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[Toma]

Edit: I encourage you to check back to page 1, I posted 6 other interesting games I found in the last few minutes.

Pocket Strife

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11249

More or less a casual strategy game. You have 5 different building types, ones to make money, to store money, to up your research, one to increase the area you can build on and one to defend yourself.

Its a cool concept and I really like the scope of the map, although I wish it had a bit more depth (tower upgrades?). As soon as the money is pouring in a bit faster, it gets a pretty excessive clickfest though. Also, its highly annoying that there is no cursor. Not the best game in this thread, but still enjoyable for a few minutes.

 

[Toma]

Crysthurl

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=1400
Cute, little puzzle platformer in which you need to kill yourself over and over again to advance. The sounds are a tad annoying, but I like the style.

 

[Shaheed79]

Next one!

Memento12

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2012/04/22/memento12-done-at-last/

Cute and short adventure game. The art style is fantastic, though the screen real estate really is indeed tiny. Fitting to the Ludum Dare 23 theme I suppose. The puzzles werent that hard, but its definitely worth the 10 minutes or so experiencing the atmosphere and art style.

Well written and well done but waaaaaay too short even for an LD.

 

[Toma]

Well written and well done but waaaaaay too short even for an LD.

Yeah its short. Calling a game for LD "too short" is a bit unfair though. I doubt that I'd be able to make this game within 48 hours from scratch. Many games don't even have an end or are highscore games. Memento scored a lot with the atmosphere and a complete story for me.

But yes, of course I'd like to have more. The basic premise for the story has a lot of potential.

 

[Dartastic]

Lililput

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12165

Good execution and style for a typing game. Enjoyable graphics, sound and the twist of writing words that are similar to the ones you actually want to write is quite the mind twist. If anyone likes giving it a go, my record:

1:59:16

I made a thread for this game. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=471499&highlight=lililput

 

[Wok]

Thanks, Toma, for these short reviews.

 

[Toma]

Ancestor's Sword

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5496

Gravity Platformer with a good sense of exploration and 2 different endings. Graphics are very neat too, and the controls are... interesting. Its a bit weird at first if you don't know where to go, but the "aha" moment when you finally figure it out was worth my initial confusion. The control settings that this game uses due to its gravity theme might be a bit offputting, though.

 

[Shadow Hog]

Still no love for Fracuum in this thread?



http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2012/04/23/fracuum/

Made by the guy that did Closure on PSN

This was pretty clever, and very difficult at that.

Beat the game, and then I noticed that

Spoiler

the world loops around if you keep going in further, despite being "out" of the maze

. So I started a new game and decided to see if the opposite was true.

Spoiler

It is. The music plays backwards, and enemy firing rates increase or firepower doubles.

I'm amazed he even thought of that, let alone designed a contingency for it.

 

[Toma]

Tiny Island Adventure

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11391
Definitely one of the most interesting pure platformers I've played so far for this LD. Neat graphics & animations, good controls, cute story and challenging platforming. The developer is working on a "sequel", making it more into a Metroidvania. Definitely on my radar.

 

[Toma]

I made a thread for this game. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=471499&highlight=lililput

Oh god, not going to try to beat those records.

Thanks, Toma, for these short reviews.

Glad someone has a use for it

 

[Toma]

Wander

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5254

Definitely one of the games I had the most fun with. Don't want to spoil too much, but it shouldnt take you too long anyway if you arent stuck somewhere. Try it! Great music too.

(seriously, try it)

Edit: Thanks for pointing out the wrong link.

 

[Platy]

Actual link of the game
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5254

Really awesome indeed xD

 

[Toma]

Actual link of the game
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5254

Really awesome indeed xD

Oops, thanks. Really enjoyed his writing too.

 

[Toma]

Le Petit

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=10737

Don't let the innocent looks and name fool you. Hardcore "I Wanna Be The Guy"-style platformer. Well done, though.

 

[Toma]

This page here is seemingly the page of the jump&runs and platforming games.

Pocket Planet

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=1534

This one has some shooting and RPG mechanics, though, and is a serious contender for best game of LD23 for me. It might not be the game that I enjoyed the most from all of the ones that I played, but in terms of the combination of game design, polish, theme, difficulty, setting, sound/soundtrack.. this game is probably unmatched. Every area in the game is polished to hell and back, with original and catchy tunes for every area, an accessible levelling system, tight controls and great graphics. Its also truly a "tiny world". Great stuff.

 

[Toma]

Tiny Vessels

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=12874

A rather simplistic, yet emotional interactive story. Not a game, but still a very interesting and amotionally powerful visualization for the developers concept.

