Ten Years Of Weekends: Ludum Dare 23

The venerable 48 hour game design competition/jam that is Ludum Dare always manages to tickle my curiosity bone but that's usually when hundreds of games suddenly sprout up across the internet, as if some manner of imagination/caffeine downpour had filtered its way through the digital dirt. This time around, for the 10th anniversary event Ludum Dare 23, I'm writing before the theme has even been announced. It all takes place this weekend, beginning in just over 12 hours, and there's an interactive keynote to introduce the concept, energise the participants and demonstrate the basics of iterative design.

Given Brendan's punkish call to arms, perhaps some of you will choose to participate, either online from wherever you are or at these locations worldwide. There's even one in Mancunia, fairest of cities!

The theme will be announced on the twitters soon. Even if you don't want to make a game, the keynote is a fantastic introduction to the concept and a smart piece of design in itself. Do take a look.

As always, there will be some big names entering but the aim is to have more games from every corner of the world than ever before and given the 700+ that the judges had to pick their way through last time, I can only assume they are extremely committed and possibly soon to be committed.

Here's to the creators. I'll report back on my findings next week.