It's me again, the introducer, you still remember me, don't you? Perhaps you aren't, but anyway, I was told that the abyss exploring tour I mentioned to you earlier just got "maintenance" somehow. I've heard from other people who returned to the surface that the overall experience has been improve significantly. So give it another try, will ya?

But if you are new here, and you want to experience some digging and exploring, then welcome! You can take this tour for yourself, and maybe leave a review about it afterward, anything will be appreciated.

With that's been said, I wish you a good luck! INTO THE ABYSS we go!

* Please add your game to the comments and I will rate it *

Appreciate if you have a few min to play and rate Sunken Secrets

Sunken Secrets is a short game about collecting missing cargo at the bottom of the sea. You track and find the packages using your sonar, keep an eye on your cabin pressure, the deeper you go the higher it gets. The deepest part just give you a few seconds before your cabin gives in.

Keyboard and Gamepad supported.

Play and Rate: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/sunken-secrets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAFwlQhH7Lc

The Cleaner of the Depth

I love making and playing narrative games during gamejams, so lets share our games amongst eachother!

Our game about dropping your wedding ring down the drain also needs more ratings, so give it a try if it seems like your kind of thing! It's a puzzle game and has voice acting between the man and his wife! :)

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/sinking-of-you

Hi all! Here is the background story and opening scene to our moody 2D-platformer with heavy focus on spoken narration. Hope you like it!

Click here to play 👉 Adam, Rejected 👈!

Adam, Rejected

Scientist Mandy Shelby creates bodies: live bodies. But when some of her creations do not meet her expectations, she is not one to continue on a doomed project. Her children are worthy. If they are not, there is only one way to go, and that is down.

Meet Adam. Once one of Mandy Shelby’s children, now a rejected monster, tumbling down a shaft to his new, dank, forever home under the rocks. But this skellie will not sit idly by. And so his journey upwards begins, with you to help him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZxWiEcb7Mw

G

The Greater Depths

This is the first time I've made a game featuring a full story line with voice acting.

You play as a medium who's been hired to find someone who's lost. You come to an island where you need to explore the many depths of the spiritual realms.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-greater-depths

Here is all Game Engines I only found once

| Game Engine | LDJam Link | |-------------|-------------| | Bevy | Link | | GB Studio | Link | | Love2D | Link | | Pixi.js | Link | | PuzzleScript | Link | | Raylib | Link | | SDL | Link |

It's best to be well-rested when working on game jams, whether it's coding, making art, or composing the soundtrack. But even jammers with the best of intentions can run into trouble.

When falling asleep, sometimes counting sheep can turn from tranquility...

...to chaos!

And I just wanted a peaceful night's sleep! Maybe a bit of music will help. Ah! How about the soundtrack I made for our entry "Shleep"! What a coincidence, I just happen to have it here:

Most of the soundtrack is based off of a chord progression that lasts about a minute and a half, but it has many layers that come and go depending on what is happening in the game. To that end, the first three tracks of the OST are arranged in a seamless suite that somewhat mimic the way you may hear the progression while playing. So let's start at the beginning!

Track 1: "Dream Suite I - Good Boy"

Sometimes trying to go to sleep in silence can be unnerving, so our game gives you the option to add music as an upgrade when the restful quiet is a bit too peaceful. I wanted to start things off on a pleasant note, with some twinkling piano and a synth wash. As you count more and more sheep, other elements begin to be introduced, like a more rhythmic synth to start adding some energy, and then the most characteristic element of the whole OST, the lap steel guitar!

Unfortunately, I don't own (or really know how to play) a lap steel, but I have a nice sounding VST version that works well enough in a pinch. To me, the lap steel is one of the cornerstone instruments in country music, which I thought was a good fit for a game the starts to transition from sheep-countin' to sheep-wranglin'.

Track 2: "Dream Suite II - The Ballad of Mr. Scheer"

Track 2 picks up right where 1 leaves off. As mentioned before, the same chord progression and even some of the same elements are present, but new ones are brought in as others leave. In this track, I introduce the bass guitar and percussion, and begin to fade out the rhythmic chirping synth, and bring back in the piano to play a new part.

In-game, ideally these transitions are seamless and you won't notice much as you're playing, but the changes help direct the increasing energy of the game as more and more sheep appear, and new game mechanics and characters are introduced, like the titular Mr. Scheer. I won't spoil any of that here. You should play the game instead!

Track 3: "Dream Suite III - Wolf Nightmare"

Actually... I will spoil some of it, because unfortunately the title of track 3 is a bit of a giveaway. Suffice it to say, counting sheep isn't without its occasional challenges. When these setbacks appear, the music shifts to something a bit more sinister. The lap steel drops out and is replaced by some tense, tremolo violins. The percussion changes from a relatively basic groove to a more push-and-pull rhythm played on a cajon.

The bassline keeps its structure, but switches from major to a minor feel, complimenting the other elements of tension. Don't worry though, the nightmare doesn't last forever.

Track 4: "One Million Sheep"

There is a reason that game music composers are often brought on towards the end of the game development cycle. Mid-development, it can be difficult to know what the right musical vibe will be, as well as things like "how should this be implemented?" and "how long or short should this track be?". A lot of those questions can't be answered until the game is being polished and balanced. However, that time isn't a luxury you often have during a game jam...

Despite how complicated the music implementation is in "Shleep", we unfortunately weren't able to get to everything I had planned before the submission deadline arrived. At least as of writing this, track 4 isn't currently in the game. But the vision was for it was to gradually fade in to a sort of blissful haze as your sheep count goes ever higher and higher and you finally come close to falling asleep.

I'm hoping this one can be added in with a future post-jam build, because I quite like it! Despite its different tone than the previous 3 tracks, it actually follows the same chord progression and can be layered over top of the other tracks (making it easy to crossfade between them towards the end of the game.) Speaking of the end...

Track 5: "Golden Fleece"

Congrats! After many trials and many, many more sheep, you finally fell asleep. This is the track you hear once you've won. When I was first coming up with music ideas at the beginning of the jam, I offered a couple of choices to the team. They thought the first idea worked best for the gameplay.

But by the end of the jam, we needed another track to play over the final screen. Well... thankfully I already had a piece of music waiting to be polished up and used! Not much to say here, it uses some of the same elements of track 2, namely the electric bass and the lap steel, but this time over a lo-fi hip-hop beat. This one is pretty chill and a good way to close out the game.

So what do you think? Any questions about composing I didn't cover? I'd be happy to go into more detail.

But if your curiousity is sated, play and rate "Shleep" already!

(oh, and you can download the OST for free here :smirk:)

For this jam, I wanted to try making a first-person game. Why? Because I’ve never finished one before, and game jams are the perfect chance to experiment and try something new.

Once I settled on the concept and started working, I got a bit nervous about going full 3D—especially when it came to animation. Even though I have some experience with it, I chose to go with sprite-based animations like in DOOM. That turned out to be a mistake. I didn’t realize how high-res and realistic the sprites needed to be to match my game’s style.

