Last weekend I participated in Ludum Dare 44. Ludum Dare is an online game jam held 3 times a year, in which the goal is to build a game solo in 48 hours. Each event has a theme that that your game is supposed to adhere to. For Ludum Dare 44, that theme was “your life is currency”.

The game I build is called NEXCIDIUM. It is a basic vertical shooter, where you play a drug traveling through a bloodstream in order to destroy the heart. I came up with a dark story to wrap the gameplay in, involving the government paying families to voluntarily terminate a loved one. The game is very short, taking about five minutes to complete, so if that sounds interesting, please check it out!

NEXCIDIUM

I picked Pico-8 for this project, which I’ve used for a few other games in the past (namely the original Endless Archery). I wanted to use an engine that would give me an easy web export, as accessibility is important to ensuring your game gets sufficient feedback during the Ludum Dare rating period. Pico-8 is also just plain fun to work in!