One thing I absolutely love is a game jam. If you are unaware, game jams are events where game devs create a game from scratch, usually under a theme and time constraint. This allows creators to sharpen their skills and potentially win some prize money.
There are a few jams that I’ve been following, and one of them is the 1-Bit Game Jam hosted by MYline Media. The rules of this jam are simple: You must create a game that uses only two colors and the theme is ‘Light and Dark’. I’ve seen some great games so far, including La Obscura, which I wrote about previously.
The jam ended on August 19th, giving devs just a week to create the games included on this list. Voting will go on for about a week from now and a winner will be announced. With over 500 entries, I’ve had a lot of games to try out. Today I’m highlighting 5 of these games (in no particular order) worth checking out if you want some free entertainment and have some time to kill.
#5 Lonely Woods - Manic
Starting off this list, I chose this game due to its simplicity and vibe. Lonely Woods places you in the midst of a forest, with some vital items missing. With nothing better to do, you set off to find your backpack, some marshmallows, and your trusty teddy bear.
While you explore the dark woods, your flashlight will slowly begin to decay over time. You can replenish your light by collecting batteries, but you’ll have to be tactical to not grab them too early or they’ll be wasted. You’ll also be having to dodge hungry wolves that lurk in the dark.
It’s an easy game that anyone can kill half an hour with. I recommend trying it out on the hardest difficulty, as I had a lot of fun trying to navigate the forest labyrinth with hardly any light while being chased by wolves.
#4 Forgotten Cure - Cha
Forgotten Cure is an unnerving horror experience that puts you responsible for solving a cure for your father’s disease. You travel to an abandoned laboratory in a desperate attempt to finish the research that other great minds have failed to synthesize.
While you play and discover clues and leads on how to create a cure, you’ll be given a few journal entries to catch up on the story while you play. The writing holds up quite well for a short narrative and the game concludes with an interesting decision that the player will have to make.
It’s a short experience that will take you just a few minutes to dig through, but it’s a decent game that was developed in a short time. Let me know in the comments below what ending you got!
#3 CardCaster - PQ
This entry was quite addicting, due to its replayability. In Cardcaster, you play as a mage with one simple objective: obliterate everything. You’ll traverse through a dungeon with each room filled with enemies. To proceed further, you’ll have to use your singular spell to eliminate all of your foes while avoiding their attacks.
Each time you clear a level, you’ll be able to upgrade your spells by selecting cards. The cards presented on the left side will increase your light level, while the cards on the right decrease it. The more light you have, the more you are able to see while you fight your foes. This level of complexity makes CardCaster very easy to pick up and put down while providing enough of a challenge to keep you saying, ‘Just one more run’.
#2 Isle o’ Little Men - Kakoon
If you like point-and-click games with a sense of humor, you’ll love Isle o’ Little Men. Developed by Kakoon, you play as a random guy sucked into a world in the midst of a rising war between light and darkness. You’ll be faced with solving puzzles and meeting some… interesting characters to progress the story.
The visuals are nice and presented in a unique way, giving you a couple of windows to view the game from. It’s got a mix of both 3d and 2d graphics and is chock full of meta-humor. This game is a shit poster’s wet dream and is worth the 30 minutes or so. You can play it for free by downloading the game or running it in your browser.
#1 Dimwood - Inkspinner
The last entry is a deck-building roguelike that I invested quite a bit of time into. Dimwood dumps you into a hostile and dark forest where you’ll have to battle foes to collect stronger cards while trying to stay alive. This game boasts quite a bit of complexity, as there are several events to encounter, plenty of combat mechanics, and over 100 different cards to discover.
This game can net you a bit over an hour's worth of entertainment and even longer if you are hellbent on seeing the game through to its end. It took me quite a few playthroughs to get the hang of things before I started making some real progress. Of the many games I’ve played for the 1-bit Jam, this is one of them that I’d love to see a full version of, due to the level of care put into it.
Winners will be announced next week
Out of the hundreds of entries to dig through this game jam, I presented five of them that were worth checking out. At the time of writing, about a week of voting is left before a winner will be selected, so make sure you keep an eye peeled for my coverage of who won. You can support Myline media by contributing here.
I’m going to be covering a few game jams that have caught my interest, including one that Dread XP is hosting in September. If you are a game dev and you want a review for your game or want to see them recommended, reach out in the comments below or by my email and I’ll give it a shot!
It’s not easy making a name for yourself as a game dev (or a writer), and I’d love to help any creator by putting their projects in the spotlight. I’ll be making more similar posts to this one in the future, so make sure you sign up for email updates if you want to catch some good indie game recommendations that I’ve dug up.
As always, thanks for supporting what I do! I’m having a lot of fun writing about the games that I’ve found and if you want to support me further, share my writing with a friend that’s always looking for something to play or to another creator that would love to have their work showcased on my website.
See you in the next game jam,
~Greysyns