Ludum Dare

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]

New Ludum Dare Logo

Old Ludum Dare logo

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]

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

Currently, Ludum Dare is held two times a year.[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]

Previously, a smaller competition called "Mini Ludum Dare" was held during months without a Ludum Dare. These events have been effectively replaced by "DJAM," which is supposed to fill the gaps between the main Ludum Dare events with a few, smaller game jams.[19]

Every October Ludum Dare hosts the October Challenge, which challenges people to "Finish a game, take it to market, and earn $1".[20] 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	[21][22][23]
22	December 2011	Alone (kitten challenge)		891	Pedro Medeiros	Frostbite	Harry Lee Jarrel Seah	Midas	[24][25][26][27]
23	April 2012	Tiny world		1402	Tyler Glaiel	Fracuum	TurboDindon	Inside My Radio	[28][29]
24	August 2012	Evolution		1406	Nicolas Cannasse	Evoland	X-0ut	LD24 X0ut	[30][31]
25	December 2012	You are the villain (goat)		1327	deepnight (Sébastien Bénard)	Atomic Creep Spawner	Free Lives	Ore Chasm	[32][33][34]
26	April 2013	Minimalism (potato)		2346	TimTipGames	MONO	Mark Foster David Fenn	Leaf Me Alone	[35][36]
27	August 2013	10 seconds		2213	Andrew Shouldice	Probe Team	Graeme Borland	NXTWPN10	[37][38]
28	December 2013	You only get one		2064	Daniël Haazen	One Take	Mark Foster David Fenn Andrew Gleeson	Titan Souls	[39][40]
29	April 2014	Beneath the surface		2497	Daniel Linssen	The Sun and Moon	Shannon Mason Richard Lems Diane de Wilde	ScubaBear	[41][42]
30	August 2014	Connected Worlds		2538	PixelMind	SuperDimensional	Kevin Zuhn Kevin Geisler Chris Stallman Devon Scott-Tunkin	Antbassador	[43][44]
31	December 2014	Entire Game on One Screen		2637	Daniel Linssen	birdsong	Simon Larsen Lukas Hansen Frederik Storm	90 Second Portraits	[45]
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	[46]
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.	[47]
34	December 2015	Growing/two button controls		2870	vegapomme27	Frank & Stein	Big Green Pillow ft Mgaia	Slash Quest	[48]
35	April 2016	Shapeshift		2718	Daniel Linssen	windowframe	Barney Cumming Dave Lloyd Jon Murphy Paul Dal Pozzo Louis Meyer Adrian Vaughan	The Maitre D	[49]
36	August 2016‡	Ancient Technology		1912	No ratings	N/A	No ratings	N/A	[50]
37	December 2016	One Room		2390	Daniel Linssen	Walkie Talkie	three-way tie: SinclairStrange  dustyroom Pietro Ferrantelli	three-way tie: Cancelled Refuge Empty Xenopunch	[51]
38	April 2017	A Small World	5065	2980	impbox	Smalltrek	David Fu Hamdan Javeed Seikun Kambashi	Honey Home	[52][53]
39	July 2017	Running out of Power	5423	2355	Jezzamon	VUEL	Linver Ice King	Apocalyptic Gamer	[54]
40	December 2017	The more you have, the worse it is	6175	2889	stevenjmiller	Permanence	DDRKirbyISQ Xellaya	Samurai Shaver	[55]
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	[56]
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	[57]
43	December 2018	Sacrifices must be made	5611	2515	adventureislands	Total Party Kill	Hydezeke	F R I E N D G U N	[58]
44	April 2019	Your life is currency	7855	2536	Skoggy	Oink Royale	CosmicAdventureSquad rosypenguin Strega tenlki	Coin-Op Kid	[59]
45	October 2019	Start with nothing	5838	2612	Joe Williamson	World Collector	Sheepolution	Lost in Translation	[60]
46	April 2020	Keep it alive	10330	4959	Daniel Mullins	Keep It Alive	Ismael Rodriguez	Keep It Alive	[61]
47	October 2020	Stuck in a loop	6662	3206	ZakAmana	GLITCH LOOP	Pedro Medeiros	Chamber	[62]

Notes:

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

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. 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. "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. http://ludumdare.com/compo/2016/06/08/well-this-is-awkward-2/
12. http://ludumdare.com/compo/2016/06/09/august-ld-you-decide/
13. ldjam.com https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/placeholder/results-for-ludum-dare-42. Retrieved 2020-04-08. Missing or empty |title= (help)
14. https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/43/$120416/results-for-ludum-dare-43
15. Boswell, Wendy (October 4, 2013). "Get Your Game On with Ludum Dare: Interview with Mike Kasprzak (Part 3)". Intel. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
16. "Rules and Guide". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
17. 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. https://discord.gg/QeHqpUZbwY
20. "October Challenge 2014". Retrieved November 1, 2014.
21. McDaniel, Walter (September 12, 2011). "Ludum Dare 21 results- compo". Nerd Age. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
22. "Ludum Dare 21 Results- Jam Edition". Nerd Age. September 13, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
23. "Ludum Dare 21". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
24. Kaitila, Christer (December 16, 2011). "KITTEN CHALLENGE". Ludum Dare. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
25. 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.
26. "Ludum Dare 22". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
27. "Midas by Wanderlands". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
28. Polson, John (May 13, 2012). "Ludum Dare 23: A Winner is You". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
29. "Ludum Dare 23". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
30. "Ludum Dare 24: The Winners". GameConnect. TechConnect. September 18, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
31. "Ludum Dare 24". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
32. 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.
33. "Atomic Creep Spawner!". deepnight.net. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
34. "Ludum Dare #25! Ore Chasm". Free Lives Games. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
35. Polson, John (May 21, 2013). "Ludum Dare 26 crowns minimalistic MONO, Leaf Me Alone as winners". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
36. "Ludum Dare 26". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
37. 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.
38. "NXTWPN10". Graeme Borland. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
39. LeRay, Lena (January 8, 2014). "Free Games: Ludum Dare 28 results posted". Indie Games. UBM Tech. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
40. "Ludum Dare 28". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
41. "Ludum Dare 29 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
42. 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.
43. "Ludum Dare 30 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
44. "Ludum Dare 30 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
45. "Ludum Dare 31 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
46. "Ludum Dare 32 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
47. "Ludum Dare 33 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
48. "Ludum Dare 34 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
49. "Ludum Dare 35 Results". Ludum Dare. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
50. "Welcome to Ludum Dare 36! | Ludum Dare". ludumdare.com. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
51. "Ludum Dare 37 | Ludum Dare". ludumdare.com. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
52. "Results for Ludum Dare 38". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
53. "Ludum Dare 38". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
54. "Ludum Dare 39". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
55. "https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/games". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2017-11-12. External link in |title= (help)
56. "Ludum Dare 41 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
57. "Ludum Dare 42 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
58. "Ludum Dare 43 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
59. "Ludum Dare 44 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
60. "Ludum Dare 45 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
61. "Ludum Dare 46 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
62. "Ludum Dare 47 | ldjam.com". ldjam.com. Retrieved 2020-11-22.

External links

• Official website
• New Official Website
• Ludum Dare on Twitter
• List of editions of Mini Ludum Dare