MAGS February "Missing Body Part" (VOTING)

[Stupot]

2025 - THE YEAR OF MAGS!

Theme: Misplaced Body Part
Set by: WHAM

VOTING IS OPEN

Please vote using the poll above.

	Limblob by Soulstuff
	Finding Balzac by pell
	MAGSMan by Kara Jo Kalinowski

Your game must include a missing, misplaced or otherwise out-of-position body part in some way, for example, as a gameplay mechanic or story element.
Did the museum security guard misplace the jar containing the mummified intestines of an ancient mummy? Did the player character lose their head, quite literally, and now needs to find a way to recover it? See what you can come up with, and have fun!





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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[pell]

I've already got a story idea I like.

In honor of the short month, I'm going to commit to working on time management and getting an entry in by the deadline without the need for an extension. I challenge everyone else to do the same.

[ZapZap]

Interesting! If I have time I might do a second chapter for the Oz game I did...

[VampireWombat]

Hmmm. I should be able to do something that's either part of the "wizard college" game I'm wanting to make or in the same world. So guess I'm in after all.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

I've already got a story idea I like.

In honor of the short month, I'm going to commit to working on time management and getting an entry in by the deadline without the need for an extension. I challenge everyone else to do the same.

For me, sometimes that's hard because I have health issues - days when I planned to work I can randomly get fatigued the entire day and sleep a lot (I've missed some shorter game jams due to this). I agree that ideally you should try to submit before the deadline though.

[soulstuff]

Oh this sounds fun, gives me a couple ideas to actually pick ags back up!

[pell]

I'm already a good way into a script.

Title: "Finding Balzac"

[Durinde]

I have a concept, I'm going to try to script it out and prototype it over the next week or so and see if it's viable.

[Radiant]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

This could be interesting. I'm really struggling to come up with an idea for this.

Are we allowed to use assets i.e. game dev market for our projects? Like the ones in the humble bundles? (Music/sprites/sounds)? Or only free ones?

[VampireWombat]

Are we allowed to use assets i.e. game dev market for our projects? Like the ones in the humble bundles? (Music/sprites/sounds)? Or only free ones?

I'm pretty sure that it's fine to use any assets you have the legal right to use. So as long as the assets don't have a stipulation where you can only use them with certain software or such, I don't see any reason you can't.

[pell]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

This could be interesting. I'm really struggling to come up with an idea for this.

Are we allowed to use assets i.e. game dev market for our projects? Like the ones in the humble bundles? (Music/sprites/sounds)? Or only free ones?

I think it has to be content that's freely available to everyone, but I'll have to go find where I read that. Of course, Stupot may clarify.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

This could be interesting. I'm really struggling to come up with an idea for this.

Are we allowed to use assets i.e. game dev market for our projects? Like the ones in the humble bundles? (Music/sprites/sounds)? Or only free ones?

I think it has to be content that's freely available to everyone, but I'll have to go find where I read that. Of course, Stupot may clarify.

It used to be no pre-existing assets at all (besides music), but was changed at one point (competitions started to say "Pre-existing assets are allowed", but I wasn't sure if it was meant to be just free assets or not. I messaged Stupot to get a clarification on it.

[cat]

I think the important part is, that you openly declare what assets you used. Here in this thread and on the games page, not just in a small note on your itch page.

Depending on the assets you use, this might be required anyway.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

I think the important part is, that you openly declare what assets you used. Here in this thread and on the games page, not just in a small note on your itch page.

Depending on the assets you use, this might be required anyway.

Game dev market doesn't require it, but says that we can. I was planning to credit them in-game anyway, but I'll make sure to put it in the game page if I use them.

[heltenjon]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

Recollection is Onedollar's unfinished game about someone waking up from a coma. It plays along with a similar idea.

...but I think it would be easier to implement if the player character is a robot. 

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

Recollection is Onedollar's unfinished game about someone waking up from a coma. It plays along with a similar idea.

...but I think it would be easier to implement if the player character is a robot. 

