With our entry for Ludum Dare 40, one category I tried hardest to achieve was great mood. I've heard a game design theory that people connect most to the way they feel when playing a game, and therefore it's probably more important to chase that feel than specific concepts when designing a game.

As my brother @dijaguy and I were first brainstorming our entry and came up with a setting, we were inspired by the spooky vibes of Threed from the classic SNES game Earthbound (Mother 2):

"Zombies and ghosts are on the loose here. Welcome to Threed." -- A Threed resident

Utilizing stylized purple grass and trees, contrasted with an overall cartoony art style, I aimed to soften but still support the dark concept of Runelight -- Fighting and killing evil spirits and absorbing their power.

There were moments where I'd rather be programming more in-depth game mechanics, but I had to remind myself to slow down and focus the next art asset -- That it would be worth it.

I'm happy with what we pulled off. What do you think? Did we pull off a mood that was satisfying and led to a good entry?

Let us know! Check it out here:

Runelight

One reviewer on Runelight has noticed it! One inspiration for the mood of our game was the third down of Earthbound, Threed

I would have liked to add even more "decor" to the small town of Runelight, but I'm still fairly satisfied with what I was able to produce in one weekend. :smile: What do you think? Check out our LD40 entry, Runelight!

Another successful Ludum Dare! Congrats to all who entered!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/41/$75951

A Chess-based Deck-builder. I had a lot of fun with this one, and am fairly proud of what I was able to accomplish in 3 days.

Built with GameMaker Studio 2. I'd love any feedback or thoughts you have!

Game Page: Advise the King

If I had more time, I would have liked to add more card types, a New Game+ mode of some sort, and experimented with changing the "battlefield" more than this version does. And of course more levels!

Slay the Spire was a big inspiration for this one, so if you enjoy that game, this should be a few minutes of fun!

Thanks for checking it out!

Play ADVISE THE KING Now!

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/advise-the-king

Have you played my deck-builder entry yet? YOU SHOULD.

I'm thinking about adding a handful of new cards to the game. What cards would you add?

Check out ADVISE THE KING

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/46/advise-the-king

Hello all!

I've made an update to Advise the King, a chess-based deck builder.

The aim of this update was to expand on the concept of the game, adding a little more opportunity to strategize with your hand. To that end, I've added two new cards that can help you plan for the future a bit during a match.

I've also added two new board features to add a little more interest to the board. The first is chests that can be destroyed to add more potential rewards to your reward chest. I'm also experimenting with "energy tiles" that can be landed on to immediately fill your energy. It seems to provide an occasional opportunity to strategize for a "big turn".

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Version 0.2 - Post-Jam Update 1

New Cards

• Storehouse - Draw a card. Place one card from your hand on top of your draw pile - 0 energy
• Promote - Choose an action card from your hand. Promote it one tier for the durration of this match - 1 energy.

New Features

• Chests now exist on boards. Destroy them before ending the match to add a card to your rewards chest.
• Energy squares now exist on boards. land on them to fill your energy immediately.

Fixes & Tweaks

• Fixed a bug that would throw an error on some monitor resolutions.
• Minor changes to all levels to promote new features.
• Spacebar can now be used to end your turn if you're out of moves.
• Tweaks to card art to help differentiate between a jump move and a slide move.

Get Version 0.2

Ludum Dare Page