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[droqen]

So I'm going to make a few local multiplayer flash games, almost entirely from scratch, in an hour each. They may take up to one whole additional hour in tweaks to make things way more fun, but this will come later.

In general, each game will need to be simple (thanks to creation time restraints!) but will also adhere (generally) to 'fewer buttons = better'. I'll put a hard limit of 3 buttons per player maximum (plus possible 'system' buttons like reset), will aim for 2 buttons, and if it won't harm the experience, may go fewer (1 button per player or... 1/2? 0?)

Game #1:
Aubergine vs. Magenta (2P)

A & S vs. K & L > either to turn > both to shoot RESET: SPACE RESET ALL: ESC

This game was created in a pub after an interesting game-interested people event. A number of people I knew were there gathered and one proclaimed: let us jam. So we did. And it was good. In two days, I have played this game (with lots of different people!) for far more than the one hour it took to make it (even adding the overall 20-40 minutes I spent making modifications). Goal complete.

Game #2:
Two Hundred Moneys (2-4P)

Q C M P

I started this game with some ideas in mind that reminded me of M.U.L.E. and long story short I'm not going to try to make any even remotely complicated systems in these games. I got kinda far, but not far enough -- and it wasn't turning out very fun anyway.

Game #3:
Blue Knights (2P)

I won't bother giving instructions; they're on the page. It's a one-button (per player) two-player... fighty game. I have yet to play it with another human so I'll just have to trust what you tell me about how horribly unbalanced it is.

The controls don't feel wonderful to me, either.

[mokesmoe]

Unfortunately, the strategy of holding down one button is unbeatable.

[droqen]

Have you tried holding down more buttons than the other person is?

Less may be more, but more is also more.

[mokesmoe]

So by turning in both directions you break the game and divide by/shoot zero(s)?
Genius.

[droqen]

Time to get serious. Newer tweaked version up. Don't run into tails.

~~~ edit ~~~

Two Hundred Moneys was a failure! Moving on.

[nihilocrat]

I like your idea. The "versus" theme makes it particularly easier to get more playtime, or at least more enjoyable games, because you are able to pit two people against one another, and thus some of the gameplay is not inherent in the game but comes from the act of competition. "Mind games" in various versus games (sword positioning in Nidhogg, cancelling in fighting games, bluffing in poker) add a lot of depth without mechanically making the game any more complicated or harder to make, so it's a good idea to include controls that allow players to signal intent on the screen without necessarily committing to an action.

[droqen]

Blue Knights is finish.

It didn't turn out fantastically, but it's got an odd control scheme -- so I didn't expect it to turn out awfully well!

Also, there's nobody around to play with. ):

[LazyDog]

These are cool. Make more of them and combine them mario party style.

[Rooky]

Yeah, a Mario Party-esque game combining a good deal of these would be pretty good fun. but you'd have to put a timer on, say, the Blue Knight one. It could last forever, so you could make it so after, say, 30 seconds, whoever's closest to the edge loses, or something.

[Impossible]

Blue Knights is finish.

It didn't turn out fantastically, but it's got an odd control scheme -- so I didn't expect it to turn out awfully well!

Have you tried a more traditional control scheme?  Blue Knights is cool but having to charge everything, including move left and right, is awkward.  Might be more fun if left and right movement where separate keys and attacks\abilities were charge.  Either that or just make it a full on fighting game with special inputs, back to guard, etc.  Are you limiting all the games to two keys (effectively one for Blue Knights) to avoid keyboard input limitations?

[droqen]

Are you limiting all the games to two keys (effectively one for Blue Knights) to avoid keyboard input limitations?

That's the idea, yeah. They can be a big pain when trying to play with another person ):

edit :: Also, while two hands is doable, I'd like to keep things approachable. Cramped hand positions not so good. Keep in mind I did the first game on a netbook, in a pub.

The idea is also to keep controls simple, but I guess I ended up being dumb and making Blue Knights' controls really complicated anyway. Rest assured, the next one (assuming there is a next one) will have more intuitively simple controls.

edit here too :: Blue Knights could probably do with a better bar that displays each step more visually, which was the original plan which would have taken too long (I went a bit overtime as it was)