I was also thinking about making a game using robot parts

[Stupot]

My idea: have a classic Sierra menu bar, but you cannot use the walk / hand / eye icons because you're missing those body parts. You need to find them before the interface fully works.

But I don't have time this month so if anyone wants to take my idea, they're welcome to.

This could be interesting. I'm really struggling to come up with an idea for this.

Are we allowed to use assets i.e. game dev market for our projects? Like the ones in the humble bundles? (Music/sprites/sounds)? Or only free ones?

I think it has to be content that's freely available to everyone, but I'll have to go find where I read that. Of course, Stupot may clarify.

It used to be no pre-existing assets at all (besides music), but was changed at one point (competitions started to say "Pre-existing assets are allowed", but I wasn't sure if it was meant to be just free assets or not. I messaged Stupot to get a clarification on it.

I've replied to Kara's PM, but reading these posts, I may have slightly misunderstood the question.

Yes, pre-existing assets are allowed, and as far as I am aware, we've never discussed whether that applies only to free assets. From my point of view, if they come from a set that you have paid for, I don't think that is an issue (anyone feel free to chime in if you disagree). As cat said above, the important thing is that you make it clear what assets you have used, so that you cannot be accused to passing them off as your own.

[Stupot]

How are we getting on, campers?

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

How are we getting on, campers?

How are we getting on, campers?

The theme this month really didn't resonate that much with me, so I definitely won't be making a full fledged adventure game, but I had a funny idea, which I might make.

[VampireWombat]

How are we getting on, campers?

I've completely lacked any creativity this month. I did come up with a different idea yesterday, but I'd need an extension if I'm going to have anything more than two characters and a single room.

[jfrisby]

We've been working on something and the scope definitely got out of control (my fault).  Surely that conveniently placed upcoming weekend is part of February?

[cat]

Surely that conveniently placed upcoming weekend is part of February?

What are you talking about? Sunday is the 30th of February. I mean, every month has 30 or 31 days, right?

[heltenjon]

Surely that conveniently placed upcoming weekend is part of February?

What are you talking about? Sunday is the 30th of February. I mean, every month has 30 or 31 days, right?

Code: ags

ELSE \\\define Dwarf Month

[cat]

I asked the Copilot AI to draw me a Dwarf Month. This is what I got

Spoiler

[close]

[heltenjon]

Looks just like February at my place.  (Except for the candles in broad daylight.)

[pell]

I mistakenly deleted the virtual machine drive I had to run the AGS editor in Linux, and setting it all up again is proving to be a pain as usual (getting the editor working is the hassle, not setting up a virtual machine). So I probably won't make this one.

Edit: Also, as usual, I'm too stubborn to know when to quit. So I got it working eventually. So it looks like I'm still in.

[Stupot]

Well, wudja lookit that. Turns out the Year of MAGS is a threeap-year  . So February has three more days than usual!

Deadline extended to February 31st, or March 3rd in Muggle terms.

[pell]

The editor keeps crashing on me, and I'm losing changes even with saving after everything I do. So I won't meet my goal of making it by midnight, but I still plan to get something in before I go to bed.

[soulstuff]

Holy batcrackers I actually finished something with AGS



WELCOME TO LIMBLOB
A short and simple adventure

Story:

You arrived at the adventure game afterlife. Sadly, your poor
performance in your last game has left you a blob with no mouth or limbs.

You need to find a way to get limbs to be able to leave the afterlife and go into your next adventure.

DOWNLOAD LINK


Use of the theme: (light spoilers)

Spoiler

As you get more parts for your body you get access to actions or verbs. For example getting a mouth allows you to talk to people and since some of them are removable having them or not resolve different things.

[close]

[pell]

I'm still too far behind. But I'll definitely have something by the new deadline.

[VampireWombat]

I'm mildly sick and struggling with the art style. I'll have something, I just might not be happy with the art and it might end up with 2 backgrounds instead of the planned 3.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

Edit: Deleted info about the game, since I ended up actually making it.