With 3D models, you can animate a single model in different ways, but with 2D sprites, I had to redraw every frame by hand. Combined with some issues I had with the inventory system, I ended up pushing animation to the very end. As a result, the final animations were low-quality, incomplete, and some only had a few frames.

Thankfully, I went back after the jam to patch the game and rework the animations. Now they look much better—almost perfect! There's still room for improvement, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

What do you think about the animations? If you’ve worked in a similar style, how do you handle it? Any tips for speeding up the process?

Thanks!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-final-descent

We all know the SMART algorithm - the one that prioritizes those games whose devs are hard at work, leaving ratings and feedback on other projects. But have you used an alternative sorting algorithm today?

CLASSIC is for the games whose devs are leaving a lot of ratings, but may not be getting all that many hearts on their feedback.

DANGER is for the games that are ever so close to reaching that vital 20 ratings mark - your rating would surely mean the world to them!

ZERO is for the games that aren't getting much attention at all - maybe you could give them their first piece of feedback?

There's also FEEDBACK for the games whose devs left a LOT of quality feedback, and GRADE for the games with the most grades, but being in those categories is usually a sign that a game isn't necessarily struggling to get feedback and reviews.

So why not give them a shot? Try alternative sorting algorithms today!

Note: I may be biased

This is mine:

I identify with this little fella. It doesn’t scream LOOK AT ME like the flashy corals, enemies or pearls. It’s just… there. Quiet. Present. Rooted. A small brown underwater plant, swaying gently in the background.

You’ll find it in every level, even in the deep corners where no other sprite dares to go. It doesn’t demand attention, but it brings something essential: texture, atmosphere, life. If it were gone, you wouldn’t be able to say exactly what’s missing. But you’d feel it, the silence between the notes, the gaps in the rhythm of the world.

It’s the right combination of humility and purpose. Not everything needs to shine to matter.

https://youtu.be/YIRrIIFnWwU

By far the most fun I've ever had in a Ludum Dare! :v:

I had the chance to pay homage to a super cool LEGO set. You're an OG if you remember it!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/power-mining

Red Finger - is a short horror experience in which you operate an elevator in an old research complex.

There are just a few left to 20 ratings. I'll be glad if you play and rate.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/red-finger

https://www.twitch.tv/xpmonsterx

Submit your game via our Discord server and be present on stream :)

Empyrean's server: https://discord.gg/4h5scpz6ek

Games played count: 16

Last games:

1. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-drop

2. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/minddive

3. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/a-knight-and-his-well

4. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/saturation

5. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/walking-simulator

6. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/profundidude-in-search-of-planet-telex

7. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/squirrel-swirl

8. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/high-pressure-arena

9. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/explorer-of-the-depths

10. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/not-too-deep

11. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/paladino

12. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/slip-stream

13. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/a-new-hell

14. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/echo-of-fallens

15. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/depth-rhythm

16. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/hexadig

⚠️Lots of text⚠️

* Introduction:* This is my first jam, i programmed all in blueprints

Day before the jam:

• I was super nervous about what theme would be chosen, so I stocked up on energy drinks and Snickers to avoid wasting time on food.
• The jam in my country started at 4 a.m., so I decided to go to sleep. Because of the nerves, I had to do sleep exercises, but in the end, I managed to fall asleep properly.

For beginning: Decided to prioritize sleep for mental clarity during the jam. Subtracted sleep hours: 6+8+8 = 22. Total time: 72-22 = 50 hours for game development.

Jam:

• Woke up at 10 AM, 6 hours after the jam began. Theme: "Depths"

• Sat down to brainstorm ideas

On English

On Russian

• At first, I thought of making a puzzle game, something about opening the right doors and closing the wrong ones to descend deeper into a dungeon. Then I accidentally saw a YouTube thumbnail about Gravity Falls and immediately remembered the episode with the endless pit

• Came up with the idea of throwing objects into an abyss for rewards. Added mechanics: heavy objects require strength upgrades to lift.

Wrapped it into a concept: "A game about feeding Cthulhu various foods".

Finalized concept:

"A slave forced to feed Cthulhu for life, aiming to escape alive."

Development plan:

1. Implement basic physics-based object grabbing 🖐

2. Create a system for rapid item/upgrade creation with custom stats ⚙️

3. Make object size affect weight (controlled via DataTable).

4. Build a "Cthulhu satisfaction" system fueled by feeding

5. Design a shop to buy upgrades using satisfaction points.

6. Create diverse food types and upgrades 🍖🥩🥓🍳

Development process:

• I spent 6-8 hours deciding: Unreal has a built-in method for grabbing objects — the PhysicsHandle method, but I wanted items to be able to pull the character down if the player wasn't strong enough to lift them. From a previous project, I decided to rewrite the object grabbing tech, but I overlooked a few things:

• As I understood, this can’t be done with PhysicsHandle due to how it works; it’s only achievable through multiple physics constraint components

• But then another problem arises: I’d need to make the player’s CapsuleComponent physical, and I didn’t solve that in the last project. When the capsule is physical, standard movement via AddMovementInput doesn’t work; I’d have to physically “push” the player in the desired direction, and the player would have inertia, making it hard to stop.

• * Decision*: Sticked with PhysicsHandle for simplicity, though Constraint had more chaotic potential.

• No issues here at all, since I had already built a weapon system using a DataTable. The structure was roughly:

  1. Create a general DataTable with pre-planned items, assign their stats
  2. Create a parent class where, in the construction script, you assign variables from the DataTable to the object itself
  3. Create a child class, assign the row name from the DataTable, and place it in the world
  4. Done

Make a quick way to create upgrades:

• Hit a snag: object mass couldn’t be set in Construction Script.
• I spent 3–4 hours stuck on this, until I decided to set the mass in BeginPlay

This wasn’t hard either:

• 100 = victory

• 0 = death

• To reach 100, you need to feed him a special delicacy — I decided it would be dinosaur steak

• Every 0.5 seconds, a fixed amount of satisfaction is subtracted

• If satisfaction hits 15%, you can’t trade with Cthulhu and he screams, calling on the player to feed him faster

• Everything went wrong here, and I had to abandon most of the new features
• The idea was: player walks to the edge, presses a button or says a spell; if satisfaction is high enough, a shop appears with three items. The player picks one, the shop disappears. When the player returns, the two unchosen items remain, and a new one replaces the chosen.

Problems: 1. Very little time left 2. I couldn’t figure out the logic to replace the chosen upgrade with a new one

3. I decided there would only be one upgrade to choose from, and they wouldn’t cost satisfaction anymore — they’d just be awarded for reaching certain score thresholds

• This happened throughout the whole jam. 3D models were constantly made in Blender.
• I exported about 40 models during the jam, didn’t count how many were left unfinished in Blender.
• I really wanted to add a SkeletalMesh cow into Lisiy. I even gave her a name — in English, just for simplicity, I call her telec. But when spawned, her jumps endlessly. I couldn’t fix it or even figure out the reason. If anyone knows what might be wrong, I’d appreciate any advice. Anyway, rest in peace, telec.

