Whew! Another Ludum Dare game finished! Maybe I should have called it “knots of fate” :

Here’s the link: http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-28/?action=preview&uid=18295

With the title, I was thinking of the greek fates (Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos) who measured people’s lives by spinning thread. But that doesn’t really come across in the game itself because I didn’t get around to implementing all the features which I had in mind (which is on par for the course in LD).

I think this game mechanic has a lot of potential – I had fun thinking of levels! It lends itself to puzzles that are mazelike but which mess with your head a little bit.

Fun fact: all through the code, the little avatar circles are called “trains” and the paths are called “tracks.” The game concept evolved and my variable names never caught up.

So, my goal at the beginning of the weekend was to include sound. Didn’t happen. But this is definitely the most polished game I’ve ever submitted, so I’m happy with it. Plus, the soundtrack I really wanted to include would not have been original content: Arvo Pärt’s sublime Spiegel im Spiegel. I had to take a break on Saturday to go play this piece at a memorial service, so I had it stuck in my head the whole weekend. But this is a game I really want to keep working on, so I’ll probably include it or a similar-sounding minor version to give it more gravitas.

Another feature to be added in a later version: roles for the different avatars. At the moment there’s no difference between them except for their color. This will probably disappoint some players – alas!

Can’t wait to see what other people came up with!