Ludum Dare

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New Ludum Dare logo
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Old Ludum Dare logo

Ludum Dare (LD; Classical Latin: [ˈluːdũː ˈdarɛ], meaning 'to give a game',[1] also referenced as LDJAM) is a game jam competition. It was founded by Geoff Howland and was first held in April 2002.[2] It is currently run by Mike Kasprzak, who has been part of the team since the beginning.[2] Participants are required to create a video game that fits within a given theme in two or three days.[3][4] Participants often release a time-lapse video of the development of their game.[5]

History[edit]

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]

During Ludum Dare 35 in April 2016, an announcement acknowledged various issues regarding the game jam's rating system. In particular, it explained that some users had attempted to artificially boost their game ratings with alternative accounts. As a consequence of this problem, future Ludum Dare events were indefinitely cancelled pending a replacement website being constructed for hosting the game jam.[11] This led to a community backlash, and Ludum Dare 36 in August 2016 went ahead regardless, organized by website administrator and long-time community member Sorceress. Due to the complaints previously raised, the community decided by referendum to forego the game rating phase after the game jam, so no winners were named.[12]

Starting in Ludum Dare 44, the schedule was changed to run twice per year in April and October due to organizer Mike Kasprzak struggling to keep up.[13]

Competition structure[edit]

Currently, Ludum Dare is held twice annually.[14] In the week preceding each competition suggested themes are subject to votes by prospective participants. A theme is subsequently announced[15] before participants are given 48 hours to create a video game (although board games or similar are accepted[16]) 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,[17] particularly since April 2013, when a widget showing Ludum Dare video streams hosted on Twitch was added to the Ludum Dare website.[18] After the end of the competition participants are given three weeks to play and rate other submitted games to determine the winners.[15] There are no physical or cash prizes, but each participant retains full ownership of their game[16]—some have achieved financial success after developing their initial submission.[17]

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 extended development time of 72 hours, takes place concurrently with the solo competition ("Compo").[16]

From early in the game jam's history until 2016, a smaller competition called "Mini Ludum Dare" or "MiniLD" was held during months without a main Ludum Dare competition.[19] These were organised and run by community members with assistance from the website's various administrators and moderators. The host would choose the theme of the MiniLD, set the rules and duration, as well as prepare announcement posts throughout the event. Meanwhile, a staff member would create and manage the game submissions page, make various bookkeeping changes to the website, and generally oversee the event from behind the scenes. These MiniLDs were much more informal, and following the rules was usually optional. The themes were often more specific or technical, such as a jam focused on making games with reusable assets "Swap Shop", or making game-development tools "Tool Jam", or making a real-time-strategy games "7dRTS". Due to the popularity of hosting these smaller community-led events, a booking system was introduced, where interested persons would choose which MiniLD they wanted to host, which ended up with a two year backlog at its peak.[20] After 70 MiniLDs, the event was retired after October 2016, much to the dismay of the community.

For several years during the 2010s, October was home to the October Challenge, which challenged people to "Finish a game, take it to market, and earn $1". Participants had 31 days to upload a link to their game to the website. The event was not competitive and was meant to encourage commercial game development from people who hadn't attempted to make money from their games previously.[21]

Results[edit]

