Who Needs a Referee When You Can Have ‘Karate Basketball’?

After playing a few rounds of Karate Basketball, I'm left wondering if its creators are completely bonkers, brilliant, or a bit of both. Probably the latter, as mixing the two sports are surprisingly entertaining! I mean, why settle for playing by the rules to acquire the ball when you can punch and kick instead? Oh, and passing the ball doesn't mean you're safe from a beatdown either, even though… it kinda should. Or should it?
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At a Glance: The Gold Medalists of Ludum Dare 35

Not gonna lie, Ludum Dare 35's theme - Shapeshift - didn't really appeal to me, and I fully expected this round to be... well, kinda less. One glance at its victors across the sixteen categories sure proved me wrong though, which is obviously not a bad thing! So while we wait for the 36th 48-72 hour craziness that will be Ludum Dare 36, why not peruse the cream of the crop from the most recent outing?
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MiniLD 66’s Theme Commands That You Must Construct Additional RTS Games

Ah, real-time strategy (RTS). A dying genre, sadly, mostly kept alive by aging hits like StarCraft II, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion and Company of Heroes 2. As such, I'm all for this upcoming MiniLD, which encourages developers to… well, construct additional RTS games!
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MiniLD 64 Is All About the Awesomeness That Is Nintendo 64

MiniLD 64. Nintendo 64. I see what you did there! Great idea though. It is after all a console that, for many, harbors fond memories... so why not pay homage to it with a game that borrows elements from what made it so great? Just remember that copyright is still in place, so no asset ninjaing or anything of the sort.
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At a Glance: The Gold Medalists of Ludum Dare 34

While most were pretty busy by the time Ludum Dare 34 kicked off, seeing how it was mid-December and all, close to 3000 games were still created within its 72-hour duration. Very impressive. But that was then, this is now, the votes are in; scroll down for a glance at some lovely screenshots and my thoughts on its gold medalists!
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‘Bloodworm’ Will Crush Evildoers and Collect Coins While Making Silly Noises

Fear me, for I am the mighty Bloodworm! Or at least I will be, after eating half a dozen bad guys, at which point some might say that I've gotten a bit fat. But amongst my kin size (or length, I suppose) equals strength, and the more I consume, the more I grow; both in terms of size and power. One day, I shall consume EVERYTHING! Muahahahaha...
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Celebrate 13+ Years of Ludum Dare With MiniLD #60 This Weekend (June 27-29)

As Tim Bumpus so accurately writes, Ludum Dare has been around for a long time. A very long time in fact (more than thirteen years!), so let's face it - a celebration of all things Ludum Dare is certainly in order, and what better way to do so than with the 60th MiniLD?
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‘A Knife Made Of Whispers’ Has You Raiding a Tomb to Save the Love of Your Life

What would you do if the love of your life was dying? How far would you go to save her? In the case of A Knife Made Of Whispers at least, the protagonist will stop at nothing to accomplish this task, braving the depths of a dangerous tomb in search of an ancient relic with which this poor soul may yet be restored. A soul which has been brought with him on this uncanny quest... in a lantern.
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Hit All the Right Keys In ‘Type Commander’ to Keep the Town Safe

Slaying a fire-breathing dragon or laying waste to a dangerous sorcerer, sure, those deeds are probably considered very heroic somewhere, to someone. But they both pale compared to the job of a typing hero - like the one in Type Commander - as these unique individuals are capable of destroying entire armies… with a keyboard! No blades, spellbooks or arrows. Just a keyboard and their knowledge of its layout. Fascinating stuff, really.
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At a Glance: The Gold Medalists of Ludum Dare 32

As some of you may already know, Ludum Dare 32 ended approximately three weeks ago, which means… the competition voting is now also over! Simply put, a handful of developers get to celebrate acquiring gold, silver or bronze across eight different categories. So I figured, why not share my thoughts on the cream of the crop? Some groovy games there for sure.
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‘Light of the Living Dead’ Has You Fighting Creepy Crawlers With a Flashlight

Most of us have fought on demons and ghastly ghouls in one video game or another at this point, and whether we survived the encounter or not, it was (probably) a glorious battle. But few have we taken on the hounds of hell, armed with a meager flashlight, which is the exact conundrum Lanny, protagonist in Light of the Living Dead, is facing! Oh and her weapon of choice is about to run out of batteries…
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‘Agent Of Souls’ – This Looks Like a Job For Out-of-Body Experiences!

