Hi! I want to share some of my experience developing my game - "Pogo Dwarf"
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/57/pogo-dwarf
A day before the jam started, I was already trying to come up with ideas for all the possible themes. I came up with some great ones, but for a few themes, I drew a complete blank. Still, I went to bed early, excited and ready for the challenge.
I woke up in the middle of the night, getting my setup ready, waiting for the theme reveal. An hour passed... and then it dropped: "Depths." I panicked. I had absolutely nothing for this theme, and worse—I just didn’t connect with it.
I started brainstorming anything I could: maybe something about field of view, maybe deep learning? But everything either sounded boring or way too ambitious to pull off in 48 hours. I was tempted to give up and just join the jam instead of the compo, but I was really set on doing the compo. Eventually, I gave up on clever twists and went literal: a dwarf digging into the depths.
The problem? Digging, mining, walking—all of that usually needs animations. And I hate doing game art. So I asked myself: how do I avoid animation entirely?
Then it hit me: what if the dwarf was on a pogo stick, and he digs by replacing the spring with a shovel mid-air? No walking, no complex animation—just bouncing and digging. Weird, fun, and best of all, super doable.
So I started with the art (which I hate doing), just to get it out of the way. I made the dwarf, the pogo stick, some shovel heads. Once that was done, I dove into the pogo mechanic—and surprisingly, it was actually fun. Unpolished, buggy, kind of ridiculous—but fun. By the end of Day 1 (about 20 hours in), I had the basic mechanic, most of the art, and a barebones digging system.
Day 2 started after a few hours of sleep. I added inventory, world generation, and more tools. The game was really starting to take shape. Here’s how it looked mid-dev:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GoHy1ksfWQ
But then — 6 hours before the compo ended—I realized: the game just wasn’t fun.
Sure, the pogo mechanic was cool. But it clashed with the digging, which required precise vertical control—something the pogo stick definitely didn’t offer. Climbing up was frustrating, and the core gameplay just felt slow and dull.
At that point, I had two options: polish what I had and submit something meh... or take a huge risk.
I scrapped most of the work and pivoted hard—cut the digging, focused only on the pogo mechanic, and turned the game into a tight little platformer built around bouncing.
From that moment on, something clicked. I started designing level sections one after another. The creativity just flowed. I reused most of the art, polished up the controls, added a simple UI, and playtested the whole thing. All in about 5 hours.
With an hour left, I built, submitted, and created the game page. I made it into the compo. And this time, I actually liked the game.
I barely slept during those 48 hours, but I was running on pure adrenaline. After submitting, I just had to play other entries. So many amazing games out there—it was inspiring.
And the cherry on top? People actually liked Pogo Dwarf. I got some really kind, helpful feedback, and it honestly means the world to me. I’m even seriously thinking about continuing development and maybe doing a Steam release.
This was my first Ludum Dare and it was absolutely life-changing.
Thank you to everyone who played, left a comment, or shared their own amazing entries. You all made this such a great experience ❤️
Once again, Thank you!