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
1.5‡ September 2002 N/A 12 [22][23]
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 (owls) 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 sylvie 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 [24][25][26]
22 December 2011 Alone (kitten challenge) 891 Pedro Medeiros Frostbite Harry Lee
Jarrel Seah		 Midas [27][28][29][30]
23 April 2012 Tiny world 1402 Tyler Glaiel Fracuum TurboDindon Inside My Radio [31][32]
24 August 2012 Evolution 1406 Nicolas Cannasse Evoland X-0ut LD24 X0ut [33][34]
25 December 2012 You are the villain (goat) 1327 deepnight (Sébastien Bénard) Atomic Creep Spawner Free Lives Ore Chasm [35][36][37]
26 April 2013 Minimalism (potato) 2346 TimTipGames MONO Mark Foster
David Fenn		 Leaf Me Alone [38][39]
27 August 2013 10 seconds 2213 Andrew Shouldice Probe Team Graeme Borland NXTWPN10 [40][41]
28 December 2013 You only get one 2064 Daniël Haazen One Take Mark Foster
David Fenn
Andrew Gleeson		 Titan Souls [42][43]
29 April 2014 Beneath the surface 2497 Daniel Linssen The Sun and Moon Shannon Mason
Richard Lems
Diane de Wilde		 ScubaBear [44][45]
30 August 2014 Connected Worlds 2538 PixelMind SuperDimensional Kevin Zuhn
Kevin Geisler
Chris Stallman
Devon Scott-Tunkin		 Antbassador [46][47]
31 December 2014 Entire Game on One Screen 2637 Daniel Linssen birdsong Simon Larsen
Lukas Hansen
Frederik Storm		 90 Second Portraits [48]
32 April 2015 An Unconventional Weapon 2821 01010111 ＢＥＤ✰ＨＯＧＧ Bogdan Rybak
Igor Puzhevich
Zi Ye
Megan Alcock		 The Rock the Paper and the Scissors [49]
33 August 2015 You are the Monster 2725 DragonXVI Writhe: The Thing from the Omega Sector Pietro Ferrantelli
Theophile Loaec
Augustin Grassien
OrikMcFly		 Mobs, Inc. [50]
34 December 2015 Growing/two button controls 2870 vegapomme27 Frank & Stein Big Green Pillow ft Mgaia Slash Quest [51]
35 April 2016 Shapeshift 2718 Daniel Linssen windowframe Barney Cumming
Dave Lloyd
Jon Murphy
Paul Dal Pozzo
Louis Meyer
Adrian Vaughan 		The Maitre D [52]
36‡ August 2016 Ancient Technology 1912 No ratings N/A No ratings N/A [53]
37 December 2016 One Room 2390 Daniel Linssen Walkie Talkie three-way tie:
SinclairStrange 
dustyroom
Pietro Ferrantelli 		three-way tie:
Cancelled Refuge
Empty
Xenopunch 		[54]
38 April 2017 A Small World 5065 2980 impbox  Smalltrek David Fu
Hamdan Javeed
Seikun Kambashi 		Honey Home [55][56]
39 July 2017 Running out of Power 5423 2355 Jezzamon VUEL Linver
Ice King 		Apocalyptic Gamer [57]
40 December 2017 The more you have, the worse it is 6175 2889 stevenjmiller Permanence DDRKirbyISQ Xellaya Samurai Shaver [58]
41 April 2018 Combine two incompatible genres 6827 3049 lukbebalduke DUNK EM UP! Pietro Ferrantelli
Sylvain Guerrero
Robin Chafouin
Joachim Leclerc
Boris Warembourg 		Dark Soil [59]
42 August 2018 Running out of space 6405 3065 Goutye Reverse Jonathan Murphy
Louis Meyer
Adrian Vaughan
Kyle Olson
Angelo Di Rosa
Ben Weatherall Dave Lloyd 		The Not Very Golden Age of Piracy [60]
43 December 2018 Sacrifices must be made 5611 2515 adventureislands Total Party Kill Hydezeke F R I E N D G U N [61]
44 April 2019 Your life is currency 7855 2536 Skoggy Oink Royale CosmicAdventureSquad
rosypenguin
Strega
tenlki 		Coin-Op Kid [62]
45 October 2019 Start with nothing 5838 2612 Joe Williamson World Collector Sheepolution Lost in Translation [63]
46 April 2020 Keep it alive 10330 4959 Daniel Mullins Keep It Alive Ismael Rodriguez Keep It Alive [64]
47 October 2020 Stuck in a loop 6662 3206 ZakAmana GLITCH LOOP Pedro Medeiros Chamber [65]
48 April 2021 Deeper and Deeper 7881 3866 thegreenworm ROOTS logan Fallumns [66]
49 October 2021 Unstable 5805 2939 thetatautau Quantum Splitter sinclairstrange Burning Ravager [67]
50 April 2022 Delay the inevitable 5994 2900 Antti Haavikko Claustrowordia TRASEVOL_DOG
Pentadrangle
benjamin 		Shotgun King: the Final Checkmate [68]
51 October 2022 Every 10 seconds 4887 2414 Antti Haavikko The Sandwicher anstabo Dark Points [69]
52 January 2023 Harvest 4342 1632 danman9914 Boba Xellaya (@xellaya) and DDRKirbyISQ (@ddrkirbyisq) A Day in the Life of Death [70]
53 April 28, 2023 Delivery 5993 2309 Seb_gamedev Rhino Express Pedro Medeiros
Isadora Rodopoulos
Davey Wreden
Ryan Roth 		Neo City Express [71]
54 September 29, 2023 Limited space 4004 2165 Jeremy Ryan Hope Falters Ollie Powell
Tom Carrell
Adam Butcher
Ezgi Hazal Aygan 		Stretchmancer [72]

Notes:

  • † — Competitions were held for only 24 hours.
  • ‡ — Competition was run without ratings.

