Ludum Dare 18 Results

Ludum Dare is a fast paced video game design competition in which entrants are given 48 hours and a theme to come up with a game. The competition has been around since 2002 and the latest had the design theme “enemies as weapons.” There were over 213 entries and while it’s impossible to go through and say something about them all, I’ve poked around with a few of them and can definitely recommend the following few.

Think of these games as appetizers to the developer’s talent and if you like what you see here, by all means go and play the developer’s other titles. Many of the entrants have full length games that are great fun to play.

The Lair of Fungal Wonder

Developer: Niall Moody
Description: Shmup that isn’t a shmup.
Play: Windows | OSX | Linux

I played through this one several times and at first, I didn’t understand how the concept came into play, since I was pretty good at avoiding the spores. However, when one attached and started shooting the mushrooms I was supposed to be evaluating, I found very quickly why my dodging skills had paid off. The unique looks of Fungal Lair fit inline with Niall’s other creations and I was actually surprised this one didn’t rank higher on the list. If you can research all 13 types of fungus, then you are truly a dodging master.

Die Alien Die

Developer: Sasha MacKinnon of Bit Battalion
Description: Reverse shmup that relies on gravity.
Play: Web

I absolutely adored the music in Die Alien Die, but all of the Bit Battalion games tend to have great music. The visuals are pretty unique and the gameplay of using a gravitational pull to swing projectiles at an alien is unique, but I found the game hard to control. I died several times when getting started before I learned the mechanic and by the time I got to the third or fourth stage, there were so many projectiles on screen it became nearly impossible to survive. Still, Die Alien Die is a great spin on the enemies as weapons concept.

Collateral

Developer: Jonathan Whiting
Description: Shooter puzzler thing.
Play: Web

The concept of Collateral is set up as you start the game. Get in, get out, and kill everyone you see. Following this philosophy on my first play through, I methodically worked my way down into the enemy base, killing everything I saw. Then I realized the game’s twist and groaned, but in a good way. The name Jonathan chose for his game is certainly fitting and I’ll leave the twist up to you to discover, but believe me, it’s worth a play through even if you don’t care for the pixelated graphics. My only complaint about this entry is some of the sound effects are pretty grating on the nerves.

want more?

Still want more after playing through these three? You can check out the rest of the 213 Ludum Dare 18 entries, for better or for worse, here. If you’ve found a favorite in the pile, let us know in the comments section!