Ludum Dare, one of the oldest, funnest, and most welcoming game jams just celebrated its 20-year anniversary with it’s 50th competition. A whopping 8,490 aspiring (and professional) game developers from all over the world submitted 2,894 games—all built in just a few days or weeks in some cases.

The theme for Ludum Dare 50 was “delay the inevitable” and that gave rise to some wonderful, weird, and wacky games with unique interpretations of the theme.

Here are some our favorites—all with source available if you’d like to play around with the code as well as the games. Enjoy!

Claustrowordia



► Play (Web, Windows, macOS, Linux) · Source (Unity, C#) by @anttihaavikko

Getting tired of Wordle? This interesting take on a crossword puzzle, and overall winner of Ludum Dare 50, should capture your attention.

Fun fact: @anttihaavikko also won our last GitHub Game Off with their entry called do;MIN(0)—do check that out too!

Flameline

► Play (Web, Windows, Linux) · Source (C++) by @HolyBlackCat

Use your special abilities, like timeshifting and double-jumping, in this metroidvania-style game and delay the inevitable—death by lava.

Dino Fate



► Play (Web) · Source (Unity, C#) by @Zettelkasten, @Decosense, and @Kimyokage

Steer Earth through space, dodging asteroids, and destroying them with dinosaurs. Obviously.

Eleventh Hour

► Play (Windows) · Source (Pygame, Python) by @jeremycryan

A fun and fine feline game where you can turn back time.

Moonshot

► Play (Web) · Source (Unity, C#) by @diego-escalante

A narrative game about a falling moon, and the folks trying to deal with it.

Fun fact: the theme for 2020 Game Off was “moonshot.”. You can see how thousands of people interpreted that and hundreds of games that it inspired on itch.io—all with source code available.

Nighty Night, Nosferatu

► Play (Web) · Source (Phaser, JavaScript) by @sartak

Lurk in the shadows and don’t let the sun’s rays touch your pale white skin.

Fun fact: @sartak streamed the development on Twitch recording 350,830 keystrokes and creating 1500 lines of JavaScript. If you’re a data nerd like me, you’ll dig this! They spent a total of 4.5 hours coding, 9.5 hours on design, 4.5 hours on art, 1 hour on sound, 30 mins on music, and 18 hours of rest.

Not Yet

► Play (Web, Windows) · Source (Unity, C#) by @Vandermaesenpi

“Easy, grandpa! You’re not the young man you used to be.” You’ll need your wits (and, your cane) about you as you battle against some evil spirits before your time inevitably runs out.

Hypercube Warrior

► Play (Web, Windows, macOS, Linux) · Source (LÖVE, Lua) by @DPS2004, @pipes5210, @bunner, and @deadlysprinklez

Venture further into the maze in this a-maze-ing non-euclidian shoot ‘em up.

Different Strokes

► Play (Web, Windows) · Source (Unity, C#) by @markv12, @midblue, @Cless-Aurion, and @rincs.

A truly unique exploration of an online art gallery where the exhibits are created, remixed, and rated by other players.

Extremely Extreme Sports

► Play (Web) · Source (Geng, Rust) by @kuviman

A modern take on SkiFree, but as an MMO with explosions!

Wormy

► Play (Web, Windows, Linux) · Source (Godot, GDScript) by @PetTurtle

Slither your way to the top soil and worm yourself out of trouble.

Sleep Keeper

► Play  (Web) · Source (Unity, C#) by @Cluster7ck, @robin-schmitz, and @doridie

Gobble up flies in this unique little clicker/defense-type game.

Into the Light

► Play · Source (Unity, C#) by @AntoineCollot

Keep your fellow bugs away from the light and maintain your healthy glow.

Greedy Pirates

► Play (Web) · Source (Unity, C#)

Control your motley crew with crafty combinations of key presses and survive the 1500km voyage home.

The Great Flood

► Play (Web) · Source (JavaScript) by @cassowarii

Help the puzzled frog hero escape before it’s toadally too late and they’re swallowed by the fast-approaching water.

Claim your FREE BitBuddy™ TODAY!

► Play (Web) · Source (Unity, C#) by @DanielMullinsGames

It’s… it’s hard to describe. And difficult to quit.

Fun fact: You might be familiar with one of @DanielMullinsGames‘ other Ludum Dare games from Ludum Dare 43 called Sacrifices Must be Made. No? Well, after some further development, it was released on Steam as Inscryption and recently won the IGF grand prize and the GDC game of the year awards amongst other accolades.

Dungeon Dummies

>► Play (Web, Android)· Source (Unity, C#) by By @jlelic, @Allinius, and @SaviqqSaviqq

A pixelated puzzle game with all sorts of buttons, levers, bells and whistles.

Hapman The Inevitable

► Play (Web, Windows, Linux) · Source (C++) by @hilkojj

Delay your death and fly away from the Monster!

► Play (Windows) · Source (Pygame, Python) by @jeremycryan

A fun and fine feline game where you can turn back time.

Nap Guardian

► Play (Web, Windows, macOS) · Source (Godot, GDScript) by @vakkiri

Well, that’s all for now. Be sure to check out all of the entries on the Ludum Dare website.