Final stretch:

• I had almost given up. It was midnight, the jam ends at 4 a.m., with one extra hour for uploading.
• At that point I was still finishing the shop and deciding on upgrades.
• I finished everything at 3 a.m., but the compiler let me down, and I ended up with a compiled build only around 5:40 a.m.
• Full of nerves due to unknown consequences of violation of deadlines, uploaded to itch.io

Aftermath:

• Qualified for nominations🎉🎉
• For my first jam, I consider this an absolute success. At one point I seriously thought about quitting entirely.

Thanks to everyone who played Lisiy! Check it out if you haven’t. Good luck to all developers!

You know that moment when you play something and think, “Yep, this is special”? Not just gameplay, but the mood, the vibe. Here are a few gems from this jam that stuck with me — not ranked, just memorable in their own way. Each one left a mark.

Mr. Money's Phenomenally Soggy Water Removal Romp

A game with a title longer than the lake you’re draining — and that’s part of the charm. You scoop water, build pumps and slowly watch the lake disappear, one splash at a time. It’s pure chill — the kind of game where your brain goes “ahhh” and just vibes. I smiled more than once — that thimble at the start got me.

We're at the bottom

This one’s not just a game — it’s art. I won’t spoil a thing, because going in blind is exactly what makes it special. It plays with your expectations, makes you laugh, messes with your head a little. Just trust me — play it.

Heavy Anhinga

Getting Over It, but you’re a duck. This momentum-based platformer is cute, challenging, and unexpectedly intense. The physics feel great once you get the hang of it, but oh boy, you will fall — and you will keep trying. It’s got charm, it’s got snacks, and it might break your fingers a little (in a good way). Simple controls, zero mercy, full personality. Honk honk.

Cheese is the Reason

A point-and-click adventure soaked in style, charm, and really good cheese-based humor. You’ve got rats, noir vibes, full voice acting (!!), and visuals that feel like a lost PS1 gem. It honestly blows my mind how low this game in term of rate count — it deserves way more attention. Don’t miss this little rat masterpiece.

DUCKDEPF

Endless fall. One duck. You’re just diving deeper and deeper, dodging debris and trying not to panic. It’s weirdly addictive — I blinked and half an hour was gone. The controls feel good, the music keeps you going, and the bonk on death? Weirdly satisfying. Clean, tight, and way more fun than it has any right to be.

If you made it this far — thanks for reading!

And while you're here, feel free to check out my game too.

Would be cool to hear what you think.

What hidden gems did you find this jam? Would be cool to share it witch other down below 👇

Over the last week, I’ve been going through your comments, and I’m super grateful for the thoughtful feedback.
Here's a short summary of what worked — and what could be improved:

What Worked

Players consistently praised the mood, minimalistic art, and the sense of progression.
The role-reversal of being the monster really landed.

“I love the atmosphere — calm and spooky.”
“Playing as a horror beyond human comprehension: amazing.”
“The visuals are beautiful.”
“Music and sound effects fit the mood perfectly.”
“Reaching further and further felt satisfying.”

What Needs Work

There’s a clear interest in more depth, a stronger payoff, and perhaps pressure mechanics to encourage fast feeding or risk.

“It was very easy to dodge everything.”
“Felt short, I expected more.”
“Wish the tongue moved faster later in the game.”
“Wasn’t clear you could ignore spikes after reaching past them.”

Final Thoughts

This jam was a blast, and your comments helped me see DEVOUR not just as a jam game — but as a foundation for something more.

👉 Haven’t played yet?

Share your games in the comments —

I'll try to play as many as I can. 🎮

Toilet Diver 🤿

Post links to your games directly in chat if you want me to play them! :)

Join now!

I made my first fully playable game(a 3D sokoban puzzle) in this event! I’d like to share some things I have learned about using DOTween and tips for building with Unity WebGL.

DOTween

1. DOTween’s Sequence feature makes it really easy to control animations. You can freely combine multiple tweens in one sequence. In my game, for example, the jump animation is built by combining horizontal and vertical movements within a sequence.

2. More importantly, sequences support function callbacks and interruption controls. I used this to make action cancelling, and got a control feel I’m pretty satisfied with. Here's how it works: ``` // This is not the best way to handle action cancelling, but it's simple and effective for a game jam. if (canReceiveInput && playerHasInput) { // the true parameter tells DOTween to complete the current movement sequence immediately, // rather than stopping it moveSequence.Kill(true);

   // ... (Create a new movement sequence based on the player's input)

   // Insert a callback to reopen the input window at the cancelable time moveSequence.InsertCallback(canCancelTime, () => { canReceiveInput = true; });

   // Immediately close the input window to prevent duplicate inputs canReceiveInput = false; } ```

3. Here’s an unexpected discovery: In my game, the movement of boxes uses DOTween’s default easing Ease.OutQuad(), while the player movement uses Ease.OutCubic(). This means that, over the same distance and time, the player starts off moving faster than the box. This setup creates a surprisingly smooth, inertia-like effect when pushing the boxes, and I really liked the result!

Delay function in Unity Web build

In Unity's WebGL builds, you can't use await Task.Delay() for delays because WebGL doesn't support multithreading. There are a few alternative solutions:

1. Use UniTask plugin (seems like a lot of people are using this)

2. Unity Coroutine, but more clunky to write.

3. Awaitable provided by Unity (since 2023.1).

Also, I found a lot of people in this LD are using Godot. I'm thinking of learning this engine and trying it out for my next game.

Lastly, here's my entry: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/theres-no-depth-in-top-view

If you enjoy solving puzzles, give it a try!

13 April 2025, version: 1.0.4

Bug Fixes and minor update ℹ️(This Version is not available until the end of Ratings)ℹ️

• Add combat animation. - Added ✅
• Modify the movement in the rising water mode so that gravity is almost 0 and pressing W makes going up less slow. - Fixed ✅
• Add a game over screen along with a sound. - Added ✅
• Upon starting, show how to play with a small explanation of what an autobattler is. - Added ✅
• When damage is taken, the damage number turns red and then decreases. - Added ✅
• When the enemy is hit, a flash and shake effect occurs. - Added ✅
• When one receives damage, a flash and shake effect occurs. - Added ✅
• Damage numbers above each character. - Added ✅

Plans for version: 1.0.5

• Change the health bar to a mind bar that fills up when attacking, and upon reaching 100, performs a special attack. 📅
• Add 3 "cards" that do different things when catching a fish in the open world. 📅
• Add more corals and things to the open world. 📅
• Add a New Game Plus system with infinite rounds, but everything becomes progressively harder. 📅
• Create a leaderboard for completed bosses. 📅
• Show the amount of health in numbers inside the health bar. 📅
• Add settings such as a volume bar. 📅
• Add generic click and hover sounds along with visual UI feedback. 📅
• Add a font for the game's internal texts. 📅
• Add small icons like for the .exe and the taskbar. 📅

Please continue playing: (https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/ludumdare-57-placeholder) and giving us feedback, ❕❕this minor update will be publish after ratings❕❕

my game is shit

I've added some notes and tips about playing the current version of my game, ABSEIL. Check it out!

