So glad I made Tiles Collector for ludum Dare 58!

I’m really grateful for Ludum Dare in general (thanks @pov!). I’ve participated in LD32, LD46, LD48, LD51, LD56, LD57, and LD58. I wish I could have joined even more, but work and life often get in the way. And even when I do participate, I rarely have the full 48 hours to myself. I feel lucky when I can participate!

This event is always a breath of fresh air — a moment of pure creativity that frees me completely. There’s something deeply satisfying about making something from scratch in such a short time.

I tend to focus more on technical and original ideas than on polish or content. Between jams, I often let small technical concepts grow in my head — like a shader (LD48) or a map generator (LD56).

This time, I finally made a game I’ve had in mind for at least eight years! The idea of making sequences of tiles with the fewest repetition ever of pairs always fascinated me, but I never saw how to turn it into a playable, fun experience within 48 hours. I’m glad I waited — and even happier that I did it for this theme.

🏆 Tiles Collector earned 5th place in Innovation, my personal record!
(Even if proportionally 15th / 898 in LD48 was slightly higher, I’ll take it!)
It’s also my best result in Overall and Fun categories.

Tiles Collector Post Mortem

The Good

• I made a game!
  It’s functional, it looks clean, and I’m proud of it. I have come a long way from my first entries that avorted or were just toys...

• Tiles collector has a tutorial!
  One of my goals for this LD. A proper tutorial helps turn a concept into a real game. Most reviewers found that cool as well!

• I made multiple game modes you can choose from!
  The game includes a tutorial/story mode, daily challenges, and a sandbox mode — a first for me after usually doing single-level games like Find Ten Seconds. That plus the tutorial really push this entry from little proof of concept to the real game territories for me.

• Cross-platform support!
  It runs smoothly on both desktop and mobile. I tried as much as possible to have interactions that work on both platform and an UI that could fit both. I always try to make games and UI that are responsive. Which is super hard. Next time: Make a game with a fixed-size UI

• A proper GitHub repository!
  79 commits, a clean README, and even my first 10 stars ever — thanks to others sharing and starring LD58 entries.
  (Check out the list of LD58 repos I starred! and give them all a stars. Or let me know if you want to be included in the list)

The even better next time!

• The lonely leaderboard.
  I made an online leaderboard (one of the other goal for this LD)... and only one person used it (thanks @doctor-zeus!). It was hidden too deeply — I should have placed it on the main page. But with three daily challenges it was too much. I should have opted for one daily (like 2D-3-color) would have been enough, with others as extras.
  I wanted the leaderboard to give the feeling of a shared experience — a small community around the game.
  Next time, I’ll also add a “share result” feature, like Wordle screenshots.

• Limited time.
  I really wanted to do this idea justice. I didn’t overscope it, but between family, cooking, and taking care of the kids, time was short.
  I’d love to dedicate more time to game development in the future. That's always a bit of a struggle, cause if I really commit 100% I'd be extra disappointed if nothing comes out of the 48h (not only that would set the expectation of beating this entry ! but just making something (see #1 making a game is a success in itself))

• UI struggles.
  Making UI in p5.js is painful. I ended up mixing HTML and p5 elements, but not fully committing to one system, which led to a slightly janky interface.
  I later saw a clever approach where the canvas sits under HTML elements, creating a clean blend between UI and gameplay. I’ll definitely use that next time.

Goals for the next entry

• Keep progressing in the Innovative areas; This is my strong point and also my pride!
• Make a fixed-size game, with an overlay UI.
• Make the score sharing/leaderboard a focus point! I want a game that people play and challenge the other with.
• Commit more! The kids are growing so its easier, but also I should plan for help in the house. Also this edition I had made preparation (well, mostly about music! which I ended up not using at all). Going through the tools, making small proofs of concept before the LD and so on.

💭 Final Thoughts

This Ludum Dare reminded me that I love creating something. But what I love the most in Ludum Dare is the sense of community that I get from the reviewing process, sharing ideas, and talking with other creators! I was really busy and only reviewed 21 games this edition :( But I really spent time playing and leaving reviews on those 21. I am also super grateful to the 43 people who reviewed my game, and for the super comments I got. You really help me advance my game-making abilities.

Hopefully see you in April!