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Dungeon Crawlers Jam 2021

Chris Koźmik

Silver Lemur Games
Developer
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
414
zooperdan from dungeoncrawlers.org is organizing a Dungeon Crawlers Jam (7 days) between 1st and 8th April 2021. At the moment there are 39 participants (and raising). EDIT: There are 633 participants now. There are some modest rewards :)


Details:
https://itch.io/jam/dcjam2021

EDIT (results):
https://dungeoncrawlers.org/post/dungeon-crawler-jam-2021-results/

https://itch.io/jam/dcjam2021/results (rated according to jam participants)

In the end there were 78 qualified entries.
 
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Wysardry

Augur
Patron
Joined
Feb 26, 2004
Messages
283
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Currently, there are less than 9 days left before this starts and 478 people have signed up for it.
 

CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,548
Been crawling.
HstEQNz.jpg
 

CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,548
In all seriousness since the games from the jam are tile-based I guess you can in theory make one map per "floor", not sure you can really use those to navigate, I probably could not, maybe the ones from Grid Cartographer with other floors in transparency can work but I prefer paper, anyway I won't map the 6 direction games, already completed Escape from Cosmic cube and it was very fun, also I stopped playing Ankehotep's prison after completing the third level, no problem with the game, there's just not enough variation for wanting to roam one more level as is, it's fine, other games were "2D", I don't know if there's one more 6 direction game.
 
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CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,548
I've played more games than not, now, the remaining third are games I've got technical issues with. The most relevant game among those may be Ivory Tours, this game looks really cool but it's one of several Unity games where I get a pink background instead of textures.

I won't comment about promising but currently not fun games, there are plenty but it's not really useful at this point because most of these will be abandoned and we can't be sure which ones won't, better wait to see which ones provide updates in the future before talking about those.

Now about a loose list of games which are at least vaguely relevant now :
- The reign of the lizard wizard : this one looks good, you get skills from opponent and buy stat upgrades. It has an ok 1-vs-1 turn-based combat whose main twist, that I really like, is that the number of action points you get each turn is randomized. It also has some content, you're going to play for more than 5 minutes.

- Freebooter of SPLORR!! : this one gives you one random dungeon to bet and uses a simple combat system but it has very cool (boost especially) resource management.

- Escape from cosmic cube : let's mention zwanzig_zwoelf 's game which has good production values, 6 direction movement, feels good and is intense because at the beginning you can die and the more you advance through the game the less you want to die, I recommend to check for all upgrades before going from one location to the next.


- Characternik : this one is challenging, you don't have ton of flexibility neither in combat nor exploration but depending on what you do you're going to die or not. It looks cool and is based on Cossack's tales and uses a kitsch song.

Callan : Escape from dungeon : at least a bit harder than many of the other games, the game has cooldown-based combat but actual resource managenemnt (life, stamina, hunger and thirst, and you can rest) and an appropriate length single dungeon floor which felt fun to beat.

Kingdom of Yergoval : This one is detailed and polished, also offers fun open exploration, it's easy anyway.

- Mork's Trial : this one looks notably good, for the rest you're sent into a procedural dungeon and probably have to hit and go back or step dance at least a little bit, I'm not certain because it does not work great anyway or maybe I'm old, or both.

Some more :
- Tria Insomnia : a small party-based turn-based crawler. It does the job.

- Labyrinth: I/O : an FPS were you walk on tiles while targetting enemies with the mouse. It's fun.

Kronos 6 is an action adventure (like real adventure, with puzzles) game, it's very short but I thought it was satisfying to finally beat it.

- Beat of the bard : this game is rythm based, you know if you're interested or not, but it's well executed.

- Funk dungeon : another rythm-based game, actually, which looks better (the skeleton dancing animation is hilarious) but from what I've played (it's hard to me, I'll need to spend more time to manage to beat it) it has no gameplay variation except for the speed of the tunes and the layout, only one type of enemy and nothing else, while the other game above does.

- Psycho Princess : the labyrinth : this one was made with RPG Maker, or it's a good imitation. I like the gameplay loop, you have some time to gather some skills and spells and are teleported to a next area when the timer ends, a couple of times, then you need to fight the ending boss with what you gathered, I think it's appropriate for the context.

Easter infestation : this one does not only look like a game boy game, it is a game boy game, it's simple and easy but I thought it was cool for one precise reason I won't spoil.

- Hedgerow : this one was made by the guy who's taking his sweet time making Flamberge. It's trippy, artsy, and uses a QTE-based combat system, you are warned, but it's among the most classy games here.

- Shiro's dungeon : this one has simple 1 vs 1 turn-based combat and some cool stuff like golden penguins, I thought it was fun enough to be worth a mention anyway.
PxoWOw.gif
By the way, in case you'd wonder, From a Lost Tunnel, the game I made has simple and easy combat but a crazy, small dungeon with plenty of teleporters and spinners, depending on how you like those you may want to give it a try or avoid it at all cost.
 
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CryptRat

Arcane
Developer
Joined
Sep 10, 2014
Messages
3,548
OK, I found another pc to play the games I could not play on mine so let's complete the list.

- Ivory Tours is indeed very good. It is a party-based turn-based dungeon crawler which looks and sounds great and is detailed and polished, the dungeon is good and is a spaceship, the combat system is based on rolling 4 dices which are sword/shield/...-edged and your xp is spent on upgrading dices. It works and, if maybe not each thing taken apart, the overall package does feel fresh.

- Calderan Chronicles - Prologue is very relevant to the Codex, obviously, since it's a classic party-based crawler. I think the combat is real-time but I pressed A for the biggest part so there may be nuances I missed, anyway what's there is promising, there's one quest basically, not ton of content yet but still already substantial visible work in multiple aspects.

- The Dark Forest In Heaven is a turn-based tile-based shooter with enough management of different ammunition especially.

- I need to play more of After the Light but it's essentially based on the kind of puzzles you find in Dungeon Master and Legend of Grimrock.

- Finally Ard'af is a manic game where you smash zombies and skeletons, picking keys and trying to avoid traps, the game is hard and fun and I've not completed it yet but I'll probably take the time to try.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
It's been a fun ride. As an added bonus, I've confirmed that my 3D pathfinding library is functional and only needs minor adjustments and some optimizations to handle large maze-like maps. :positive:
 

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