Background

Once More, Through the Desert was our entry into the 47th edition of the international game development contest Ludum Dare. This was the first time we ever participated in a game jam contest as a team.

Once More, Through the Desert is special to us, in that it in many ways was a testing bed for new methods and ideas. As we had never worked with a project of this sort, and never with each other for a similar project, there were many challenges for us to overcome.

Development

While developing Once More, Through the Desert, we started from a blank canvas. This meant that the direction of design, narrative and style could have taken us anywhere. We considered many ideas, and were forced to make certain compromises and considerations due to our lack of experience, and the strict time frame of Ludum Dare.

When we settled for an approximate design direction, we set out on two separate paths of development. One of us focused mainly on the storyline and the narrative delivery, while the other prioritized developing a stable framework and a gameplay structure that would not be overly complex.

Our two paths did not often cross, and as such the game turned into a unique blend of atmospheric gameplay and a story told through repeated attempts at beating the game. This was in line with the theme of Ludum Dare 47, which was “Stuck in a Loop”.

Screenshots from the development process.

Of course, we have developed our techniques and grown more experienced over the years. But certain elements of Once More, Through the Desert still remain at the heart of our projects. Even today we still aim to prioritize a similar design direction as back then, focusing on emotional storytelling and atmospheric gameplay. This part never really changed, even though our projects steadily increased in quality and complexity.

Once More, Through the Desert contained flawed design elements, limitations in interaction and technical limitations. Certain elements were not very well executed, but much of the game was loved by its players. We recognize that we have come very far in our journey as developers and storytellers, and that our projects today barely even remind players of the final product of Once More, Through the Desert.

Although it is true that this project was flawed in many ways, we still keep it close to heart, as it was here it all began. Our journey as developers and storytellers goes on, and we hope that it will last for many years to come.

Results

Once More, Through the Desert was originally released on a platform with limited accessibility, and as such did not reach a large audience.

The game received praise for its unique style of storytelling, scoring in 768th place out of 2406 submissions. Alongside this result, we managed to score 317th place in one of the contest’s specialized categories.

Once More, Through the Desert is currently published on itch.io, and can be played for free here.