[jfrisby]

Well, we got a bit too ambitious and tried to make a 17 room game set in a mall with a new fancy UI, health items and damage meter...  and we didn't finish

However in the spirit of THE YEAR OF MAGS, here is the big empty mall to walk around in - with a few tiny placeholder puzzles:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YSOQSw4RD1iR6IBUlAJjVv_-7ZAAVADB/view?usp=sharing

Everything is unfinished, title is placeholder, gameplay doesn't exist... If you click the button for your missing cell phone you feel pain and it hurts you.   

We hopefully will get back to it, or maybe open source it for people someday

Stupot, please leave us out of the vote!

Edit: pulling this down for now to polish, we'll finish it eventually if you missed it!

[pell]

I'm mostly done. After a few final touches, I'll be in by midnight my time.

[VampireWombat]

I fear I've completely failed. I simply didn't get enough done to have anything remotely passing for a game.

Good luck to those who are still working.

[pell]

Here's mine. It still has placeholder art, but it's playable. There are multiple endings, depending upon your choices during the game.



https://gamesbypell.itch.io/finding-balzac

[soulstuff]

Here's mine.

Migth be just me but isnt the windows build missing like the main exe file? I havent tried running the Linux one but that one looks ok

[pell]

Here's mine.

Migth be just me but isnt the windows build missing like the main exe file? I havent tried running the Linux one but that one looks ok

The download is fixed now.

This happened last month too. Now I understand what's happening. If I run the game from the editor after building it, as soon as the game launches, the build files disappear.

[pell]

Holy batcrackers I actually finished something with AGS



WELCOME TO LIMBLOB
A short and simple adventure

Story:

You arrived at the adventure game afterlife. Sadly, your poor
performance in your last game has left you a blob with no mouth or limbs.

You need to find a way to get limbs to be able to leave the afterlife and go into your next adventure.

DOWNLOAD LINK


Use of the theme: (light spoilers)

Spoiler

As you get more parts for your body you get access to actions or verbs. For example getting a mouth allows you to talk to people and since some of them are removable having them or not resolve different things.

[close]

Nicely done. And the puzzles were challenging enough that I even restarted once to make sure I hadn't overlooked something.

[soulstuff]

Here's mine. It still has placeholder art, but it's playable. There are multiple endings, depending upon your choices during the game.



https://gamesbypell.itch.io/finding-balzac

Nice! I really had a laugh with all the endings.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

The deadline is passed, but voting hasn't started yet, so if it's not too late, here is mine. If it's too late for the voting, that's okay. I got a new computer and was dealing with headache of OS stopping working after a few minutes and like 5 or so OS reinstalls.

MAGSMan - a simple hangman style game made for MAGS Feb 2025 - Missing a body part

Created by Kara Jo Kalinowski

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/play/game/2832/

5000-more-common.txt is a list containing 5000 words that have been marked as common. This list was generated by Michael Wehar and is released into the public domain - https://github.com/MichaelWehar/Public-Domain-Word-Lists/blob/master/README.md. Note that this word list was generated while utilizing OPTED - http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~ralph/OPTED/

(The original download link contained a small bug with the 10th letter being displayed offscreen for words length 10 or longer, that's been fixed.)

[Stupot]

Sorry for the delay. It has been a struggle finding time to sit down at my laptop.
But finally it is time to vote:

Please vote using the poll above.

	Limblob by Soulstuff
	Finding Balzac by pell
	MAGSMan by Kara Jo Kalinowski

Let me know if I've missed anything.

[pell]

The deadline is passed, but voting hasn't started yet, so if it's not too late, here is mine. If it's too late for the voting, that's okay. I got a new computer and was dealing with headache of OS stopping working after a few minutes and like 5 or so OS reinstalls.

