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I've learned that what I love about game development, is procrastinating.

Did you say Wednesday is the last day, @Stupot?

Sorry, I saw this yesterday but apparently I wasn't in read-between-the-lines mode.

If it helps, I will leave the window open until Wednesday for further entries. Anyone who has already posted their entries: feel free to tweak your games until I open the voting.

Good to see a decent number of entries already.

It's been a while since I even visited the site. It's been a shadow of its former self for a while. There was a period about a year or so ago when they were spamming their social media feeds with dozens of posts about the same game, each one worded slightly differently and obviously written by AI. Thankfully that didn't last long, but you can tell they had the soul sucked out of them a long time ago.

Short
1st (2pts) - The Stupid Things They Have Us Do in Hell to Pass Eternity by Mandle
2nd (1pt) - Lejeune Landing by Brushfe

Doubled
1st (2pts) - Lejeune Landing by Brushfe
2nd (1pt) - High Coup by Mandle

Spoiler

In the case of Brushfe's story, I preferred the doubled version (or more accurately, the whole 1800-word story) compared to the shorter 600-word version.

As for Mandle's, the 600-word story was fun. The doubled version was a funny gag, but doesn't really earn any extra points, so I've given the point to the doubled version of High Coup.

[close]

Unfortunately, Stupot did not manage to get a long version in, so he is only eligable for votes in the short version category.

That's what she said

People who stand on the left side of escalators, who stand in the middle of the sidewalk checking their phone, their baby carriage, or chatting with their friends, who stand in front of elevator doors and look shocked when people come out of it, who leave their shopping cart in the middle of the supermarket aisle, who don't take their backpacks off in the train or the bus.

So in short, people who completely lack situational awareness, or who think shared/public spaces belong to them and everyone else is an NPC.

Yep. I almost envy these people. They don't have to constantly think about what they're doing and the strangers around them. They don't have the trauma necessary to be constantly on guard, aware of every exit, hotspot and walkable area in any given space.

["My name is John, and I'm a clone."]

I wrote a 600 word story early on but have not had time to do the double version, and the next few days are a write-off, so to speak. So I hearby post only my 600-word story.

I'm aware of its many flaws, some of which I was hoping to address in the longer version, but I hope you find something to like about it.



"My name is John, and I'm a clone."

Spoiler

The small, intimate circle of men and women in the cluttered community hall clapped warmly.

"Welcome to the group, John." That was Ethan. He ran the group. "Would you care to tell us what brought you to this point?"

John looked around. The room was fairly dim, but there was enough light to see the faces with reasonable clarity. He'd had enough practice to sense the difference between a clone and an original. And except for Ethan, these guys were all clones.

"Well, let's see..." he scratched his head, then stroked his beard nervously, "I suppose I was brought up in a loving home. School was okay. I was an okay student. Only child. Parents doted on me, probably a little too much. Wouldn't let me out of their sight until I was old enough to move out. But..."

A woman opposite him spoke. "Let me guess... You have no early memories?"

Around the room, heads nodded.

"Correct." John surprised himself by choking up suddenly. Tears formed in his eyes. "Nothing before the age of 8. It was like I suddenly woke up and just... there I was."

He looked down at his own hands, each clutching the other tightly. He released the grip and forced himself to still his bouncing leg. He looked up.

"I knew things. I could speak English, and even a little bit of French that I... or my original... must have learned in school. I could tie my laces; I could tell the time; and I recognized my family and friends, to some extent..."

"But you felt no connection to them." Ethan stood up and walked towards John with his arms out. John stood and the two men, strangers just five minutes ago, embraced as warmly as if they were long lost brothers.

Other members of the group stood and joined in. John broke down in sobs as he was enveloped by the group. He hugged them each in turn, sobbing.

Once he had pulled himself together and everyone was back in their seats, a large man asked the question on everybody's mind: "So. How did you find out?"

It occurred to John that everyone in this room would have a "finding out" story.

"As soon as I knew clones existed, I knew I was one. My parents had been careful, though. No records or signs around the house. And they never said anything to give it away."

John paused, but the expectant silence reminded him he hadn't strictly answered the question.

"It was a guy I met in a bar when I was 23. He was just staring at me. I thought maybe he was into me, but then he ran away. I don't know what possessed me, but I chased him outside and told him to tell me what was going on. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"He vomited down his shirt and I took him back inside for a glass of water. He explained that when he was a child, visiting relatives, he saw me in the woods... dead. I'd accidentally hung myself on a rope swing. He ran away and never told anybody. He'd lived with that secret for 15 years. And when he saw me in the bar that night, even though I was an adult, he knew it was me."

"Shit," said the large man from earlier. Then, "We telling him?"

John raised a brow. "Telling me what?"

Ethan stood up again, removed his glasses and cap, and moved under a light.

John was looking at himself.

[close]

But by all accounts the protest is so violent that these guys have nothing to do except pop journalists with rubber bullets on live TV.

I have already written a first draft of a 600-word story. Needs an edit but I'll have to leave it for today.

[phone]

If that is not a word, then I will pick up the phone tomorrow morning, book a plane ticket to Africa and let a rhino trample me.

Either that, or I'll just make more effort to increase my vocab.


All the above words have their own entry in the paper dictionary currently sitting in my lap. Why does everything always have to be one thing or another? Can't a word be BOTH an abbreviated form AND an acceptable word in its own right?

[Sinitrena]

And with that we have a winner. The votes were fairly evenly spread, but Sinitrena came out on top with ABC on the Line, her tale of a heroism in a parade gone horribly wrong. I'm glad the real-life event was not quite as tragic.

Over to you, Sini.

[The Astral Chapel]

And that concludes another round. Just one entry this time.

The winner of MAGS May is:
The Astral Chapel by Repi

Go and play it.

Congratulations Repi, and thanks. You have all month to think of a new prompt for July.

Last day for voting, folks!
@glurex, @Mandle, @everyone

2 day extension, @Stupot?

You goddit!
Deadline is now 23:59 UK time on June 2nd

I decided to open up June's MAGS a little early because I envisage having no free time in the coming few days.
Enjoy the pre-extension.

[Home Country]

2025 - THE YEAR OF MAGS!

Theme: Home Country
Set by: Repi | Deadline: June 30th

I would like to see local flavor in the form of Game Dev's home country. Latin puzzles from Rome? Choppin' trees and people in Quebec? Original Haitian zombies perhaps? Maybe Finnish people are forced to take public speaking courses by evil, babbling Americans in a dystopian Finland?

So create a game about anything, but place it in your home country.

Whispers of a Machine (Nordic countries)


Kona (Canada)


Sumatra: Fate of Yandi (Indonesia)


Detective Di (China)



What is MAGS?
Started in 2001, MAGS is a competition for all AGS users. The idea is to create a game in under a month, following the guidelines set by the previous winner. It aims to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, and provide a kick-start into making adventure games and more. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favourite" games, and not the most artistic, or the best coded. If you want to improve you art skills, use it as a chance to do some graphic work. If you're sub-standard at coding, use it as a chance to give scripting a go. Ultimately, people will vote for the most enjoyable entry.

Rules
Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualize your game following the month's criteria (see above). Second, create your game, fuelled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:

* A working download link
* The title of your game
* A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, and the winner chooses the next month's theme.

Remember that this is a challenge to see what you can do in a month, so any tinkering you do after that, including fixing minor glitches, is against the spirit of the competition. The exception to this is that you may go in and fix major, game-breaking bugs only during voting. We want you to have a game that voters can actually play and that runs on their machines.

So to reiterate, during the voting period fixing major, game-breaking bugs is okay, fixing minor glitches or making cosmetic changes is cheating.

Tips
Here are some ways to make sure you have a game to submit at the end of the month:
* Make a tiny game. Plan small, then cut it in half. Find shortcuts (e.g. if making walk-cycles is time-consuming, make the characters static or have it in the first person).
* Plan to have your game playable and submittable with a week to spare. This way you have a week to fix bugs, add some flourishes and maybe even get someone to test it.
* Plan to submit it a day or so early. This way, if there are any technical issues with uploading, they can be sorted out in time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Need a little help with graphics? Perhaps The AGS Trove has something you can use.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Need a bit of help with music?  Check out Eric Matyas' huge stock of free music resources.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Don't want to go it alone? Try the Recruitment board.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I've made a Kindle-friendly document with a clickable contents page if anyone wants it.
Just PM me your Kindle's send-to address and I'll give you my email address so you can put it on your approved email address list. (Or I'll just send you the Word Doc to convert yourself.)

[five]

Time to vote!

Thanks for the entries, everybody.
We have a healthy five stories.

Come As Is by Mandle
The Intern by glurex
The Assize Court by Creamy
ABC on the Line by Sinitrena
Winter is Dumbing by Baron

I think the way we'll do voting is to choose 1st- and 2nd-place entries.

• The entry with the most 1st-place votes wins.
• 2nd-place votes will be used in the event of a tie.
• If it is still tied, I will cast the deciding vote.

Voting open until June 2nd
Happy reading.

[The Twilight Zone - The Lost Episode]

Voting is over and we have a winner:

The Twilight Zone - The Lost Episode by Repi

Congratulations, Repi.
I will PM you soon about setting a theme for June.

Thanks to all participant and voters.

Both great entries.

Concept: Misj'
Great idea having the panoramic sideways view and then the transition to the overhead view.

Playability: Brushfe
This is a perfectly playable screen, with lots of variation and opportunities for puzzles and discovery. Misj' has that too, for the sideways part, but I'm not sure how playable the overhead shot is.

Artistic expression: Misj'
Two very different styles, both beautiful in their own ways, and both with plenty of interesting details and stories to tell. However, I have to choose one, and I found Misj's slightly easier on the eye with the pale colors and things like the water effect.

If you "no", you "no".