Ludum Dare 46: Staff Picks From a Record-Breaking Jam
Ludum Dare 46 wrapped up with a record turnout: over 13,000 participants submitted nearly 5,000 games in 72 hours, all built around the theme "Keep It Alive." The event’s long history and open-source ethos are documented in a feature-length documentary, portions of which were filmed at GitHub HQ during the 2017 GDC party.
From that massive pool of entries, a handful of games stood out for their polish and clever mechanics. Each of the titles below is fun to play and ships with its source code publicly available, making them ideal for study or experimentation.
Tower Defence of the Heart
Tower Defence of the Heart is a demanding but rewarding tower defense game from Terry Cavanagh. You defend a pulsating heart through 20 waves of enemies—skeletons, slimes, rats, and pink elephants in dungarees.
Source (Heaps, Haxe) · Play in browser
Cavanagh is also the creator of Dicey Dungeons, Super Hexagon, and VVVVVV, the source of which was open-sourced earlier this year.
Flock for Feast
Antti Haavikko’s Flock for Feast puts you in control of a growing flock of birds that a monster is eager to catch. Let your numbers dwindle and you’ll face the consequences.
Source (Unity, C#) · Play now (Web, Windows, macOS, Linux)
Flippy Fish
Flippy Fish is a polished runner with strong art and audio direction. Playing as a fish, you jump and roll to escape a relentlessly pursuing sushi chef. The game comes from Axel Signargout, Dorian Signargout, Marion Oudin, and Stéphane Kaufmann.
Source (Unity, C#) · Play now (Web, Windows, macOS)
If you enjoyed this theme, check out Frying Nemo and Saving the Fish.
Dunkman
Cong Xu’s Dunkman is built for the TIC-80 fantasy console and serves as a quick finger workout between coding sessions.
Source (TIC-80, Lua) · Play in browser
Princess Ribbon
Goutye’s Princess Ribbon is a timed puzzle game. Each level drops you into a tricky situation where you must rescue the princess before she disappears.
Source (Godot, GDScript) · Play now (Web, Windows, macOS, Linux)
What the Firetruck
David Fu’s What the Firetruck lets you unwind by fighting digital fires, a slight change of pace from the production fires you might deal with all day. As the meme goes, this is fine.
Source (Unity, C#) · Play in browser
King’s Table
King’s Table by Petter Tuvnes layers chess and dungeon elements onto a tower defense foundation. It’s a surprisingly addictive combination—just watch out for the puns.
Source (Godot, GDScript) · Play now (Web, Windows, macOS, Linux)
Solar Spin
Matthews Burton channels late-80s arcade energy with Solar Spin, a retro-styled take on the comp theme.
Source (Unity, C#) · Play in browser
Lighthouse Keeper and the Shadow Pirates
Darkness has fallen, and shadow pirates are attacking your lighthouse. Keep the flame burning in cagibi-dev’s Lighthouse Keeper and the Shadow Pirates.
Source (Godot, GDScript) · Play now (Web, Windows, macOS, Linux)
Grove Guardian
Nate Largo’s Grove Guardian takes tower defense in a more complex direction. It’s worth reading the instructions before diving in.
Source (C++) · Play now (Windows)
Congratulations to every participant, and thanks to Mike Kasprzak for organizing another strong event. The next Ludum Dare runs October 2–5, 2020. If you haven’t experienced the jam before, the documentary is a good place to start.