NOTE If you’re wondering why you can’t place an anchor, it’s probably because you are either too close to another anchor, or moving too quickly. Also, holding A and D do not swing you, only pressing those buttons while the swing is off cooldown will give you a boost.

Strategy I’d recommend only placing anchors when you have to. It’s easier to reposition yourself horizontally while swinging on a longer rope. Placing an anchor is permanent (in this version of the game). Don’t get stuck!

Hey, I bet you still didn't play our game where you are going to dig stuff as a pig in search for some oats for your brother!
We still missing some votes, so would be cool if you help us a bit. And we'll try to rate your game too, if you leave a comment!
Game link

Hey! I'm at 16 ratings, almost 20!

Checkout and rate Deep Fisher and you would make an dev happy!

It's here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/deep-fisher

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/walking-simulator

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/walking-simulator

First of all thanks everybody who played and rated my silly little water cat game. And I especially grateful for the comments, the feedback was really positive and very motivational!

Now I want to share some lessons I learned during this Jam. First day of the Jam I dedicated to conceptualizing how mechanics would work and how to design puzzles around them and also I sketched some level designs on paper, the rest of the day I spend coding the movement and physics system. While the GameMaker studio (that this game is created in and that also that sponsoring this Jam, thank you GameMaker) has a good inbuilt physics engine I had no idea how to implement buoyancy with it and also I deduced that coding system that predict throw trajectories with it would be outside of this project scope and timeframe. So I built a very primitive physics system from scratch. Unfortunately, despite primitivity, the code was junky and had bugs. 😔

And it lead to some time being waisted in trying to polish system and fix bugs. The thing that helped me, despite my initial stubbornness, was writing a bedbug system for visualizing collisions and applied forces. While I was sure that I didn’t need it, in actuality it was immensely useful and helped to quickly fix my physics system.

Early gameplay prototype.

You can see how the white collision lines are visible on this key:

So the lesson learned - when you have a slightest problem with your systems - write a tool to bedbug and visualize them, even if you are sure you understand how everything work and you don't need such tools.

And for the reference, the final gameplay and physics look like this:

Next part sometime next week. I will talk about level design in that one.

I've been drawing fan art of the games I've rated this LD. I just finished rating my 20th game and here's a compilation image with all twenty combined:

I've been really impressed by the quality of submissions this jam. These are the ones in the picture, I can honestly say that they've all been great:

When it Sinks

Topography

Captain Death

Super Deep Breath

Depthshift

Pandora's Return

Into The Mousehole

Ad Light

Down

27°59′17″N 86°55′30″E

Dino Rush

Depthshifter

Voidwood

Bagatelle

Ribux - Spelunker Delux

DEVLIC`S ABSORPTION

Dyamid

Face your fears

Stars in the Deep

TRENCH

P.S. Please let me know if you feel like I've in any way misrepresented your game

We uploaded our Unity WebGL build, hit play, and… our music isn't changing under the water.
Turns out default Unity Low-Pass and High-Pass Filters just noped out in WebGL!!!
And the uploading time is close to an end!!!

Luckily we quickly found a workaround 🔊:

Instead of relying on runtime filters, we pre-baked filtered versions of our audio stems and blended between them using volume control.
Not elegant. But it works!

Any other solutions?

Has anyone out there ever used FMOD in WebGL builds?

We invite you to check out and play our game on our page!

Hey everyone, this isn’t my game, but it hurts to see how few ratings it has. Such a great horror game, yet it hasn’t even reached 20 votes... If you’re unsure what else to play—give this one a try :)

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/blind-abyss

Hey everyone,

I would like to get into the habit of analyzing my own work and trying to learn from my mistakes. Hence, this postmortem! I am writing this mostly for myself, but I would be happy to hear any thoughts you have :)

Lately I have been playing Tunic a lot on my switch. I am quite fascinated by the combat in that game, which is super frustrating all the time to me, but at the same time somehow fun? I especially really enjoyed/hated the bosses, so I was curious what it was like to create my own boss battler and what kind of decisions go into that. This is how my Ludum Dare entry 'The Scourge from the Deep' was born! You can play it here if you are interested: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-scourge-from-the-deep

Initially I was aiming for a compo submission, but at the end of the first day it was already looking like I might run out of time. Perhaps I should have pivoted to a different game then, but I was still very invested in the idea, so I decided to keep working on it. In the end I indeed ran out of time and submitted for the jam instead, but I think it was the right choice. I am very proud of the results and had a lot of fun in the process :D

Some things that did not go so well this Ludum Dare:

• One of the main reasons that everything took this long was the sprite for the boss. It is quite a large pixel art sprite to animate, which was quite difficult for me. On top of that, it has a lot of small details (like the lava/fire thingies on its body). This all took a long time to draw and animate. I think a simpler sprite with less details would have been better.

• The difficulty of this game turned out to be very hard to balance. For some, the game was very easy, but for others it was impossibly hard. I think the main reason is the extremely short wind-up times of the boss's attacks, which give you very little time to respond. Some people figured out it is actually better to just take the bosses attacks while you keep cutting away at it, because trying to evade them is just really hard and will result in the same amount of damage taken. As some people in the comments have suggested, to fix this I think the boss's attacks should be easier to read but do more damage. This might make it feel more like an actual boss fight.

• Some people also complained about not being able to move while you are attacking. I think this is a matter of taste to some extent, but I agree that the gameplay feels a bit static because of it. Perhaps if your attacks actually moved the player character a bit the attack would have felt better. Kind of like a lunge attack or something.

• Music is always a weakpoint for me and it also was in this game. I think the music was okay, but it did not really fit the style of gameplay. This happens because I do not really know yet how to make music that evokes a specific kind of feeling. All I can do right now is just make some music by putting together some sounds that sound nice together, and hope that the feeling matches. I do really like to make the music though, so I would love to learn how to do it better :)

Overall I am still really happy how the game turned out! There were definitely flaws, but a lot went well too. People complimented my art, which I really appreciate (since I absolutely dont have an art background). It also seemed that noone was confused about how to play. This jam I furthermore played around with shaders for the first time, and I am very happy with what I managed to do with them. Things like the healthbars, or the white flash effects when you (get) hit were done with shaders.

I think that is about it! Thanks a lot for your interest if you are still reading :) I already have my 20 ratings, but you are of course very welcome to still play my game and give some feedback here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-scourge-from-the-deep

Wuppos

Hello everyone,

I’d appreciate your insights on the game balance and the feel of how the turrets kill enemies. If you get a chance, give it a try and share your thoughts.