 

[Toma]

Scape

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=3309

Clever, polished and cute Puzzle game. In every level, you need to walk every tile of the current level, but it has a small twist to its game mechanic + it introduces new interesting aspects to keep things interesting down the line.

 

[Toma]

Alright, done with 25 pages of the 59. More tomorrow.

 

[fallout]

Omg, this one is a BRILLIANT idea for theme. Haha.

Its a tab

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=7465

Gets my vote for cleverest use of the theme so far. Don't want to spoil it, just click it and use the web version.

This is awesome.

 

[Toma]

Greed Wars

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=11835

Very well done, little strategy game. You build your buildings that automatically spawn units to conquer the world. Neat graphics and sound. I enjoyed playing it.

 

[Toma]

Poiesis

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=10655

Interesting "world building" concept. Very stylish too. Enjoyed toying around with it quite a bit.

 

[Toma]

terminus

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=2460
Hmmm, this game is less a game, and more of an open ended story that you help deciding with your actions. Pretty neat how many different actions/branching paths he programmed into this small world that you can access by doing different simple things.

 

[Platy]

If anyone is curious to where to begin playing, these 2 posted below are ones that the article on the OP talks about

Studio Miniboss (Out There Somehwere) produced Planet 161 a multi-weapon, puzzle-platformer with a "small and claustrophobic level design." Andrew Morrish (Super Puzzle Platformer) created puzzler Scape, where players must watch their steps as they plant trees and later turn terrain fertile.

Planet 161

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=7981

Another interesting puzzle platformer. You got 3 different weapons with which you can either traverse the surroundings, push or pull blocks. You need to figure out which weapon to use when to get to the goal in each level. Basic system is nothing new, but its very well done.

Scape

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=3309

Clever, polished and cute Puzzle game. In every level, you need to walk every tile of the current level, but it has a small twist to its game mechanic + it introduces new interesting aspects to keep things interesting down the line.

 

[Toma]

If anyone is curious to where to begin playing, these 2 posted below are ones that the article on the OP talks about

Definitely among the more polished entries, though not necessarily the best ones. Hard to decide which ones I like the most though. Some games are entirely different, and I dont feel like I can compare them at all, let alone put one above the other.

 

[Toma]

I was a bit busy with other stuff in the last few days. Anyone here interested in me checking the rest of the games? Otherwise I might call it a day after ~800 games

Competition ends tomorrow too, so we probably will get some "Best of"/Winner Lists sooner or later.

 

[Wok]

I was a bit busy with other stuff in the last few days. Anyone here interested in me checking the rest of the games? Otherwise I might call it a day after ~800 games

Competition ends tomorrow too, so we probably will get some "Best of"/Winner Lists sooner or later.

I believe we could wait for the results, it would help filter the goods.

 

[Haunted]

I think you've done enough, Toma.

We'll bump this when the results come out.

 

[Toma]

I think you've done enough, Toma.

We'll bump this when the results come out.

Who doesnt love talking to himself?

 

[Lijik]

Between this and the Steam review thread, Toma has solidified himself as one of my favorite gaffers. Excellent posts!

 

[Platy]

WINNERS ARE IN !

Top 10 overal :

1-

Fracuum - TylerGlaiel

2- Memento XII - deepnight

3- Super Strict Farmer - Benjamin

4- Soul Searchin' - MaximSchoemaker

5- Lonely Hated Rock - Xion

6- This Precious Land - Ishisoft

7- Planet 161 - saint11

8 and 9 tie- Astro Break - hulahulahest and Recluse - chambers

10- Pocket Planet - MoltenMustafa

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/

 

[kassatsu]

Nice Fracuum is great

 

[Elixist]

2:54 on that typing game, great fun, thx fro taht lol

edit: 3:30 shits addicting yo

 

[Toma]

Glad to see Memento, This Precious Land, Soul Searchin and Pocket Planet in the top 10. Definitely deserved

 

[Toma]

Mirror Rays

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=5729

Its been a while since a puzzle platformer genuinely surprised me. Won't spoil you the mechanics for this game, finding out what it does was a cool "aha"-moment. Very clean and nice art style and good puzzle mechanics. First puzzle platformer I can think of since quite a while that I want more of after finishing it. Unfortunately no sounds, but def. worth checking out.

Edit: Finding the solution to the "dont press D"-level almost melted my brain. Haha. Awesome little game. Probably the best I've found so far, although waaaay too short. I want more!

Where do all these awesome games come from now?

Cloud Realm

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?action=preview&uid=491

This game feels a bit like Shadow of the Collossus. In the Sky. With great 2D Pixel art... :-o
Took me a while to get used to the controls, but after it clicked, the game truly felt great.

Those two definitely deserve some more attention though.