Ludum Dare (from Latin "to give a game"[1], also known as LD48) is an accelerated game development competition. It was founded by Geoff Howland and was first held in April 2002. Ludum Dare has received mainstream media coverage from sources such as PC Gamer [2] and Wired.[3] A unique feature of this competition is that participants often release time-lapse videos of their games being made.[4]
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Participants are given 48 hours to create a game from scratch fitting a theme announced at the start of the contest. All of the code and content must be created during the 48 hours[5], each entry must be created by a single person and source code must be shown. After the competition ends, participants are given 2 weeks to play and rate games created by their peers. There are no physical or cash prizes but participants retain full ownership of their entries. Recently a more relaxed version was introduced, called the "Jam", which takes place concurrently with the main competition and allows for teams, unshared code, and an extended deadline of 72 hours.[6]
A smaller competition called "Mini Ludum Dare" is held monthly by veteran participants. The rules are generally the same as the main Ludum Dare, but the 48 hour limitation is generally ignored favoring the participation of late developers.
| Edition | Date | Theme | Participants | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ludum Dare #0 (24hrs) | April 2002 | Indirect Interaction | "Magnetic Fields" by Endurion | |
| Ludum Dare 48 #1 | July 15, 2002 | Guardian | "Scarecrow: Heart of Straw" by Hamumu[7] | |
| Ludum Dare 48 #2 | November 8, 2002 | Construction/Destruction (Subtheme: Sheep) | "Sheep Town" by ShredWheat [8] | |
| Ludum Dare 48 #3 | April 4, 2003 | Preparation - Set it up, let it go | ||
| Ludum Dare 48 #4 | April 16, 2004 | Infection | 341 signups, 67 submissions | "Commies!" by randomnine [9] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #5 | October 15, 2004 | Random | 93 signups | "Random Dungeon Exploration" by Jolle [10] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #6 | April 16, 2005 | Light and Darkness | 143 signups | "Uplighter" by Jolle [11] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #7 | December 10, 2005 | Growth | "The People" by Jolle [12] | |
| Ludum Dare 48 #8 | April 28, 2006 | Swarms | 150 signups, 66 submissions | "Spatzap aka N/A" by DrPetter [13] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #8.5 | January 1, 2007 | Moon / Anti-Text | ||
| Ludum Dare 48 #9 | April 27, 2007 | Build the level you play | ||
| Ludum Dare 48 #10 | December 14, 2007 | Chain Reaction | 158 signups, 52 submissions | "Short Fuse" by Hamumu [14] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #10.5 | February 23, 2008 | Weird / Unexpected / Surprise | ||
| Ludum Dare 48 #11 | April 18, 2008 | Minimalist | 71 submissions | "Strong AI" by mrfun/SethR [15] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #12 | August 8, 2008 | The Tower | 57 submissions | "Rise Of The Owls" by Hamumu [16] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #13 | December 5, 2008 | Roads | 59 submissions | "Rara Racer" by increpare [17] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #14 | April 17, 2009 | Advancing Wall of Doom | 123 submissions | "Mind Wall" by mrfun/SethR [18] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #15 | August 28, 2009 | Caverns | 144 submissions | "Beacon" by ChevyRay [19] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #16 | December 11, 2009 | Exploration | 121 submissions | "Cat Planet" by chuchino [20] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #17 | April 23, 2010 | Islands | 204 submissions | "Gaiadi" by xerus [21] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #18 | August 20, 2010 | Enemies as Weapons | 172 submissions | "Fail-Deadly" by invicticide [22] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #19 | December 17, 2010 | Discovery | 242 submissions | "Time Pygmy" by deepnight[23] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #20 | April 29, 2011 | It’s Dangerous to go Alone! Take this! | 288 submissions | "Appy 1000mg" by deepnight[24] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #21 | August 19, 2011 | Escape | 599 submissions | "Flee Buster" by ChevyRay[25] |
| Ludum Dare 48 #22 | December 17, 2011 | Alone | 891 submissions | TBA |