!
So what now? First off, 42 points of coolness isn’t cool enough, so here’s a reminder that Tech Valley Game Space (TVGS) will be live streaming tonight at 7:00 PM EST! We’ll also be streaming during the weekdays and Saturdays from 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM EST (except every Wednesdays). We’ll also do our best to post the games we’ve played onto Youtube as well (this is proving to be more difficult, unfortunately, and may end up happening post-judging, to be honest).
Our Twitch.tv channel is at:
http://www.twitch.tv/techvalleygamespace
Want to submit your game? Fill out the form below!
http://goo.gl/forms/gDU933T27R
All the responses are listed below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RbvfWHMb-vWmYBagjjnfVAMKugG1vgQ41QFQ_Wa4YjE/edit?usp=sharing
Second, to celebrate the 100 votes, here are some games I highly recommend in no particular order:
Billy McMath Solves Problems
As I’ve said on Twitter, this is a God-tier Ludum Dare game. It’s hard to introduce the game properly without spoiling anything, so I’ll use a quick description a friend of mine used: this game uses comedic timing as a game mechanic. And it is glorious!
The Rock the Paper and the Scissors
A very, very unique take on rhythm games, The Rock the Paper and the Scissors uses a formula a bit similar to Parappa the Rapper where patterns needs to be read and repeated. Unlike ye old Simon-says game, though, you can start your trend of attacks at any time while the music is playing. This opens up to a lot of possibilities that I think this game utilizes well.
F.U.M.S (Fucked Up Missile System)
This is a game where not moving causes the missiles to explode. Sound stupid? I thought so too, but the moment I played it, the whole thing clicked. Since missiles homes into you, you have to maneuver around them with last-minute dodges while staying still at any other opportunity. It’s this beauty in simplicity that absolutely blows my mind about this game.
Sonny & Gloom
When I first heard of the premise of this game — a co-op game about using a player’s health to combat enemies — I groaned. The “use health as a resource for attack” premise never worked in the many game jam games I’ve played, so I expected the worst from this. Fortunately, that was not the case: the game cleverly uses regenerating health (and a rapid one at that) to balance out the quickly-depleting health. Additionally, attacks include both close-range and long-range, allowing for both players to do some hefty beating. The remarkable amount of balancing put into this game, coupled with a game mechanic I previously thought was broken, makes it one of my top picks.
Rude Bear Raid
Thought those Words with Friends, Farmville, and other asynchronous multiplayer games were the bane of gamings’ existence? I hope Rude Bear Raid changes your mind. Much like Team Fortress 2, Rude Bear Raid puts two teams against each other, with a twist: neither team can directly interact with each other, but they can place enemies (which sacrifices one’s life) to prevent the other player from reaching their flag. This means that you will always face user-placed enemies hellbent in keeping you from getting their flag. It’s such an innovative concept. I’d love to see more ideas likes these.
Crystalline
Crystalline is a fairly conventional puzzle game about a lone researcher who happens to have a gun that can make blocks pop in and out of existence. Still, it’s a solid puzzle game, one that had me scratching my head for quite a while. With easy platform controls and a surprisingly substantial narrative behind it, I can passionately recommend this game to any puzzle fans out there.
Wee Pon
Here’s a solid Metroidvania game! Wee Pon involves chucking around a destructive weapon that you can use to swap places. The swapping mechanic is the highlight here, as it allows for traversing locations you otherwise wouldn’t have expected, and managing to make death a lot less annoying. The whole game plays organically, and leans towards open exploration.
Super SALT Helmet
Need a casual multiplayer fighting game to play? Then look no further! Super SALT Helmet is here to take care of your needs! Just use the A-button to charge up your attack while using the left-stick to aim. There are a lot of baiting and mind-reading possibilities in this game, making it a blast to play with your friends, locally.
drone-a-pult
So here’s a game where I think the graphics are too clean. The audio is mundane and boring. The controls are needlessly complicated. The rules are very restricting. And the darn objective is too hard to beat! So why? Why do I find this game so entertaining!?
Now this leaves a single question: how is Unconventional Stick Swinging Simulator doing in comparison to Star Driller Ultra? Well…
Basically what I would have expected from a simulator game.
Want to know what other games were made at the Tech Valley Game Space? Here there are: