The first Perth gamejam for 2009 is slowly winding down to a close; the deadline for submissions is generally more of a suggestion than anything else. The entire RocketHands team has been beavering away on an interesting project that will see the light of day soon, and I've also been soloing on a crazy shooter under the RaketHand label :)

Both games will be playable at next week's "Show Us Your Bits" event, which is shaping up to be an awesome post-gamejam wrapup. Until then, I thought I'd quickly review some entries by other teams.

Dude Collect
Bodacious Trilobyte

This charming little flash game begins with a quick tutorial - kudos to the developer - and gracefully satisfies the gamejam requirements by requiring you to rescue friends by tarzan-swinging from floating sheep to floating sheep, all the while avoiding the rising pool of scorching flame. It's cute and nifty, and the gameplay mechanic whereby your reach is extended by the friends you rescue is inspired.

Sheeple or That Sheep Game
Butter

Another flash game which is high on the cute and challenging to boot. This physics-based collect-em-up requires a deft hand, and I had trouble spinning my sheep to rescue the first of my stranded friends on the traditional lava level. The game recollects the World of Goo, with the speech bubbles being reminiscent of the sign painter messages. Or something. All in all, an interesting little game.

Other Contenders

Neither of the remaining two final releases, Sheep Dreams and Foto Fighter, run on my lappy. I hope to get a chance to see both next Tuesday at the wrapup event. And, with sixteen teams registered, here's hoping that there will be lots of interesting games to play. See you all there!