This will be my 10th! been doing every one since LD33.
Using Gamemaker Studio 2 for mostly everything and not sure about audio yet.
These are just my personal votes and thoughts on what I would like to make with each theme. Some that i gave -1 i still think are great themes just doesn't match with the kind of games I would like to make.
Running out of space (-1) Doesn't really work with game style I like to make, I imagine a lot of games with a constricting play area (battle royale?) or maybe more and more objects added to the game with less space to work with. Would maybe make a cool Tetris inspired game here with some other added mechanic to make it my own.
Night is coming (+1) Think this one could be really cool and could apply to many cool mechanics based on time like having a day/night cycle that makes it harder at night or something like Rain World where you can only be out for so long until you have to go back to a shelter. Maybe even a game taking place over one day where you must complete a goal before night comes.
Decay (-1) Could probably have a few really cool game mechanics based on this, but I feel like a lot of people would struggle to find a good solid concept for this one (me being one of those). None of the simple ideas I can think of would really be a game I would want to make.
Safe in the dark (0) Not too sure how I feel about this one. It is an interesting theme with enough room for variation but I feel like we would see an overwhelming amount of stealth-based games. I would maybe do a high-speed platformer based on manipulating shadows.
Fragile (+1) Seems like a theme that could bring a lot of fun games. Could do a lot of things with this like trying to manipulate fragile objects without breaking them or some sort of defense game where you must protect a fragile object (maybe an egg). I would love this for making a game with a fast-paced fighting system with one hit to kill and one hit to be killed.
You are the final boss (-1) Don't really like this one. Feel like a usual video game boss relies on slow-ish predictable movement and hit cycles and stuff and I don't feel like that is a fun play style. Also the general understanding of this theme would force people to make a player AI, which a lot would struggle with. Would maybe do a 2-cycle game where you start as a boss, then must go back as the player and fight the moves you made as the boss, although that might be difficult to pull off well.
Evolve (-1) This could be an interesting theme, although I feel like a lot of people would go with the obvious skill tree or level-up where you improve yourself throughout the game. I might go for something similar to my LD34 game where any time an enemy is killed, it comes back stronger in some way. This is part of the reason i put -1 because I wouldn't want to do something with a similar theme to what I've done, with LD i like to do things completely different from what I've already done.
Light is key (0) I've got a couple ideas for this one, mostly relating to the player having some dependence on light, whether it carries around a slowly diminishing light source which has ways to be recharged or preserved, or maybe the player can only do specific things when exposed to light. Maybe even a literal key, where light has to be directed somewhere to reach some goal. I have a few pretty good ideas on this one, just maybe not that fit what i feel like making so I gave it a 0.
Death is useful (+1) This is a theme I've seen very often in the voting rounds which I think could have many cool concepts and mechanics based on it. I feel like a lot of people would interpret this as the player's death being useful, where there is some mechanic based on dying, but I might take it in a different direction like having different ways to use the corpses of the enemies you have already killed, maybe even a game that requires you to kill enemies using the ones you've already killed (aside from the first one obviously). Definitely a theme I would like to try. Been hoping for this one in past jams.
Two points of view (-1) Seems interesting but very limiting on what kind of games could be made. I'm sure people could find lots of ways to work with it but I feel like it would be a lot of games that are just 3d with 2 separate cameras and angles to view, and some people making 2D games might have a hard time. Might be cool to see some games where there are 2 different dimensions or planes and you can only view one at a time, and you must switch a lot to know what is actually around you and you could interact with objects in both at the same time. I would maybe create something where you must play through each level from the perspective of 2 different characters, one being more simple and violent, then again as a more mobile but passive character, trying to avoid instead of killing. It would force different paths and play styles through the same level. I wouldn't mind this theme but my idea of having 2 completely different play styles would force me to make 2 games in one which is hard with only 48 hours to work with.
Dying planet (+1) I feel like this theme would more inspire the feel and design of a lot of games, rather than the mechanics, although there are definitely some ways to work with this as a mechanic. Main reason i gave a +1 is because it works well with a game idea I've had in my mind for quite a while and would love a chance to make it in a Ludum Dare.
It's Spreading (0) Could be taken multiple different ways, allowing for a good variety of games but specific enough to inspire ideas. First things that come to mind could be a game about avoiding fire, maybe controlling a fire, spreading something on bread, maybe growing a civilization (last one might be a bit hard in 48 hours depending on scope). Once again, I like the theme, but my ideas for it don't match the style of game I'd like to make this time around.
3 Rules (0) Seems like something that could be cool, and would work for whatever type of game someone wanted to make, although I feel like that is the problem, being too broad that it's hard to come up with a solid idea that's based well on the theme and doesn't feel like the theme was an afterthought. You could basically throw this theme on any type of game, just maybe not well. That being said though, it might work for an idea I've been wanting to do for a while with a few changes to make the game feel very centered around the rules, so I gave it a 0.
One enemy only (-1) Nope. I don't like this one. Not a bad theme, but the games I like to make are more fast paced and the player is generally able to kill things rather quickly if you make the right moves. I feel games are much more satisfying and fun to play this way rather than smacking a while at one giant enemy. Having only one enemy would clearly cause an issue here, unless maybe I did something like my Evolve theme idea with an enemy coming back stronger every time. My other option here would be to try to make a smart AI enemy which is equal to the player, and is basically like a PvP 1 on 1 fight replaced with an AI, although I'd rather not spend half my weekend on an AI.
One minute (0) Insert Minit clones here...? Idk how many people would actually do that or even how many have actually played Minit but anyways, not a bad theme, but just also seems like a variation on the 10 seconds theme that happened before (not sure when but it was before when I started on LD33). There are a lot of ways this could be used, and one minute is also a nice length for a quick jam game, but I feel like thats what a lot of people would do though, just use the theme as a time constraint. I would probably make a game with an event that happens every minute, and is easier to survive based on how much progress the player made during the past minute. Maybe like each day lasts a minute and at night you dream of an event, which you must survive or else you don't wake up and have to restart.
You control the environment, not player (-1) Once again, another theme that I just generally don't like because it doesn't work with anything I would want to do. Would be interesting to see some of the different ideas that come from this though. I can basically just recycle my points from the other themes to describe why I don't want this one. 1) Controlling the environment implies a player going through it, like i said before, I'd rather not spend a lot of time on AI. 2) I usually like making fast paced combat based games (that rhymed) which I guess could technically be possible but extremely hard to pull off with this theme. Anyways, I prefer to make games where a player is controlled, so for that reason, I'm out and giving this a -1.
So those are all the themes and wow that took forever to type. Threw this in Word and the word-count was just under 1700. Hope the few that made it here enjoyed my essay ;)
TL;DR
I like the themes for the most part but I'm just kinda picky and have a specific game style in mind that I want to make. there were only a couple of the themes that I didn't think were good, but for the most part, I've got some sort of idea what I could do with each of them.
