Hey folks! It's been forever since my last Ludum Dare. It's been so long that my four LD games aren't even on this new website. Ludum Dare is fantastic, I've had so much fun making those games and they're some of the best I ever came up with, so it's really time I get back to this!

I don't know what I'm gonna use yet. Unity? JavaScript + PixiJS or PlayCanvas? Some kind of web game with React? We'll see.

I missed this, and it's good to be back. Let's start this shit up!

PS: And good luck to all of you wonderful people! I can't wait to play your games.

Hey Ludum-ites!

It's been forever* since I last made a game with you. That's a pretty long time. I tried to make another one multiple times, but always gave up.

I also gave up yesterday.

But the game idea wouldn't let go, and so I had to start working on it again yesterday. It won't be particularely fun, and it certainly won't be pretty, but it will be finally something I guess. Here is my current iteration of a small, but massively cooperative (shared between all players!) clicker-type game about the Ludum Dare community keeping a fire alive:

https://the-ludum-dare-flame.herokuapp.com

*) over 5 years!

Alright, I'm very, very slowly getting somewhere! Here's a new version of my massively* cooperative fire-stoking experience 🔥🔥🔥: https://the-ludum-dare-flame.herokuapp.com

*) LD-community-sized

You: *puts in awesome graphics and fun gameplay*

Me, An Intellectual: *has completely given up on graphics and gameplay, and puts in more statistics*

PS: It's not completely done yet, but you can try my massively multiplayer co-op clicker game about keeping a fire burning at https://the-ludum-dare-flame.herokuapp.com :D

Gotta leave my fire at https://the-ludum-dare-flame.herokuapp.com for a fair bit while I take out the trash, cook food and eat! Could someone help my friend @plopmenz there a bit keeping care of it?

...I guess you can. And it'll help you to get a few ratings. But then your game drops off the main page again, and you need to make another post.

What THEY don't want you to know* is that there is a better method to get ratings and quality feedback: Go around and leave ratings and quality feedback on other games! Many people will return the favour, and you'll collect Karma that will place your game more prominently in the discovery channels. Giveth, and you shall receive...th.

Also it's a pretty nice thing to do, and you'll feel much more part of the community!

*) actually, they do :stuckouttongue:

Hey folks!

My game about keeping a fire burning cooperatively went through quite some phases already - massive forests, a monumental fire, and The Time Of The Great Rain when I had to reset it after someone botted with 50+ tabs open.

And right now is probably the best time to experience it, because @terry (Fire and Warmth to him!) shared it on Twitter, and now we have dozens of people caring for the flame for nearly 5 hours, and the chat is super active! And a fan made a discord! I feel super giddy right now.

• Game: https://the-ludum-dare-flame.herokuapp.com
• Discord: https://discord.gg/GFKndv5
• My LD page: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/the-ludum-dare-flame

• ...providing additional value with your post? Maybe a post mortem. Or a making of. Write a short tutorial about something you did in your game. Inform us of your grand plans for the future development. Gives us a short list of your favourite LD46 games. Or something else! You're creative, right?
• ...offering to play other people's games? You can obviously invite them to play yours too, but try to not push it too much in the foreground!
• ...leaving lots of detailed feedback on other's peoples games? I bet they'll play your game too!

I hope this post can inspire you a bit on how to get eyes on your game while also giving back to the community.

And thanks to all of you who are already doing that - it's what makes me refresh the front page, and what makes being part of this community so great!

I'm really curious. While I found tons of great games, I havent' found a single one that made me say "Wow, what a fantastic interpretation of the theme."

Almost all games seem to be just plain "Keep [yourself/your friend/your pet/your plant/your fire] alive through regular gameplay, just like in all other games of that genre."

Looking through my list, I think the only game that received a high theme rating from me this jam is Pass it on. "Keep a message alive while mutating it" is pretty nice! Which ones wow-ed you?

So... guess who already had a list of their favourite LD 46 games with short descriptions ready for WEEKS, but didn't actually post it in time because they wanted to make it all fancy with thumbnails and the like? And then never did that? This dingus. And since "making it fancy" will probably never happen now, I should probably just post it, late as it is!

Top 3

• HEAL ME PLZ by @pandanym, @unpostiche and @pietro-ferrantelli, an ultra-polished game about supporting a group of adventurers
• Birdie Burglars by @xellaya and @ddrkirbyisq, short, sweet, possibly too cute, and perfect in all regards
• Primed by @gimblll, with the best interpretation of the theme that I have seen in the whole jam

Complete experiences

• A Night In The Dark by @lectvs, a short survival-style adventure game
• Tower Defence of the Heart by @terry, a very nice and polished tower-defense experience
• Hacking is Probably Not Like This by @sayumeki, a hacking game
• Solais by @sayumeki, a super tight and short platformer that kept me playing despite hating difficult platformers
• ADRENA-LINE by @managore, a polished and fast-paced puzzle game

Innovation

• Keep the Keep by @kutase and @firellon, a "strategic puzzle that looks just like tower defence, but really, really isn’t"
• to Leave by @5imon, a puzzle game where figuring out the game is part of it - but start with the "monk's voice"
• Advise the King by @arden, a chess-based deck-builder
• Pass it On by @alanc, @angelina, @gary-kim, @connie-liu, and @ryan-jung, an async online game about keeping a message alive through obfuscations
• The Totally Convenient Feeding Machine by @jonathan-lorenz, which explores a simple but novel mechanic in several different levels

Atmosphere

• Morphology by @yanrishatum, @theodote, @elvendan and @shess, in which your small newfound pet might evolve into something else
• Embers by @anuke, which could improve on gameplay, but not on much else

Wildcard Category

• In A Game Wherein by @ssstormy, a text-based game in which delightfully meta things happen