I played all of the Mini LD #57 games as well as wrote an article on my favorites. Feel free to check it out!

I got all my base code ready to start on MiniLD 57, here’s some concept art:

Don’t know what it will be called yet, but it should be fun to make!

We all know games, everyone plays games, but do we really know what defines a game? Before we can create a good game we need some sort of definition of it. So what is it? Sure, everything with rules can be defined as a sort of game. But let’s define it a bit better than that. So let’s try!

What would be the most simplistic game you can think of? The first game that comes to my mind is the child’s game “Tagging”. It has two very basic rules: One player is “it” and if you’re being tagged by “it”, you become it. Remembering my years on the primary school’s playground the game had different additional rules all the time. An often used additional rule was “You can’t tag the old “it” back”. Although these were set by us, additional constants where there too. For example the teachers didn’t allow you to leave the playground or trip others. Not a rule set by us, the players, but by our superiors.

The summary of the game? There’s conflict, no-one wants to be “it”. It would be boring if someone wanted to be “it” because of the lack of conflict. The rules define boundaries in the game. The outcome of the game was clear too, the child being “it” at the moment of the school bell lost the game. Katie Salen, a veteran game developer, her description of a game comes to my mind:

“A game is a system in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that result in a quantifiable outcome” (Katie Salen, Game Design Fundamentals, page 80)

If I apply this logic to one of my previous Ludum Dare games, for example, “You only get one” we could describe it like this:

Conflict: the player wants to get home without being eaten while the dragon keeps advancing.

Rules: the player is constraint in a 2D world, there’s gravity, the game is lost when touching the dragon, his fire or falling out of the screen.

Outcome: the player wins when he enters his house (time constraint).

That is quite clear, but how does this apply to popular games like Minecraft? Is it a real game? Let’s try:

Conflict: the player needs to stay alive (retain its hearts)

Rules: the player loses hearts when hungry, the player receives damage from mobs, the game is lost when its hearts are depleted, the player can eat food, can create weapons and armor etc.

Outcome: is there any? What about defeating the ender dragon?

Is the ender dragon really a quantifiable outcome? After defeating the dragon the conflict itself remains, nothing is resolved. The main conflict centers around staying alive, not on the dragon roaming a different realm. Thus, I wouldn’t describe it as an outcome or a game, but more of a sandbox or toy. Though open world games like Oblivion feature some kind of the same freedom as Minecraft, in the end you resolve the main conflict, defeat the bad guy and establishes peace. That’s a clear quantifiable outcome with rules and conflicts.

This is my first of a series of blogs on “What makes a good game”.

What’s your take on the definition? Does it fit mine?

Hi!

This is my first LD (well, it is actually a Mini LD), and after being told about this by a friend (who also challenged me to make a creation), I only knew three things:

1. You have to make a game within a week

2. The topic is “REVERSED”

3. The only rule is “Can I? YES”

After taking a look to some other creations, I think that the topic was meant to be understood as “reversed in time”. Well, my game is made by a different approach.

It is a simple platform&puzzle game, but with a new mechanic that came to me while thinking how should I understand the “Reversed” topic: You can only go to the right, but you can use mirrors, which will REVERSE [almost] all the world.

There are only a few levels, but it’s as long as I have been able to create within this time.

Screenshots

Plot

Your nameis Modnar. You are the only member alive of an ancient secret order, called Redro Terces, who are known by their interest on mirrors magical properties. After arriving to a castle, you finally found the book you were looking for.

You tried some spells, and suddenly you realize that something went wrong.

“Let’s get out of here”, you think.

Controls

• Move Right: Right arrow
• Move Left: YOU CAN’T
• Jump: Up arrow
• Use mirror: Space
• Restart level: R

Download

• Windows: http://own.dexa-dev.com/f/c7b49f00b87dafe2ff41607c32393c6a
• OS X: http://own.dexa-dev.com/f/e1ef54b52193898f9a2f0a730ae3c8bf

As it’s written in Java, you will need the JRE installed. If Chrome detects it as a potentially harmful file, feel free to dismiss it. However, I ensure it does not contain malware in any form (in addition, I will Open Source it in a few days).

As I see, you have to write a Post Mortem, so there I go (sorry for not having read the recommendation of writing it before creating the game):

POST MORTEM

I have learned a lot while developing this.

It is made in Java, using Slick2D library, which 8 days ago I only knew for its name, I had never used it before. In its initial state, the game was only made with green, red and yellow rectangles, and when all the mechanics were done, I spent some time designing a few levels, and had to rush a lot in order to add some graphics (I had help with this).

After having the graphics done, I spent an hour trying to add some plot to it, so at least it would make the user feel a little interested about what is going on.

Bugs & Problems while creating it

The first one I had to face was that I had no idea about how to use Slick2D. Thanks to youtube, heaven StackOverflow and some examples I started figuring out how to do certain basic things, such as making the player able jump.

Then some software design issues came, such as if anidations, design patterns… and finally, exporting the jar was such an adventure, but I finally got it!

Well, at least I ended up with a decently looking game, which I consider my first finished graphic game ever.

Credits:

– Depth: Character, Mirror and Door design

– JRoig24: Graphic design (wall tiles)

– Raindrinker: Challenging me to do this

Thanks for reading and trying!