Ludum Dare

Mon, 19 December, 2011 - 10:40:12

After seeing what people had achieved during Ludum Dare 21 I decided that I would definitely enter the next competition. Ludum Dare 22 was held this weekend (16th - 18th december) and despite my best intentions I just didn't have time to produce anything. I had a work Christmas party on friday night, a friends birthday on Saturday and more friends round for a pre-christmas dinner on Sunday. I should count myself lucky that I have an active social life but I was a little dissapointed that I didnt get to participate. Ludum Dare 23 will be in a few months time, but with my wedding fast approaching I may miss that as well!

On the plus side, I have started to trawl through the 700+ entries and there is some inspiring stuff. Not least of which in notch's minicraft. If I didnt know he streamed its development live I'm not sure I'd believe that it was created in 48 hours! Its really interesting to see what can be achieved in a short space of time. As has been said before, a game may take a long time to build and polish but making the "toy", the essential mechanic of the game, can be done relatively quickly. With that prototype you can quickly tell whether the game is fun or not. That is what I will take away from the competition as a "spectator".

How successful the 700 entries are remains to be seen. Games are rated only by fellow participants which makes sense. Only those who have also spent the last 48 hours staring at a screen, chasing out bugs and avoiding sleep will truly be able to appreciate the effort that will have gone into each game.