Play here

By the way, my game is gradually sinking to the bottom of itch.io, it's sad(

You could play it if you haven't played it yet. I tried my best - https://caffeinetrip.itch.io/echo-of-fallens

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-final-descent

Hello everyone,

I’d appreciate your insights on the game balance and the feel of how the turrets kill enemies. If you get a chance, give it a try and share your thoughts.

Play here

Hi all! There are so many cool games on the Jam, but we often don’t have time to play and rate them all. So, I decided to make a video where I play 25 random games to save your time.

🎥 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Lplx86RtE

P.S. If you like any game and wanna try them yourself, I have add links all of them in the video description.

Hello everyone!

This is my second LD jam. Last time I participated in a team as a programmer. But this time I decided to go alone and prove to myself that I can do all aspects of the game so that in the end it will be something fun.

I am generally happy with the result, but... I would like to finish the game a little after the jam and would be very happy to get more feedback.

Game page

At this point, I have already collected some feedback and outlined a list of fixes:

• Some training period is needed at the beginning. I am thinking of making something like a zero level, which will be available once and then transition to the main game.
• It will be necessary to make dying less annoying by visualizing progress on the defeat screen. And perhaps add some metaprogression, in addition to opening new upgrades.
• I think it is worthwhile to better signal the opening of new upgrades.
• Add a few more upgrade options to remove the need for the same ones to drop (since this is currently done due to a small pool)
• Change the music to a more dynamic one and replace the sound of volume change.
• Make a faster progression of mechanics changes (for example, add obstacles with a more obvious change in behavior to the second stage).
• Perhaps it’s worth changing the visuals towards something darker, but I’m still thinking about this. If anything on this list seems questionable to you, feel free to write about it.

In any case, I'm glad that I was able to take part in the jam. Thank you for your interest!

We did this project in 72 hours, I consider this a success, and you?

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/into-the-forest-depths

Have you been in a seemingly endless tunnel free-falling at 150mph? Have you already felt the tension of having to dodge objects at high speed, risking your life by an inch as the world flashes by? Have you already asked yourself what was awaiting at the end of the tunnel?

Not yet? Then risk The Fall.

Developed in 72 hours, the Fall is an arcade fast-paced game where you must avoid obstacles to reach the earth’s core! As you drop down, the whole world becomes a blur, your reflexes start being put to the test.

Now the real question is… Will you survive it?

Which of the Ruby hole biomes did you like the most?

If your game is still in the Danger Zone AKA hasn't reached the 20 votes required to get a rating I can lend a hand.

Ideally playing people's games should get you recommended to other players who will play your game but I understand that not everyone can afford the time (and the motivation sometimes) to do so.

It would be nice if you can also play games of other people in the comments or in the danger category I linked.

Several people have been experiencing a bug with my jumpstate where the jump does not happen when they press space (yet the animation plays).

I've made a bunch of tweaks and changes in how the state works to handle this problem that is driving me crazy ;-;

But I've never experienced this bug myself in neither of my machines, so I can't playtest the fix properly. Could you play some of my lil' game and tell me if you're having problems to input the jump?

My game page:* https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/deep-dreamers

I would be eternally grateful to you all! ;-; ;-; ;-;

Small piece of gameplay:

https://youtu.be/_UZMLSCoD8Q

While reviewing games is fun, it also takes time, glad that the chore is soon done. :v:

If you are looking for short games to review, here is < 1 min experience: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/photo-pro-papparazzi

How is this calculated? ( https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/abgrund )

Hello everyone,

I’d appreciate your insights on the game balance and the feel of how the turrets kill enemies. If you get a chance, give it a try and share your thoughts.

Play here

I want to understand community position about this:

https://poll-maker.com/poll5463099x31E04059-162

Discussion in comments

Are you into racing games?! Well look somewhere else, because we made a short narrative puzzle game with voice acting!

You dropped your wedding ring down the drain! Quick, grab it before your wife finds out!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/sinking-of-you

Hey everyone! I've got 20 ratings and make some adjustment based on the feedbacks. I've just released a post-jam version of my game. https://nanamaki.itch.io/slugy-down-depths
I’d love to hear your feedback, so please give it a try if you’d like! :3(also welcomed to rate the jam entry version) If you haven’got enought ratings, feel free to leave a comment below and I'd like to check your game out!

Dive into a dream within a dream in our mind-mending game Dream Depths. Can you navigate the forest, disco dreams and nightmares to find the Chosen One in time?

Try it here (HTML version now working)!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/dream-depths

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/echoabyss https://aincrad179.itch.io/echoabyss Navigate a submarine through the perilous ocean depths, dodging jellyfish attacks, avoiding obstacles, and uncovering secrets to reach the mysterious bottom of the abyss! This is my first time participating in Ludum Dare, and there are still many technical flaws. Please feel free to share your thoughts. I’m happy to receive feedback. Thank you!

LD Rating Page: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/keep-hopping

Game: https://gjammer25.itch.io/keep-hopping

It’s been almost a week since the game’s release: Grimm Syndrome

Reading all the feedback has been fascinating. Here are a couple of comments from friends:

“The cleaning part was frustrating—I had no idea what was expected of me. But it ended up matching the character’s own frustration really well.”

“It’s nice to notice that, over time, the game seems to forgive more mistakes. And you become less narrow-minded along with Melody.”

Those moments made me really proud as a game designer.

Yes, these remarks partly reflect design flaws. But they also highlight how well everything came together. For me, it’s crucial that in a story-driven game, narrative and gameplay walk hand in hand. Not side by side, not in turns—together. The cleaning mini-game underlines Melody’s routine—joyless, repetitive, frustrating.

Meanwhile, the “feedback” in the rhythm sections evolves: at first it’s harsh and dismissive, later it becomes softer and more accepting. It reflects what’s happening not just around Melody, but inside her as well.

At one point, we thought about adding short rating pop-ups like: “Horrible” / “Could be better” / “That’ll do” — but we simply wouldn’t have had time to implement it.

And what do you think about that kind of detail? Do you appreciate it, or does it feel like overkill?

Try our sub management sim, Darkest Depths! Salvage materials from the bottom of the ocean. Catch fish (or larger creatures) to have something to eat. Try not to die.

I got all the ratings, except for Humor. I'm not really sure if this disqualified me or not, it's a bit strange that some people didn't voted in it, but to be honest, I always had a hard time understanding what does "Humor" mean in the jam anyways.

If you want to check the game (and perhaps help me with humor), I'll leave the game link here:

Play and Rate Fear of Sea

Both Windows and Mac are up & running for Power Mining!
*Try it out if you like tiny survival shooters! :gun: :sunglasses: *

I typically just play and rate games that have web builds, mostly to save time and not clog my computer with stuff. Also I'm on a mac, so half of the download only games won't run for me anyway. But I just want to shout out to the void, please, if possible, make a web build for your game. It'll be much more accessible and you're much more likely to get people to play your game.

