I chose these themes because I focused on... wel the theme. The other choices feel a bit restricting on the game mechanics "you are the final boss", sounds cool, but sort of forces you to make a combat focused game. Something like "safe in the dark" has so many more possibilities, and if you use some word trickery "safe in the dark = vampires" BAM! You can literally make any game with vampires in it, and it would technically fit the theme. Or maybe something with nocturnal creatures, you can interpret "safe" in a few ways. The ones like "it's spreading" seem really awesome, because where is it spreading? The world? Your body? Your mind? What is spreading? Is it good or bad? Do you want it to spread, do you need to stop it from spreading? Is there some sort of trade-off for it spreading? There are just so many interesting possibilities.

I tried to participate in the previous ludem dare, but completely failed due to not being able to implement my ideas. So to the veterans, I want to ask, do you prefer themes that restrict the game mechanics to make it easier to code, or do you prefer more open ended ones that let you be creative?

Everyone keeps doing it, but I can't find a place that sais we should, are we supposed to say we're in if we want to join?

Finally done!

"Magic is Illegal" was imo the best suggestion. It's actually really open ended, i.e. you can't have magic as a mechanic, or it could be a story element where you do have magic and fight the man, or you can circumvent it all together by having a magic system but just giving it technology skin or something similair. It's a restriction that gives you all the options in terms of mechanics or story.

My suggestions were: ruin, in the clouds, and something I can't remember :sweat_smile:

A few pictures I've gathered that get me in the world building mindset - if you end up hating the ld theme, twist it into something that gets you excited! - best of luck everyone, have fun, and stay safe!

https://www.kaifineart.com/yoshimizu

https://twitter.com/MasashiKageyama

https://www.artstation.com/inkwell

https://www.deviantart.com/minnasundberg

https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/33333/artworks?p=12

https://www.artstation.com/gxr