The JS13K Games was a game jam that challenged HTML5 Game Developers to make a game with a file size limit of 13 kilobytes. The theme for this jam was “Glitch”. I was able to play and record all of the games entered into this jam in my video compilation series. Below are a few of my favorites, in no particular order.

Neon Runner ‘86 is a simple but super well made shooter from 1984. This old school game has you shooting hostile viruses from a computer’s database. You have somehow glitched into the computer during a hostile cyberspace invasion, so it is up to you to eliminate all threats. You can do this by shooting the circles that appear on the screen, destroying them in a blast of particles. As time goes on, the circles start to move differently or more of them appear. Everything starts to move faster as well. This game is quite addictive and fun to play!

Tonder has you discovering and correcting glitches in a popular dating app. This glitch makes it so that people cannot be “liked” on the site if they have a specific trait, no matter what. This trait has to do with facial expression, accessories, hair length, name, age, or job. You must pass everyone and see which ones are auto denied. Once you have figured out what type of people the app is passing, you must pass those people and like the others 10 times. Once you have done this, the app can figure out what the glitch is and correct it, moving you onto a new batch of people to test out. These people all look quite different, so it does take a few rounds to figure out what the app does seem to like. Help Tonder correct its issues so people can find true love.

Glitch Switcher is a super challenging glitched out platformer. You are a cube that is just trying to get to the end cube of each level. The only issue is, the glitch has tangled up your movement controls. As you move around the level, some of the platforms disappear and reappear. They switch between being there and not being there depending on which direction you move. This means that you may have to face left to make a platform appear on your right, while you are moving through the air to that platform. This adds loads of challenge! The graphics to Glitch Switcher are also glitched out - leaving behind a trail as you move and glitching a bit when platforms appear and disappear. You must try to make it to the end of this glitchy platformer.

Omega 13k has you trying to not kill all of your friends in a space shooter! You are a robotic ship that is automatically shooting at the oncoming ships. If these were enemy ships, this would be fine - even helpful. However, these ships are your friends and comrades. You just want to go home, but with the large number of ships in your way, you cannot do so peacefully. As you destroy your friends, you will receive messages from your captain telling you to stop or trying to figure out what the situation is. You also will be told how to control a special device that allows you to slow down or speed up time. Try to get home peacefully…. Or not.

Cyber Shmup is a really addictive, neon shooter that has you taking the C.O.R.E. You are stuck in cyberspace because you used your VR goggles during a thunderstorm. You now need to fight your way through this game and to the C.O.R.E. This game contains many, many levels with waves of enemies that need defeating. You have a few different colored bars on your screen - a green health bar, a blue glitch bar, and a pink weapons bar. You can collect power ups to charge up these bars. If you fill up the blue bar, you are able to glitch out the other ships on the screen making them almost translucent. If you fill up the pink bar, your gun will be upgraded to a much better one. At first, this game is super challenging, as your gun isn’t too great. If you upgrade your gun, however, you get to keep the upgrade even if you die. This means that over time, you will have a good enough weapon to defeat anything that comes your way! Cyber Shmup is filled with enemies, bosses, and tons of bullets. Will you make it out of this game?

Glitch Blob has you taking care of a strange experiment that you gain tons of profit from. You were a janitor who saw some mysterious blob poop gold. You then stole that blob - but someone saw you. The night guards also saw the magic of these blobs, so you must feed and harvest these blobs to gain enough money to bribe your way out of this situation. At first, these blobs do not poop gold, but instead poop silver. As they get bigger, they need to be feed more often but also defecate more more valuable items. After you bribe the guard, things continue to go down hill. There is no turning back, you already know how to make money from these creatures, so you continue to raise them. Some new creatures start appearing - you can purchase them and help them survive as well for more money. When will the bribing and madness stop? Who knows, that’s what happens when you are greedy.

Glitch Hunters has you defeating glitchy monsters in a forest! These monsters leave trails of glitchy graphics and contaminate the level as they move around it. The more they affect the environment, the more the graphics you see become muddled and glitch. The graphics will double, the screen tints red, and it will become rather hard to fight off the monsters! You do have a gun however, and quite a bit of ammo to fight them off with! As you kill these enemies, they drop more ammo and anti-glitch, which will remove some of the glitched environment. You can also teleport a short distance while fighting to get yourself out of tight spots. As you clear out these monsters, you will move onto bigger levels with even more to defeat. Make sure you keep enough of the environment glitch-free, or it will be too hard to see straight!

Internal Error is a short game about fixing an internal error. You must correct the power supply track in each level to pass. As you move around the maze-like levels, you will leave wires. These wires are limited in number, as if you run out you will be unable to move further. You cannot look too far ahead of yourself due to the lack of light, so you must go up paths in hopes of it being the right way. There are also bugs lurking around each level in the form of black squares. These black squares will grab onto the wire, not allowing power to move through them. You can drop a limited number of defenders around the level to guard some of the wire as well as zap bugs that you see yourself. Once you have made it from the start to the blinking end of the level, if the path is clear of bugs, you will pass and move on. This game is very well made and quite fun to figure out and play.

Evil Glitch is a face paced, Geometry Wars-esque game that has you trying to defeat an evil glitch in the game. You are a ship that must destroy all of the other ships spawning in while dodging everything that’s coming at you. Motherships spawn onto the level, spawning more ships around them. You must destroy these moving ships before they hit you as well as the mothership to stop it from making more enemies. As time goes on, the game starts to ask you if you are trying to stop it and glitching out the graphics to throw you off. This glitch wants to take over everything, with no one left in its way. You cannot be hit at all, or you will die, so you must dodge and shoot your way through many waves of enemies. Along with your gun, you also have a warp time that will slow down enemies but allow you to move at a normal speed for a limited amount of time. See if you can survive long enough to defeat this game!

Pirates of the Glitchy Sea is a super challenging game that has you trying to survive in the glitchy sea. You have a basic ship that you can control on the grid-like ocean. As you move around, you follow the lines on the grid. This takes some time to learn, but once you know the movement it becomes easy to avoid some of the dangers of the sea. Ships and whales appear from time to time. You are able to shoot these things with cannons once you pick up a crate in the ocean. The boats will drop more crates which will in turn help you survive. You see, your crew needs food to survive. As you sail around, your provisions will go down, so you will need to shoot many ships and pick up crates. You also need to make sure not to sail off the edge of the sea or run into enemies. It is quite hard to keep your crew alive, especially since your cannon ball cannot travel far, so you must be up for the challenge of being the best pirate of the sea!

Glitch Buster is a charming platformer that has you playing a small square looking to fix the glitches. There are 13 levels, each with a glitched out bit of background. You must explore the level and find the glitch, then stand by it to fix it. Once you have, you will be transported to the next level to fix another! There isn’t much time before the glitches will take over, so you need to be as fast as possible while exploring. There are some red enemies dotted around each level as well. These guys will run into you, causing you to lose a life. Spikes also can be found. You can collect hearts to increase your health or breakpoints to toss around. Breakpoints are like bombs and can be used to explode the environment as well as enemies - but be careful as if you stand too close you will be hit by the blast as well. This game is super fun to play!

#JS13KGames #NeonRunner86 #Tonder #GlitchSwitcher #Omega13k #CyberShmup #GlitchBlob #GlitchHunters #InternalError #EvilGlitch #PiratesOfTheGlitchySea #GlitchBuster