Ludum Dare

Ludum Dare logo
Ludum Dare logo

Ludum Dare (from Latin "to give a game",[1] also referenced as LDJAM and formerly as LD48) is an accelerated video game development competition. It was founded by Geoff Howland and was first held in April 2002.[2] Participants are required to create a video game that fits within a given theme in two days.[3][4] A unique feature of this competition is that participants often release a time-lapse video of the development of their game.[5]

History

Ludum Dare was originally only an Internet forum. The first competition—often referred to as "Ludum Dare Zero"—was held in April 2002, with 18 participants. Its popularity turned the focus towards the competitions rather than the forum. The time limit was subsequently increased to 48 hours, because 24 hours were decided to be too few.[6] Since 2011 the competition has seen significant annual increases in numbers of game submissions, partly owing to the public awareness of Minecraft designer Markus Persson,[7] who has participated seven times.[8]

Until 2014, the event was very informal as the Ludum Dare team worked on it in their spare time. Due to the increasing number of contestants, long-time organizer Mike Kasprzak announced in September 2014 that he would attempt at setting up a business model allowing him to work full-time on the project.[9] Charging for Ludum Dare is however "out of question",[9] and money is currently exclusively raised through donations.[10]

Competition structure

Currently, Ludum Dare is held three times a year. In the week preceding each competition suggested themes are subject to votes by prospective participants. A theme is subsequently announced[11] before participants are given 48 hours to create a video game (although board games or similar are accepted[12]) that fits within it. All game code and content must be created during the competition and by a single person, and source code is encouraged to be included. During the event many participants record multiple screenshots of the development of their game to later produce a time-lapse video.[5] In addition, many broadcast a live video stream,[13] particularly since April 2013, when a widget showing Ludum Dare video streams hosted on Twitch was added to the Ludum Dare website.[14] After the end of the competition participants are given three weeks to play and rate other submitted games to determine the winners.[11] There are no physical or cash prizes, but each participant retains full ownership of their game[12]—some have achieved financial success after developing their initial submission.[13]

As of the 18th edition of the competition, which was held in August 2010, a more relaxed version called the "Jam" was introduced. The Jam, which allows development teams, private source code and an extended development time of 72 hours, takes place concurrently with the solo competition.[12]

A smaller competition called "Mini Ludum Dare" is held during months without a Ludum Dare. These are each hosted by a veteran participant who is free to decide the theme within which the games must fit.[13] The rules are generally the same as in Ludum Dare, but the 48-hour limitation is usually ignored in favor of late participation.

Every October Ludum Dare hosts the October Challenge, which challenges people to "Finish a game", "Take it to the market" and "Earn $1'.[15] Participants have 31 days to upload a link to their game to the website. The event is not competitive and is just a small event to encourage game development from people who do not make money from their games regularly.

Results

No. Month Theme (bonus) Participants Compo winner Jam winner Ref.
Sign-ups Submissions Developer Game Developer(s) Game
0† April 2002 Indirect interaction 18 Endurion Magnetic Fields
1 July 2002 Guardian 136 46 Hamumu Scarecrow: Heart of Straw
2 November 2002 Construction/destruction (sheep) 116 49 ShredWheat Sheep Town
3 April 2003 Preparation – Set it up, let it go 84
4 April 2004 Infection 341 66 randomnine Commies!
5 October 2004 Random 93 Jolle Random Dungeon Exploration
6 April 2005 Light and darkness 143 52 Jolle Uplighter
7 December 2005 Growth 27 Jolle The People
8 April 2006 Swarms 150 66
8.5† January 2007 Moon/anti-text
9 April 2007 Build the level you play DrPetter Spatzap aka N/A
10 December 2007 Chain reaction 158 51 Hamumu Short Fuse
10.5 February 2008 Weird/unexpected/surprise
11 April 2008 Minimalist 71 mrfun/SethR Strong AI
12 August 2008 The tower 57 Hamumu Rise Of The Owls
13 December 2008 Roads 59 increpare Rara Racer
14 April 2009 Advancing wall of doom 123 mrfun/SethR Mind Wall
15 August 2009 Caverns 144 ChevyRay Beacon
16 December 2009 Exploration 121 chuchino Cat Planet
17 April 2010 Islands 204 xerus Gaiadi
18 August 2010 Enemies as weapons 172 invicticide Fail-Deadly
19 December 2010 Discovery 242 deepnight (Sébastien Bénard) Time Pygmy
20 April 2011 It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this! 288 deepnight (Sébastien Bénard) Appy 1000mg
21 August 2011 Escape 599 Chevy Ray Johnston Flee Buster Ian Brock
Josh Schonstal
Guerin McMurry 		Escape [16][17][18]
22 December 2011 Alone (kitten challenge) 891 Pedro Medeiros Frostbite Harry Lee
Jarrel Seah 		Midas [19][20][21][22]
23 April 2012 Tiny world 1402 Tyler Glaiel Fracuum TurboDindon Inside My Radio [23][24]
24 August 2012 Evolution 1406 Nicolas Cannasse Evoland X-0ut LD24 X0ut [25][26]
25 December 2012 You are the villain (goat) 1327 deepnight (Sébastien Bénard) Atomic Creep Spawner Free Lives Games Ore Chasm [27][28][29]
26 April 2013 Minimalism (potato) 2346 TimTipGames MONO Mark Foster
David Fenn 		Leaf Me Alone [30][31]
27 August 2013 10 seconds 2213 Andrew Shouldice Probe Team Graeme Borland NXTWPN10 [32][33]
28 December 2013 You only get one 2064 Daniël Haazen One Take Mark Foster
David Fenn
Andrew Gleeson 		Titan Souls [34][35]
29 April 2014 Beneath the surface 2497 Daniel Linssen The Sun and Moon Shannon Mason
Richard Lems
Diane de Wilde 		ScubaBear [36][37]
30 August 2014 Connected Worlds 2538 PixelMind SuperDimensional Kevin Zuhn
Kevin Geisler
Chris Stallman
Devon Scott-Tunkin 		Antbassador [38][39]
31 December 2014 Entire Game on One Screen 2637 Daniel Linssen birdsong Simon Larsen
Lukas Hansen
Frederik Storm 		90 Second Portraits [40]
32 April 2015 An Unconventional Weapon 2821

