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Over time, Mike took on more and more responsibilities. "Finances, hosting, support, until about six years ago when I had kind of taken over. (Developer) Phil Hassey did a lot of great work building us a site. I kept us on schedule, Phil would sometimes come and fix things, and for a time it was just a matter of running events every four months. And then it got popular!"The Ludum Dare "season" lasts for eight weeks. Five leading up to the event where theme voting begins and real-world arrangements are made (although you don't have to attend an event to participate in it—this being the internet age and everything). Each event takes place over a weekend, after which comes three weeks of judging. Everyone who has submitted a game gets to play and rate everyone else's. At the end, the votes are tallied and the winners declared.There's no actual prize for the winners. "The prize is your product," Mike says. "Sure, we could have prizes, but being able to say 'I made this' is pretty amazing. And it doesn't hurt that since we've become more popular: 'I made a top game in Ludum Dare' is now something to brag about.""The prize is your product. Being able to say 'I made this' is pretty amazing."
–Mike Kasprzak
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Having a theme set for you is something that every creative person craves once in a while. "The theme solves the 'blank sheet of paper' problem," says Mike. "It focuses your brainstorming on a subset of ideas. Often you think of things you wouldn't have otherwise. And knowing that thousands of people from around the world are also doing it is encouraging. The excitement is infectious, and you want to be a part of that."He admits that it's not for everyone, however. I posit that Ludum Dare must turn the occasional developer grumpy, to say the least, after three days of them bashing their head against a project. "Of course, we can't make everyone happy, but we can make like 95 percent of them happy—and a few even happier." Mike believes that for most people who take part, it's all about the personal challenge rather than competing with others. "Making a game in a few days is an accomplishment. And if you know others have played it, that's exciting, too."New on Motherboard: How Viking 1 Won the Martian Space Race
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Both Mark Foster and Nicolas Cannasse are working full time in video game development now, and although they have busy schedules, both have pledged to participate in future Ludum Dare events. Evoland was successful enough for Shiro Games that the studio is now working on a sequel. "I hope to have everything done with Evoland 2 by August 21, so I can fully enjoy LD33!" says Nicolas."Hopefully we'll be able to make something else for one in future just to get back to that fun game-making binge we love so much," Mark adds. "During Titan Souls' full development we didn't really have the time to do game jams… technically we were still working on one!"Ludum Dare 33 begins on August 21 (or 22, depending on your time zone), and theme voting is currently underway. I'll leave you with a few words from Mike on why you should think about participating, even if you've never done so before. "If you like a challenge, know how to make things appear on a screen, or are willing to learn, and you have a couple of days, you might just enjoy yourself."Follow Matt Porter on Twitter."As I see it, a very big part of the indie game development culture is rooted in game jams." –Mike Kasprzak