In the most recent LDs, I created some very experimental entries, with the goal of doing and learning something really new, even though the result may be a little obnoxious as an actual game. This time round, my entry has no direct connection with the theme, but instead, this is in the hands of the player: you can choose your own theme to generate a game.

Lately I've been playing around with chatbot APIs, so I thought, let's use this to generate games. I decided on a point and click adventure format, which seems to me one of the simplest game mechanics to start with. There are a limited number of actions: go from A to B, pick up object, use object. ChatGPT readily came up with fairly structured descriptions of small adventure games, including location descriptions and walkthroughs, so I thought, let's give that a try.

The basic idea of my game generator is that the AI (GPT-4o) generates a definition for a complete game, given a description of the game mechanic (e.g. the game goal and allowed actions) and a theme. I used OpenAPI's function calling feature to force the AI to create structured output. With function calling, you provide function descriptions to the AI, and then ask it to perform actions in the prompt. The AI then tries to map the desired actions onto available functions, and call them with appropriate parameters. Also it can process function output and tries to correct errors returned by the functions.

For the adventure game I invented some functions:

create_room(self, roomname, description, exits_to) create_item(self, roomname, itemname, description, can_be_picked_up) use_item_to_add_exit(self, itemname, on_item_or_in_room, source_roomname, target_roomname, description) use_item_to_create_new_item(self, itemname, on_item_or_in_room, new_itemname, new_item_description,new_item_can_be_picked_up,description) set_start_room(self,roomname,start_description) set_finish_room(self, roomname, finish_description)

I wanted to add some richness by having items that you can and cannot pick up, and actions can create new items as well as exits. To explain how the game mechanic works, check out the following text, which is taken literally from the GPT prompt:

The game consists of rooms and items. The game's goal is to go from the start room (the room in which the player starts) to the finish room (the room that completes the game when the player enters it). The player has to solve puzzles, which amounts to performing a number of actions to get to the finish room. The only available actions are: go to room, pick up item, and use an inventory item on another item. Using an item always has one of two effects: it creates a new item, or it adds an exit from one room to another.

My first prototype was very plain looking, with no graphics and only a few buttons to click, and a lot of errors, like missing rooms, missing or near duplicate items, and unsolvable puzzles. But the basic concept worked! I was very impressed that GPT could do this at all. I wanted to generate graphics to make the game look more interesting, and found a cheap AI image service that could create an image in less than a second (based on Flux Schnell). I asked GPT to also generate a graphical style that is appended to the image prompt, so as to get a sort of unified style throughout each generated game.

With some prompt tinkering and error correction (both on the AI and user interface side) I managed to generate games that are solvable about 60-70% of the time. The games are very simple and linear, and the puzzles often don't make sense. But at least the graphics are great! Sometimes it also comes up with interesting content. For example, I used "Dante's inferno" as a prompt, and it created Dante's nine circles as nine rooms in the game.

But anyway go judge for yourself! :smiley: I guess the real fun of my entry lies in seeing how the AI reacts to the player's prompts! I added a rating system postcompo, so it's possible to rate the games, to make it possible to find back the nicest games (or at least the ones that suck the least). Maybe each game could even be rated on the LD categories :wink:

I am thinking of what my next project will be. What about a shooter with AI generated enemy behaviour? In this case the AI would provide a piece of code that controls each enemy.

* >>> Play the game here <<< *

Like a cute lil frog :frog:

Drifting round' a black hole :black_circle:

Wanting to not get spaghettified? :spaghetti:

If you do, then my LD 57 game submission MESSIER 104 CBH is just for you!

---[PLAY HERE]---

Thank you, guys, for rating my game. I will return the favor. There are still 11 days left to rate even more games!

This game is about diving into the depths and the darkness of the Earth and mining coal, gold and diamonds to upgrade your character!

PLAY NOW and see if you can reach 1000m!

Hello! I just released a post-jam update for my little Compo game, Forgotten Files!

The game is a small, text-based puzzle game, and the update adds more content, polish/changes people had requested, and achievements!

I opted out of ratings but would still appreciate feedback, and if you leave a comment, I'll play and rate your game!

A massive Thank You to the people who already played and left comments, your positive feedback was what led me to update the game, and everyone's responses were way, way better than I expected. Ludum Dare is great, and you all are awesome!

Play Here: https://otergen.itch.io/forgotten-files

Given that LD was 2 weeks before Easter I thought I would have more time to play and rate games but holy crap I’ve been super busy preparing the house for company.

Also the mobile site doesn’t show the clock so I have no idea how long until it’s done

As is the move, I made a timelapse of my game:

https://youtu.be/uqlCFcMTny4?si=Rrt3qHLlzwIZqZV6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4eKRsIO2T8

Have you had a chance to play it yet?

I finally got to 20 ratings. Thanks for that and especially for the feedback. And in case you were wondering: this image was created inside the game by replacing a sprite.

• Added a timer, now the game is timed.
• Added the ability to move quickly - sprint.
• Fixed some bugs.
• Added a feather scattering animation when you get eaten.
• Fixed the crocodile's pupil (it was going beyond the eye's edge)

Try our game The Cleaner

What’s your opinion on usage of paid editor extension that affects the written code such as OdinInspector for Unity. On one hand I think that it’s just a productivity tool so it’s really legit, on the other you can’t include the package itself in the provided source code basically blocking people who don’t own it from really testing out you game code. What’s your take on this?

In the meantime, you can also check our game out, thanks :gem:

-> https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/dig-digger <-

✅ Oxygen Zone bug crushed – breathe easy now!

✅ Minor bug extermination – smoother gameplay

✅ Optimized for weak rigs – like butter on a potato PC

link - https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/depth-of-deb

Hey Jammers!! I will be playing and rating submissions live with friends later tonight. We will go for 2 hours starting at 7pm PT / 10pm ET.

Find us on Youtube or Twitch

Luckily, over the weekend I was finally able to find a few hours to find the bugs you guys found in our game. Thanks for playing and rating so many times! We promise to give feedback on the great comments again and to return the favor with counter ratings!

What we've changed:

Prio 0: * The code has been refactored because... wtf was that.

Prio 1: * Some bugs with competing coroutines have been fixed. * It is no longer possible to place the wrong items above the top row! This had made some puzzles much easier to solve than intended. * The arm has become more flexible. Several alternative interpretations of a movement are taken into account (Moving the hand? Moving the whole arm? Move and straighten the whole arm?) and the first permissible one is selected.

Prio 2: * It is possible to hold down the arrow keys to move across several fields. * More feedback is given to the player if a move is not allowed. Audible, through text and by wiggling the board. * Granny got more cheeky comments to make about the stuff in her handbag.