James Bond is cool and all, no doubt about that. But none of his fancy gadgets allows him to leave his body behind, pulling off stuff otherwise impossible. Where am I going with this? Well, the protagonist in Agent of Souls has a fancy brief case that lets him do exactly that. Or rather, the laser gun inside does. Quite a neat trick, that.
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‘The Collection’ (LD32): Unsew Dolls to Help Jimmy Recover His Belongings

Poor Jimmy. Not only has this doll (literally - he's an actual doll) lost his left eye, but also his hat, and most importantly, his heart. To make matters even worse, all three items are currently in the possession of some rather hostile dolls. Dolls which Jimmy must now fight, armed with but a sewing needle and buttons. Dolls in dire need of… unsewing!
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‘Linker’ – Connect Worlds to Defend Against an Alien Invasion

An unknown alien force is rapidly approaching on several fronts. The only way to establish a defensive perimeter, is to connect our worlds, as each connection creates a barrier able to withstand just about any assault. So get to it commander: build that last line of defense against those bastards, and be quick about it!
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‘Connector World’ – Connecting Connectors With Wired Wires

Meet Jim. Jim is an employee at Connector World, and a lazy one at that. So much in fact, that he's decided to 'outsource' his work to… well, you. Actually, his reasoning is that you seem to think his job is some kind of game, which is just plain weird. Whatever the case, it's time for you to connect a bunch of wires.
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‘W4’ Gravitational Pull Platforms You Through Interconnected Worlds

Back in the day, platformers were easy to figure out. Your character could jump, maybe double jump, perhaps he/she had some sort of attack, but that was it. No fancy stuff. That was a long time ago though, and… well, W4 is definitely one genre entry that takes some getting used to, as gravity changes depending on which world you're in. Oh and there are deadly spikes, because, why not?
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‘Kram Keep’ – Keeping Platforming Simple, Fun and… All On One Screen

Even way back when, most games would use screen scrolling, panning or otherwise take up several screens. Not so with Kram Keep, as while this platformer does feature a massive playable area… the entire thing actually takes place on a single screen. Oh and it's also a lot of fun!
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‘GraviFlip’ Impressions: Mess With Gravity to Score High by Way of Monster Stomping

Your space station is infested by all kinds of nasties, from plain ol' space bugs to annoying space bots. Annoying, but that's not the worst part: that 'fancy' space suit you're wearing? Yeah... can't jump in it, and the only way to squash the invaders is to jump on them. How, then? By reversing gravity, of course!
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MiniLD #56: Almost Time For Another Pick 'n' Mix

Mix and match! Match and mix! Go nuts! It's (almost) time to Pick 'n' Mix, as MiniLD #56 is rapidly approaching. Theme? None. Instead, the focus is on goals (wait, what?) and... well, challenging yourself during the development of said brand new game. Confused? Don't worry - explanation incoming.
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‘ScanLines’ Impressions: Fast-Paced Platforming Through Levels Constantly Redrawn

Hope you like platformers that requires fast thinking and even faster reactions, because that's ScanLines in a nutshell. Upon completion of one, the entire following level is drawn bit by bit - scan line by scan line - and you have precious little time to get to safety, before, well... fire bad. Quite a unique and clever concept.
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‘Chipset-0’ Impressions: Time to Reconnect Humans as a Maintenance Robot

You are CHIPSET-0, a maintenance robot tasked with reconnecting humans to the system servers, so that they may once again be part of our... virtual worlds. Right. So basically, robots are evil, have taken control of humanity, and a bunch of humans managed to 'escape' by unplugging themselves. Time to fix that, in this futuristic puzzle platformer.
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‘Escape the Dream’ Impressions: Navigate a Mazelike Dreamscape

They say sleep is good for both the body and the soul, and I'm inclined to agree. Sleep is good. We like sleep. But what if you suddenly found yourself unable to wake up, forever trapped in a dream? This exact scenario, however disturbing, is explored in Escape the Dream, a brief puzzler which tasks you with... waking up.
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‘Snakeformer’ Impressions: Snake Goes 2D With Physics, Lava and Falling Blocks

Ain't often we see a hybrid like this: the classic mobile game, Snake, with platforming elements, a puzzle-y level design and... hazards. Alas, during Ludum Dare 29, one such came to be, under the name Snakeformer. But that was then, this is now, and seven months later, a much improved post-jam version has seen the light of day. Groovy.
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‘Connected Words’ (LD30) Is Ready to Assemble Sentences On Mobile Devices

Puzzles involving word manipulation are hardly the most original sort, but they can still be quite enjoyable, and Connected Words is just that. Originally created in 48 hours (or less) during Ludum Dare 30, Teesquared followed that up with some post-compo work, to then release it on mobile devices. Groovy.
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By Request: A Slice of Ludum Dare 30

Approximately one week ago, several thousand developers cancelled their weekend plans to make a new game in less than 72 hours. It was Ludum Dare weekend, and this 30th outing was quite the success, giving birth to no less than 2539 games! As such, by request of its participants, I took to sampling these... connected worlds.
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