No Money, No Problem: "Ludum Dare 30" Edition, Part 2

Ludum Dare 30 ended in August, with hundreds of entries to check out. If there's one thing I love about game jams like this and 7 Day Roguelike, it's seeing the many creative interpretations of the themes. I couldn't possibly play every entry so here's a selection of some of the more interesting and fun entries I played.

Part 1

Rest In Peace
A simple shooter where you must swap between the world of the living and the dead. Enemies will return to life unless you burn their corpses in the alternate dimension.

 

Low Battery 2: Electric Boogaloo

Swing through the levels and switch between dimensions to avoid certain barriers and obstacles. The grappling feels a bit unwieldly and could probably be more refined, but still worth checking out

NeCLiD
A cool Sokoban-inspired puzzle game where you control two characters and must interact by switching dimensions. Certain platforms and switches are only available in one dimension or the other.

Glitched

Glitched is a shooter set in a virtual landscape, where you must clear away glitched growths and defeat enemies. Not the fastest, or most hectic shooter, but the glitch effect is cool and it's an enjoyable experience that grows more challenging as more enemies are introduced

Fluid Perspectives

A puzzle platformer. Control two characters that reside in their own realities but can interact with each other. Some obstacles may be hazardous in one world but not in the other, and the fluid switch between worlds is really well done. 

Signum
A minimalist puzzler where you switch dimensions to navigate through obstacles. Not that challenging, but the visuals and backgrounds make it worth checking out.

Awe

Not much game here, but certainly an enjoyable meditative experience. Essentially you're presented with a revolving globe and by tapping different patterns of colors, you can spawn various environmental items - a tree here, a mountain there - thus offering new colors and new items to spawn. An interesting feature is that you can play solo or with a random anonymous player.

Layer

An interesting shooter with a great visual style, but feels far complete. Switch between the red and blue layers to avoid enemies, but you can only shoot while in the red layer. Definitely has potential for an expanded game.

Computer, Open That Door!

A quick game where you essentially got to play HAL. As the ship's sentient AI, rid the spacecraft of all humans by manipulating the various systems onboard.

Line Crossing
A short adventure as you explore a mysterious alien train. Has some lovely pixel art, an intereting story, and multiple endings

Starpiercer

A sci-fi game of avoidance as you evade asteroids and missiles and smash through enemies. The low-poly art style and sense of movement makes Starpiecer an enjoyable experience.

Superdimensional
A visually inventive auto-runner where you manipulate multiple dimensions to allow your rolling sphere to travel safely. The seamless transitions between worlds is very impressive and allows for some unique and interesting level design.

No Money, No Problem: "Ludum Dare 30" Edition, Part 1

Ludum Dare 30 ended in August, with hundreds of entries to check out. If there's one thing I love about game jams like this and 7 Day Roguelike, it's seeing the many creative interpretations of the themes. I couldn't possibly play every entry so here's a selection of some of the more interesting and fun entries I played.

Part 2

Lethal Reflection
Shoot red things, avoid red things, collect green things. Lethal Reflection's instructions are easy in theory, but a challenge to achieve. A hectic shooter that grows more difficult as the screen becomes increasingly cluttered with hazard and enemies.

Inversion
A simple platformer where obstacles and platforms only exist in certain dimensions. It's a bit buggy and it's easy to die, but the game's still worth a try

ShiftKeeper
An interesting take on the Connected World theme, with some nice pixel art to boot. Your battleground is split into; on one side, you're a staff-wielding wizard, the other, a rifle-firing futuristic soldier. Enemies encroach from both sides and you must move between worlds to survive the waves. The gun feels especially satisfying to use.

The Other Sky
Am abstract first person platformer. By reaching the special zone in each level, the world flips, revealing a new set of platformers to traverse. Not much gameplay-wise here beyond jumping and activating switches, but the inverse environments are cool.

The Legend of Light

An inventive puzzle platformer. Destroy the runes to unlock the exit, but Legend of Light quickly reveals to an involved clever puzzler. With a press of the spacebar, you learn that each level is divided into a various tiles that can be moved around to reshape the environment a la the flash game Continuity. Not only can you move the level around, you can rotate individual parts, allowing you to traverse seemingly impassible corridors by falling through or dropping a platform from one level onto another. Definitely worth checking out,

Legacy of Lamas

A mysterious shooter. The game is a bit unclear on what exactly you have to do, but it involves shooting warp crystals and enemies. The best aspect of Legacy of Lamas is its art style and weird creatures that roam the levels. 

Arktrail

"FTL meets Oregon Trail" is a pretty apt description. Expand your ship, adding new modules such as engines, medbays, and storage, stay mindful of your food and fuel as your crew grows in number and ages with each jump. Simple, but fun, challenging, and one of the few games I can think of that utilizes the generation ship concept.

The Hoverator

Short and simple, you control a weaponized hoverbike as you travel through the level, shoot enemies, and dodge projectiles. Doesn't really do anything new for a shooter, but the bike is fun to control and I liked the visual style

Chipset-0

It's almost like playing The Matrix from the other side; you control a small maintenance drone who must reconnect human pods. The pixel style is nice and detailed and the puzzle mechanic - connecting limited-length cables to open paths and plug pods - is enjoyable and tricky. 

Tangled Mini Worlds

A simple puzzle game where you must maneuver the figure so each end reaches the marked location. Earn three stars by performing less moves. 

Reflections

Guide mirrored character through worlds that are not exactly reflections of each other. Hazards on one side must be avoided by using plaforms that only exist in the other. Spikes, harpoons, and other dangers await. Fun, and stylish, but the lack of checkpoints can be annoying 

Shadows

Another first person platformer, where you can shift from one environment to one composed on the shadows cast by structures. This allows you to bypass obstacles, but be careful not to fall. Short, but interesting

Connect Home
An isometric Sokoban-style puzzler. Push the cubes around to complete the connection. You can't undo moves, only restart levels, which can be frustrating once levels grow larger and more complex, but it's still a fun challenge

Light Year Wars
Strategically capture nodes to control the entire screen. It's not a new concept, seen before in Galcon and Tentacle Wars, but the minimalist style and the visual of your forces arcing across the screen and converging on enemy nodes makes it worth checking out.

HopSlide
One of my favorite entries, HopSlide consists of two games, Hope and Slide, played simultaneously. I won't say more, because learning how HopSlide works is one of its ingenious charms. Highly recommended.