Prio 3: * Some spelling mistakes, graphics and weird position offsets have been corrected. * We have a new start screen that looks more organized.

If you want to try your hand at our levels again and suspect that you unintentionally cheated last time, please feel very free to do so at:

Granny's Gotcha

And if you've already played and rated our game and we haven't responded yet: We're very sorry, we loved reading your comments and will reply within the next days <3

Streaming your games at https://www.twitch.tv/vorceshard, you can comment your game link here or mention the game's name or your name in chat so I can look it up!

idk the smart balance js isnt going up we rated the games and given feedback 30mins ago we smart balance hasnt changed and we still havent gotten any rating since then

Hey everyone! Help a frog reach his beloved frogwife and me reach my 20 votes! Make sure to leave a comment on the game after you rate and I'll play your game too :)

You can play it here

I downloaded infos on all LD57 Jam games. Then tried to look for itch.io links in description or links. Here's how many I found:

These are the tools used to create these games according to "Made With" tag on Itch.io:

These are the most common Tags used:

Here's what platforms the games support:

We created our game for web only using a custom game editor we made in Three.js. Would love for you to check it out: Dungeon Cartographer

I also made a website to find random web games: https://rate-ludum-dare.alexandfinn.com

Explorem Ipsum: Catacombs of Time by @notexplosive

This is a Sokoban (box pushing, e.g., Baba Is You) style of game that gives you great tools and freedom to solve quite challenging puzzles. The game does let you figure some stuff out for yourself which I think is really fun but if you get stuck here is a hint with a Caesar cipher of 1: Zpv dbo dbssz bsujgbdut xjui uif hmpwf. Uijt bmmpxt zpv up ibwf bmm pg uif bsujgbdut jo uif tbnf sppn. Bmtp hbuifs cpyft gspn uif puifs sppn.

Link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/explorem-ipsum-the-catacombs-of-time

Play time: Quite long

ONLY GO DOWN by @jefvel

.

One button cave diving game with innovative mechanics and very cute music. You can dive, glide and parry the walls with just one button and it feels great. Did I mention how cutesy the music was?

Play time: Moderate

Link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/only-go-down

BUMMÖCK by @alec

This is coming for the fans of isometric action time trial games. Gameplay is very solid although laggy as times. It also teaches you a word BUMMÖCK: bottom part of the iceberg (I'm writing this without double checking to test my memory).

Play time: Quite short

Link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/bummock

My game: Deep Space Photography

Also, play my game if you like astrophotography but just hate it when eldritch monstrosities ruin the pictures of galaxies!

Play time: 5-10 minutes

Link: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/deep-space-photography

It's time to talk seriously! Who is your favorite at this event? According to the old pirate traditions, you can't vote for your project! Here are my 10 contenders:

• what-the-bag
• grannys-gotcha
• podvodsk
• hark
• pack
• burrilka
• the-cleaner-of-the-depth
• lone-digger
• diggimeow
• debts-in-the-depths

the order in the list is random. The list is compiled as you familiarize yourself with the projects. I graded 62 games.

Hello miners!

Our LD57 Jam entry - Unfortunate Mishaps of Subsurface Uranium Mining - now has a dedicated website where you can see the current highscores!

(I actually coded the image endpoint with cool auto-updates, caching and stuff, but then I realized LD doesn't let you link external images. Oh well.)

:trophy: See the current high scores here! :trophy:

:video_game: ...and/or play UMoSUM here! :joystick:

Made a short video discussing my thoughts on my entry "931" and some ideas I have about game jams and creativity.

https://youtu.be/oexM3npvcd4?si=j9GgVKdFYKppm_DL

and a bigger question pool.

I am really sorry guys for not playing your games actively, but been neck-deep in personal and work obligations!

Still, I really wanted to include this (a small update) into even the original entry so I added a PostJam link to my introspective game where the tree asks you questions. Was able to do this just now, not earlier unfortunately.

Game page: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/the-7-questions

Original Jam entry: https://the-7-questions-ld57-by-awesky.netlify.app/

Post-jam game: https://postjam-the-7-questions-ld57.netlify.app/

No more updates for the jam, will have to focus on enjoying your LD creations : ))

Hey everyone!

Thanks so much for checking out HellDigger Idle during the jam! I'm really excited to keep improving the game based on all the feedback and ideas that have been flowing in.

If you'd like to play the improved version once it's out, don’t forget to add the game to your collection on itch.io so you don’t miss the update!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/helldigger-idle

https://sangheli.itch.io/ld57helldiggeridle

Here’s a rough roadmap of what’s coming after the rating period ends:

🔒 Add save system

⛏ Global excavation progress bar as a visual timeline with stage sprites

🃏 Dedicated joker screen

🔥 Narrative: dig your way down to hell

👹 Combat scenes with demons

🛠 Assign diggers from the sidebar without pausing the game

🎴 Active jokers shown at the top panel

🪟 UI polish for all windows

🔁 Reroll button in the joker shop

🔊 Sound effects

📜 Detailed quest descriptions

👷 Add a mascot foreman who turns into a demon in hell

🏕 Build tents for demons in a special level

⏩ Speed up the first 3 levels

💸 Cheaper jokers

🖼 Update joker sprites

📝 Rework joker descriptions

🔢 Number formatting (e.g., 1, 1x10, 1x100, 1k, 1kk, etc.)

🟧 Fix the orange fill bar bug

🤔 Explain why some things are built and some are digged

🏠 Base houses auto-produce workers—make it clear

🕳 Add animations for the pit disappearing while digging

⚖️ Rebalance or simplify all levels

🧱 Consumable resources

➕ Rethink the "+100" button

🧾 Scrollable list of bought jokers

⚙️ Settings menu

🖥 Exit button for PC builds

📦 Save resources between rounds

😈 Between-round demons that burn excess resources

🧩 Unlock new unit types between missions and preview them at game start(units shop)

🏗 Assign different unit types to each building and display their effects

📊 Show stats for each worker type

📱 Fix UI scaling for different aspect ratios (especially on mobile)

📣 demon spam popup windonws that interrupt the screen during rounds

🖥 Possibly reframe the game as a foreman simulator where the game field is the foreman's computer screen

• Bring in a Windows 98-style interface – it's trendy now!

Thanks again for playing – the underworld awaits! 🔥

In our game Captain Peggles: That Man's Chest you bury treasure, then you draw a map and then you find treasure using a map drawn by other players!

We want to thank everyone who played our game, and who contributed to the pool of maps! Our game has been frontpaged on Newgrounds and because of this have seen an increase in players, and with that, the maps submitted.

Today we reached over 400 maps submitted! Look at all these beautiful artworks!

Go play our game and draw your own map!

Today I got to the main page itch.io . I've already thanked the administrators of this site, but I also need you. Thanks to everyone who wrote comments about bugs, without you the game would be unplayable for other players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cmeatf6Ndfs

When I released the game I wasn't even sure if it's humanly possible, since then I've managed to complete it and take down my time to about 10 minutes. But @bossusuprem took it to a whole different level of gameplay and managed to complete the game in less than 3 minutes!! Absolutely wild stuff.

