Ludum Dare 42: Game Ideas

- 3 min read

I haven’t really been preparing all that well for the previous Ludum Dare jams that I’ve taken part in. My cousin has always been at the forefront of design when we approach this. This time round he’s away for the weekend and we won’t be jamming together, so on the eve of theme announcements I’m quickly putting together some small ideas to try and help me have some direction if it’s not the theme I was hoping for.

Below follows my list of game ideas, the (+1/0/-1) in the title shows how I voted.

Running out of space (-1)

  • Flight director for blimps. Lanes in which blimps can cross a certain area with blimps going both directions. Trying to avoid another Hindenburg incedent.

Night is coming (-1)

  • Night is about to fall and you must get preparations ready as a monster to go and terrify the village.

Decay (-1)

  • Race through decaying wasteland trying to escape the bandits.

Safe in the dark (-1)

  • You are a monster in the dark trying to trap somebody in your horrors

Fragile (-1)

  • Fragile companion cube. Portal style game, but the companion cube isn’t as robust and breaking it spoils the surprise.

You are the final boss (-1)

  • Fight and absorb the powers of your foe

Evolve (-1)

  • Evolve a production line to build products as requested from a variety of different resources.

Light is key (+1)

  • You’re a sparkly vampire (well not a vampire) that when naked emits so much light you blind the people around you. In order to fit in you must dress yourself in clothes you find, but be quick as the clothes quickly start to let some light through.

Death is useful (-1)

  • All structures in your empire has to be built using the flesh of your followers. Use pop as building resource.

Two points of view (+1)

  • Play the handler and the assassin. The handler uses cellphone towers to triangulate the target, once a rough location is pinpointed the assassin can use a multitude of methods to kill the target.

Dying planet (-1)

  • Terraform a dying planet

It’s spreading (-1)

  • Spread your illness to as much people in the hospital as possible. Use all means necessary, but don’t get caught.

3 Rules (-1)

  • Newton’s 3 laws of motion - have special ability to leverage each of the 3 rules in your favour.

One enemy only (+1)

  • An enemy that learns different methods of attack to find ways to counter-act the player

One minute (-1)

  • Build a car in one minute and complete the track.

You control the environment, not player (+1)

  • Same concept as the spy game, but rather using the environment or cellphone towers to try and guide a target to a goal.