I wanted to make something with an incremental / generational aspect and the small world theme kinda lends itself to microbes and so Amoebros were born. This is the kind of game that only really comes together right at the end so I wasn't even sure if the game was going to be any good until it was done. Hopefully someone will enjoy it ;)

The game features something like 20 different patterns and you can affect the look and colour of your creatures by selecting which ones to breed. I could probably add a random wild mutation to really bring out this effect.

The story is that you are a lab technician who is breeding stronger microbes for totally non-nefarious reasons.

• Can you make Amoebros strong enough to escape the lab?

• Gather DNA from yellow orbs and rival organisms, select which Amoebros to reproduce and reach for the edge of the map!

• Zoom with the mouse wheel, scroll with the arrow keys.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/amoebros

The initial idea was to make an html game but it quickly became obvious that this game was not going to run well in a browser so we had to resort to download only (historically this means fewer plays/votes). Given more time we could probably have made it work in a browser but such is game jams.

The game didn't take long to make so we uploaded the game early and got some feedback which was helpful but the overall response seems to be that the game is too complicated or difficult to understand.

I added a short tutorial to the game and smoothed out some of the behaviour in the AI but the game still needs more visual feedback when DNA is collected to make it more obvious what gives DNA and how much.

There's a lot of randomness in the game as well by nature so one run might net more DNA than another due to the way food and enemies are spawned. (Enemies are actually a non-renewable resource but there's more than enough to finish the game)

For me this kind of emergent behaviour is fascinating to watch but there is an obvious need to improve feedback and accessibility.

Play it here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/$25918

These are some of the game that I've found to be particularly interesting (difficult to narrow down for convenience):

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/a-small-world-cup

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/test-test-test

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/6-sided-sojourn

These are worth a look as well:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/dimpock

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/murder-mitosis

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/shrinking-planet

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/scenes-in-a-globe

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/the-spoiled-prince

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/galactic-girl-and-the-puzzle-planets

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/planetary-remains

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/quantum-catburetor

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/sunny-world

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/flovala

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/slife-of-life

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/rashlander

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/protolife

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/tiny-tony

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/crater-creator

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/headroom

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/petty-puny-planet-38

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/clean-the-dorm

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/space-raiders

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/microspace

Shameless plug:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/amoebros

:)

Post your top picks in the comments and I'll check them out.