At a depth of four hundred meters, the arid sands gradually give way to the evergreen, vine-covered Waterfalls of Hope. Ancient mollusks dwell here, and plants unseen on the surface bloom in abundance.

But do not be deceived by the serene beauty of these caves. Many lost souls have forsaken hope of escape within these depths. Long ago, a little girl vanished among the subterranean roots. If you listen closely, you might still hear her faint weeping.

Be cautious during your descent!

Play now: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/lone-digger

Hey!

Back this week streaming your LudumDare entries! You can submit your link here or on stream. Going through a bit of a list right now.

Streaming CET 18.00 - 20.00(ish) and Thursday CET 18.00 - 22.00 !!

TWITCH LINK

Someone just made it to 60 lines!! I honestly can't believe how's this even possible.

Congrats, anonymous individual with a California IP playing from an iPhone!!

If you want to try your luck: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/sertit

Depth of Debts Story: After your grandfather died unable to repay his debts, the burden fell on you. When you couldn't pay either, you were thrown into an abandoned debtor's mine-prison - where your only path to freedom is mining enough resources to cover the debt.

🔄 Core Mechanics:

• Dig through collapses with your shovel (upgradable)
• Manage oxygen levels (limited air in collapsed tunnels)
• Haul resources in your backpack (upgradable capacity)
• Spend wisely between debt payments and survival upgrades

Progression System: ⚙️ Upgrades:

• Shovel (digging speed/efficiency)
• Backpack (carry more per trip)
• Stamina (longer digging sessions)
• Lung capacity (more time without oxygen)

https://www.twitch.tv/xpmonsterx

Submit your game via our Discord server and be present on stream :)

Empyrean's server: https://discord.gg/4h5scpz6ek

Games played count: 21

Last games:

1. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/view-in-the-depth https://youtu.be/aIYCMPWpwR0

2. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/little-delver https://youtu.be/vW0HOCrNSaU

3. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/hadal https://youtu.be/vQLk4UBjtKI

4. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/bucketbot https://youtu.be/U1KMRPKZC3Y

5. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/mr-moneys-phenomenally-soggy-water-removal-romp https://youtu.be/QF50EkahrLU

Yeeeeah, YEEAAAH, YEEEEAAAAHHH... Thank you. Thank you all — I’m here till Wednesday!

//Дааа, даааа, ДАААА... Спасибо.. Спасибо вам всем - я здесь до среды

While both of us are mostly programmers, the art for Deathtective came out unexpectedly rather nice.

Here's some of the sprites we created:

The first version of Death (without the top hat yet):

And the final version:

The title screen went through multiple iterations too:

For a bit there was an alternative, more pixelized version of the title screen as well:

We also created two versions of the murder victim's dead body, one for when the player inspects it:

And one for to be used when the player is walking around it:

And a screenshot from the development of the elevator mechanic:

And one of the first sketches of the general idea for the gameplay:

During those three days we did so much work, it seemed like a week at least :D

I've probably played over 40 games so far from the funny to the depressing to the being-on-drugs simulator. I gotta say this jam has some of the most unique ideas I've seen as far as I can remember previous jams.

My favorite game so far is this one: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/mr-moneys-phenomenally-soggy-water-removal-romp

This silly game about draining a freaking lake a little at a time was one of the most addictive games I've ever played in a game jam, I found myself playing for nearly 2 hours and it never got stale, it itches that primal Monke itch very well. Have you ever just wanted to dig a hole at the beach for no reason at all? That's similar to how this game feels and I'm all about that :smile:

I would like to know about your favorite entries and perhaps try them in a marathon of fun games.

Share your ideas if any come up after playing our mini-game The Cleaner of the Depth

You won’t see it… but everything is about to change under the hood.

I’m cooking up a complete overhaul of the boilerplate code I’ve been building since my very first Ludum Dare (LD47). It’s grown organically over time, but now it’s time to turn it into something bigger. Cleaner. Sharper. Sharable. The plan? To release it for everyone to use. No promises, just dreams :-)

Working title: ~~PixelPlate.ts~~ ✨

For anyone who is interested, here's a taste of what’s hopefully coming next LD:

🖥️ Smarter Screens - [x] Dynamic resolutions & aspect ratios (now its fixed and 1:1) - [x] Dynamic scaling (zoom in, zoom out, no worries) - [ ] Fullscreen mode that does the F11-pressing on behalf of the player - [x] Ambient YouTube-style background vibes, just because I like it so much

💥 Collision System: Revamped - [x] Decouple your collision resolution from screen resolution - [ ] Add collision zones around objects to enhance performance - [ ] Colliders return unique lists of collided objects instead of reacting directly (you stay in control) - [x] Optional on-screen rendering of the collision map (debugging just got visual)

🖱️ GUI, But Make It Easy - Mouse coords in 3 flavors: pixel-perfect, screen-scaled, and collisionmap-scaled - Input events with clarity: button is up/down vs just went up/down - Anchoring for UI elements: no more broken layouts on resize - Text-on-a-grid: line spacing without the headaches

🧩 Level Design with a Twist - Levels defined in PNGs, compiled to sidestep HTML headache inducing canvas fingerprinting issues - Auto-recompile of levels when PNG is newer than its definition files - Level-specific config & variables (re)load dynamically

🎮 Rendering Gets Fancy - Multiple render modes: topdown, sideview, 2.5D raycasting - Maybe isometric or hex-based if I have time and energy to add that

🏆 Highscore System: Locked and loaded - More secure POST-based submissions, instead of GET based submissions - Async GET for reliable fetching of scores - Server config for tuning: max scores, sorting, etc. - Auto-create scoreboards when none are present - A proper set-it-and-forget-it system, so you can consider it a last-minute addition

🐛 Debugging Like a Pro - A magical debug file. Delete it, and poof: all debug code disables. - A magical release file, that disables automatic rebuilding of levels and TS to JS conversion

🧠 Quality-of-Life stuff - Everything split into tidy files, both client- and serverside - Full TypeScript conversion - Clear documentation + a quick reference/cheatsheet - Setup wizard, that asks some questions about what kind of game you would like (top down? mouse driven? what controls? etc) - Templates for things like player movement, collisions, common used menuscreens etc. - A basic audio/music handler

This isn’t just a cleanup: it’s a foundation. For me, for you. For anyone who loves deep level of coding a game while not using an actual engine.

Any suggestions for a name is appreciated! ~~Also, I like lists~~

Cloud Sea Catalog :sailboat:

This jam served as a tech-demo for ideas I had been interested in trying
but I hope you find some fun on the cloud sea anyway...

:cloud: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/cloud-sea-catalog :cloud:

Stop by The Stream to have me play your game!

Then try Lisiy 👇