Notes:

References

  1. ↑ "A shocking question!". Ludum Dare. August 18, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ "About Ludum Dare". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ Senior, Tom (January 12, 2011). "Ludum Dare 19 results announced". PC Gamer. Future. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ Brown, Mark (January 15, 2011). "Time Pygmy Wins Ludum Dare 19 Indie Game Challenge". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 W., Tim (August 25, 2010). "Ludum Dare 18 Timelapse Videos". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ Boswell, Wendy (September 30, 2013). "Get Your Game On with Ludum Dare: Interview with Mike Kasprzak (Part 1)". Intel. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ Cooper, Peter (December 13, 2011). "Ludum Dare for Rubyists: An Online 48 Hour Game Coding Competition". Ruby Inside. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Notch". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Ludum Dare organizer ponders the game jam's future". Gamasutra. September 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ "The Future of Ludum Dare (Part 3) – The Beginning". Ludum Dare. September 26, 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Boswell, Wendy (October 4, 2013). "Get Your Game On with Ludum Dare: Interview with Mike Kasprzak (Part 3)". Intel. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Rules and Guide". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Boswell, Wendy (October 2, 2013). "Get Your Game On with Ludum Dare: Interview with Mike Kasprzak (Part 2)". Intel. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  14. ↑ Kasprzak, Mike (April 13, 2013). "Streaming Widget Alpha 2". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  15. ↑ "October Challenge 2014". Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ McDaniel, Walter (September 12, 2011). "Ludum Dare 21 results- compo". Nerd Age. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Ludum Dare 21 Results- Jam Edition". Nerd Age. September 13, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Ludum Dare 21". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  19. ↑ Kaitila, Christer (December 16, 2011). "KITTEN CHALLENGE". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  20. ↑ Priestman, Chris (January 10, 2012). "Ludum Dare 22 Winners Announced, Next Compo Dated". The Indie Game Magazine. CV Newton Publishing. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Ludum Dare 22". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Midas by Wanderlands". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  23. ↑ Polson, John (May 13, 2012). "Ludum Dare 23: A Winner is You". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Ludum Dare 23". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Ludum Dare 24: The Winners". GameConnect. TechConnect. September 18, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Ludum Dare 24". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  27. ↑ Savage, Phil (January 8, 2013). "Ludum Dare 25 winners announced - four games that let you revel in villainy". PC Gamer. Future. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Atomic Creep Spawner!". deepnight.net. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  29. ↑ "Ludum Dare #25! Ore Chasm". Free Lives Games. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  30. ↑ Polson, John (May 21, 2013). "Ludum Dare 26 crowns minimalistic MONO, Leaf Me Alone as winners". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  31. ↑ "Ludum Dare 26". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  32. ↑ Polson, John (September 18, 2013). "2,213 free games ranked for your pleasure: Ludum Dare 27 results". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  33. ↑ "NXTWPN10". Graeme Borland. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  34. ↑ LeRay, Lena (January 8, 2014). "Free Games: Ludum Dare 28 results posted". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Ludum Dare 28". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Ludum Dare 29 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  37. ↑ Polson, John (May 19, 2014). "2,500 games lead to two platformer winners for Ludum Dare 29". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Ludum Dare 30 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Ludum Dare 30 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Ludum Dare 31 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 30, 2014.

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