Notable games[edit]

The following games were originally submitted to Ludum Dare:

References[edit]

  1. ^ "A shocking question!". Ludum Dare. August 18, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "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. ^ a b W., Tim (August 25, 2010). "Ludum Dare 18 Timelapse Videos". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on April 25, 2019. 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. ^ a b "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. ^ "Well, this is awkward | Ludum Dare".
  12. ^ "August LD – You Decide! | Ludum Dare".
  13. ^ "Results for Ludum Dare 42". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  14. ^ "Ludum Dare 43". ldjam.com. Ludum Dare. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  15. ^ a b Boswell, Wendy (October 4, 2013). "Get Your Game On with Ludum Dare: Interview with Mike Kasprzak (Part 3)". Intel. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  16. ^ a b c "Rules and Guide". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  17. ^ a b Boswell, Wendy (October 2, 2013). "Get Your Game On with Ludum Dare: Interview with Mike Kasprzak (Part 2)". Intel. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  18. ^ Kasprzak, Mike (April 13, 2013). "Streaming Widget Alpha 2". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
  19. ^ "MiniLD Competitions | Ludum Dare". Archived from the original on 2018-12-27.
  20. ^ "Mini LD Signup". Archived from the original on 2017-03-17.
  21. ^ "October Challenge 2014". Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  22. ^ "Ludum Dare - Independent Game Development News and Information". ludumdare.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2002. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Ludum Dare - Independent Game Development News and Information". ludumdare.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2002. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  24. ^ McDaniel, Walter (September 12, 2011). "Ludum Dare 21 results- compo". Nerd Age. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  25. ^ "Ludum Dare 21 Results- Jam Edition". Nerd Age. September 13, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  26. ^ "Ludum Dare 21". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  27. ^ Kaitila, Christer (December 16, 2011). "KITTEN CHALLENGE". Ludum Dare. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  28. ^ Priestman, Chris (January 10, 2012). "Ludum Dare 22 Winners Announced, Next Compo Dated". The Indie Game Magazine. CV Newton Publishing. Archived from the original on December 27, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  29. ^ "Ludum Dare 22". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  30. ^ "Midas by Wanderlands". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  31. ^ Polson, John (May 13, 2012). "Ludum Dare 23: A Winner is You". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  32. ^ "Ludum Dare 23". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  33. ^ "Ludum Dare 24: The Winners". GameConnect. TechConnect. September 18, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  34. ^ "Ludum Dare 24". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  35. ^ 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.
  36. ^ "Atomic Creep Spawner!". deepnight.net. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  37. ^ "Ludum Dare #25! Ore Chasm". Free Lives Games. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  38. ^ Polson, John (May 21, 2013). "Ludum Dare 26 crowns minimalistic MONO, Leaf Me Alone as winners". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  39. ^ "Ludum Dare 26". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  40. ^ Polson, John (September 18, 2013). "2,213 free games ranked for your pleasure: Ludum Dare 27 results". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  41. ^ "NXTWPN10". Graeme Borland. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  42. ^ LeRay, Lena (January 8, 2014). "Free Games: Ludum Dare 28 results posted". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  43. ^ "Ludum Dare 28". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  44. ^ "Ludum Dare 29 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  45. ^ Polson, John (May 19, 2014). "2,500 games lead to two platformer winners for Ludum Dare 29". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Archived from the original on May 23, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
  46. ^ "Ludum Dare 30 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  47. ^ "Ludum Dare 30 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  48. ^ "Ludum Dare 31 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  49. ^ "Ludum Dare 32 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  50. ^ "Ludum Dare 33 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  51. ^ "Ludum Dare 34 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  52. ^ "Ludum Dare 35 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  53. ^ "Welcome to Ludum Dare 36! | Ludum Dare". ludumdare.com. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
  54. ^ "Ludum Dare 37 | Ludum Dare". ludumdare.com. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
  55. ^ "Results for Ludum Dare 38". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
  56. ^ "Ludum Dare 38". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  57. ^ "Ludum Dare 39". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
  58. ^ "Ludum Dare 40". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  59. ^ "Ludum Dare 41 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  60. ^ "Ludum Dare 42 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  61. ^ "Ludum Dare 43 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  62. ^ "Ludum Dare 44 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  63. ^ "Ludum Dare 45 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
  64. ^ "Ludum Dare 46 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  65. ^ "Ludum Dare 47 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  66. ^ "Ludum Dare 48 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  67. ^ "Ludum Dare 49 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  68. ^ "Ludum Dare 50 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  69. ^ "Ludum Dare 51 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  70. ^ "Ludum Dare 52 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  71. ^ "Ludum Dare 53 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  72. ^ "Ludum Dare 54 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved September 29, 2023.

External links[edit]

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