The LibGDX Jam was a game jam that required developers to use the LibGDX Engine. The theme of this jam was Life in Space. There were many games entered in this jam, I recorded all of them in my video compilation series. Below are some of my favorites, in a random order.

Space Shift is a funny turn-based game that has you trying to do your space chores. You have been asleep on a spaceship for many years. Now you are being woken up to perform your duties on this ship to keep it maintained. Normally, these jobs would be quite simple to do, but it seems like the last human didn’t do a very good job. It’s up to you to pick up the mess the last person left behind and keep the ship well maintained. A computer friend will guide you and update you on your jobs as you explore the ship. It will also alter the environment to compensate for the last human - for example, the last human used a bit more energy than the ship had, so the ship needed to turn down the lights to compensate for it. As you roam around the ship, you will find more problems and more things to do. Fix up the mistakes, keep the ship going, and be sure not to die!

Rorty is a charming puzzle platformer that has you controlling a couple of robots. Systems failed on an intergalactic cruiser which was carrying a small colony of people to a new planet. The ship is now damaged, which is endangering the lives of the people on the ship. The life support system has deployed a robotic team to rescue the people on this ship who are still in a state of anabiosis. It is up to you to figure out how to save these humans and the space mission. You are able to control two different robots - one heavy robot that can roll around and move blocks or push buttons. The other smaller robot can fly, activate switches, and explore around the area quite easily. Using both of these robots, you must work your way through the ship and find the humans deep within.

Extrication is an isometric puzzle game that has you trying to figure out what happened to your friends. You, along with a few other people, are currently on a spaceship. The captain, Ben, and Sara all went to go fix the power center of the ship, but none of them came back. Your computer AI, Elias, has awoken you to go and fix the problem. Due to the power being low on the ship, you must use buttons and pressure plates to open doors or clear debris so you can continue on your way. As you have been asleep for a long time, you are not very clear on where to go - so you need to open doors and figure out the right path. Once you start finding your friends, you find that someone else on the ship is causing some new problems… Can you escape with your life?

Untethered is a pipe puzzler that has you collecting resources to survive in space. You have become untethered from your spaceship as it crashed into a field of asteroids. Now you are trapped in this asteroid maze, slowly using up all of your needed resources as you move around. Oxygen is needed to breathe or else you will run out and die. Demister is needed to clean your visor so you can see what is going on or else it will slowly fog up. Plutonium powers your scanner, which you need to see more of the field of asteroids. Pipe cleaner keeps the pipes in your suit clean, so you can get more of your resources once you solve the pipe puzzle. As your run into these resources, you will need to line up the “in” pipe with the correct “out” pipe. If you mess up or take too long, you will lose that resource and have to move on to find another one. You must keep all your resources balanced and survive as long as you can out in space.

SECTOR 2F is a roguelike that has you cleaning up the waste in Sector 2F. There is trash everywhere, so you must clean all of the trash without being killed by the alien lifeforms that are roaming around. You have a gun as well as rockets to use to fight these aliens, but each weapon only has a limited amount of ammo. Bullets are sometimes around the area and can be picked up, as well as a power up that allows you to destroy rocks that may be in your way. A trash can also sometimes appears. This cannot be broken or trash will be everywhere and you will lose. Once you have cleaned up all of the trash in an area, you can move on to the next one, leaving any aliens left behind. This game is best played on android devices.

Darker Than Space is a survival horror game where you have no idea who you are. You have just woken up with no clue where you are. Monster lurk around the area, so you know you must escape this place. As you explore, you will find things that are quite useful to yourself; things like a freeze gun, a map, a flashlight, and a crowbar. You may even bump into someone who can tell you about what is going on. As you explore, you need to use these items to avoid monsters that are lurking around. Your freeze gun has a cool down and does take time to shoot - and the enemy will unfreeze soon, so be quick in where you go. Find out what is happening and get out of there.

Life in Space - And How to Get Rid of It is a turn based, top-down space combat game where you must get rid of all life on Mars. Mars is overrun with aliens, so you are going to eliminate all of them so that humans can take over the planet. With only your AI companion and your gun, you must explore the area and kill everything living on it. Sometimes the AI will suggest where to go next - it is important to listen to this, as it really does know best. This AI will point you to gun upgrades, health packs, and stronger aliens. You can move around freely until an alien spots you. Once that happens, you and the alien will take turns moving and fighting each other. As you face stronger aliens, it will become much more difficult to take those hits. Kill everything on Mars, leave no alien behind!

Project Magellan has you claming planets to move humans on to, so that the human race can continue on. World War XIV has happened, completely exploding the Earth. You run the Trinidad spaceship’s onboard AI, which is the last hope for humanity. You have 10,000 humans in cryostasis which need to be re-homed on new planets. You must fly around the starmap, finding planets that can be inhibited by humans. Each planet can only hold a certain number of humans, so you must spread them out so there is a greater chance that they will survive. Sometimes, enemies might be lurking in planets - so you must defeat these enemies to take over. Other planets are not quite ready for humans, so you may have to spend some of the resources you have collected from asteroid belts to improve it. Can you find enough planets to save the human race?

Search for Life in Space is a realistic search through space for strange sounds from extraterrestrials via an android app. You must join the Search for Life in Space. Using the special companion app, you must look for aliens out in the stars in the sky. Using special filters, you must figure out if extraterrestrials are trying to contact you or if there is just static. If you do find something of interest, you may be able to communicate by flipping your phone face up or face down. You can also report any of your findings to the Search for Life website. You need to be careful though, the government is trying to stop you from contacting these aliens, as you are not permitted to speak to life out in space. You must figure out how to keep in contact with these extraterrestrials before the government sticks their nose in your business.

N.O.A.H. or Near Orbit Animal Harvester is a retro feeling game that has you stealing animals from other planets to help statain your dying home planet. Capture animals from the ground and take them to the top of the screen to beam them to the mothership. Enemies will try to stop your ship, but you are easily able to shoot them right back down. The game itself is rather simple, but I really enjoy the feel of it. Its up to you to save your civilization!

#LibGDXJam #SpaceShift #Rorty #Extrication #Untethered #SECTOR2F #DarkerThanSpace #LifeInSpaceAndHowToGetRidOfIt #ProjectMagellan #SearchForLifeInSpace #NOAH