A Game of Numbers – Post Mortem

The Good

• Tools – I am very familiar with C#/XNA/Gimp
• Scope – Game was super simple and easy to program
• Editor – Used Gimp to make and map the level, so therefor no need to make a editor myself
• JSIL Version – I managed to get a web version working, which seems really cool to me

The Bad

• Editor – Using Gimp to make levels was difficult. Yes it saved me lots of time, but when editing levels I would often make mistakes that I would have to go back and correct.
• Puzzles – Coming up with good puzzles was difficult. I ‘m sure there are a lot of possible puzzles with the elements that are implemented, but they take time and experimentation to find and I didn’t have much time. That said, I’m fairly happy with the set of puzzles that I finished with
• Audio – I didn’t really have time or the desire to add any sound effects or music to the game. It probably would have beneficial to have some sound effects.

This is my third Ludum Dare that I’ve participated in and the 4th gamedev competition that I’ve done. Unlike my previous attempts, I was super relaxed during this one. I brainstormed for a couple hours after the theme was announced and then started programming right away. I think after about 6 hours of programming all the mechanics were implemented and all that was left was making levels. I thought the levels would be easy so I took a break and didn’t really do much work on Saturday, I think I made 3 or 4 levels. Then on Sunday I started crunching because I realized that I couldn’t come up with any good puzzles. Luckily I buckled down and managed to create a good number. Overall, it was a great experience and I am pretty happy with my game.

Post-Compo Plans

I probably won’t do this right away, but there are a couple obvious things that I will do to improve the game.

• Audio – Add some audio to the game
• More Puzzles – I will add some more puzzles to the game, but still try to keep a certain uniqueness to each one. I also don’t really want to introduce any more elements.
• Puzzle Editor – Have an editor mode where people can try to make their own puzzles

I might also look into the possibility of porting to mobile devices and trying to make an educational type of game, it could be interesting.

Here is the entry (Windows + Web):http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-26/?action=preview&uid=4628