MAGSMan - a simple hangman style game made for MAGS Feb 2025 - Missing a body part

Created by Kara Jo Kalinowski

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/play/game/2832/

5000-more-common.txt is a list containing 5000 words that have been marked as common. This list was generated by Michael Wehar and is released into the public domain - https://github.com/MichaelWehar/Public-Domain-Word-Lists/blob/master/README.md. Note that this word list was generated while utilizing OPTED - http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~ralph/OPTED/

(The original download link contained a small bug with the 10th letter being displayed offscreen for words length 10 or longer, that's been fixed.)

It was fun playing hangman for the first time in a while.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

Holy batcrackers I actually finished something with AGS



WELCOME TO LIMBLOB
A short and simple adventure

Story:

You arrived at the adventure game afterlife. Sadly, your poor
performance in your last game has left you a blob with no mouth or limbs.

You need to find a way to get limbs to be able to leave the afterlife and go into your next adventure.

DOWNLOAD LINK


Use of the theme: (light spoilers)

Spoiler

As you get more parts for your body you get access to actions or verbs. For example getting a mouth allows you to talk to people and since some of them are removable having them or not resolve different things.

[close]

I enjoyed the blob character and the game overall - I left a review on the game itself.

Here's mine. It still has placeholder art, but it's playable. There are multiple endings, depending upon your choices during the game.



https://gamesbypell.itch.io/finding-balzac

A quick funny little game, with a certain kind of humor. I appreciated the multiple endings, not a whole lot of games do that, especially MAGS games. A streamer playing the MAGS games thought that the game might have been hand drawn and scanned in, I was curious if it was that or if you used a tablet or something.

[heltenjon]

Here are my thoughts this month:

Limblob by Soulstuff:

Spoiler

This is your first game, right? I think you have done a good job. I liked the different walking/bouncing animations, and the blob population reminded me of Shape Village, which is not a bad thing in my book. There's a clear objective in the game, and fair (if easy) puzzles to get there. Well done. Next time, try to add sound or music as well.

[close]

Finding Balzac by Pell:

Spoiler

Short visual novel, four endings, placeholder sketches (which work fine, actually) and a clumsy/evil doc inspired by yours truly.    I'm honored! This was the funniest entry and had me laughing several times. Downside - unfinished and probably shorter than it was planned to be.

[close]

MAGSMan by Kara Jo Kalinowski:

Spoiler

I wish I had not read your idea before playing! Anyway, Hangman is a classic, and the quite large word list makes the game replayable as a casual game. Downside - no other extras like sound makes the game bare-bones. It's not an original idea, of course, which may count for something in a MAGS vote, even if it may live on my hard drive for a while.

[close]

Mall Quest (Unfinished) by Babar and jfrisby:

Spoiler

Ooohhh, I am getting Commodore 64 vibes again, partly because of the soundtrack, no doubt. I hope you finish this later on. I like the scenarios where the player runs around from npc to npc, fixing their problems and getting other items in return. (Reminding me of the bazaar in Sierra's Conquests of Camelot.) I found the ending, but I don't think a finished game will be spoiled.

[close]

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

Here are my thoughts this month:

Limblob by Soulstuff:

Spoiler

This is your first game, right? I think you have done a good job. I liked the different walking/bouncing animations, and the blob population reminded me of Shape Village, which is not a bad thing in my book. There's a clear objective in the game, and fair (if easy) puzzles to get there. Well done. Next time, try to add sound or music as well.

[close]

Finding Balzac by Pell:

Spoiler

Short visual novel, four endings, placeholder sketches (which work fine, actually) and a clumsy/evil doc inspired by yours truly.    I'm honored! This was the funniest entry and had me laughing several times. Downside - unfinished and probably shorter than it was planned to be.

[close]

MAGSMan by Kara Jo Kalinowski:

Spoiler

I wish I had not read your idea before playing! Anyway, Hangman is a classic, and the quite large word list makes the game replayable as a casual game. Downside - no other extras like sound makes the game bare-bones. It's not an original idea, of course, which may count for something in a MAGS vote, even if it may live on my hard drive for a while.

[close]

Mall Quest (Unfinished) by Babar and jfrisby:

Spoiler

Ooohhh, I am getting Commodore 64 vibes again, partly because of the soundtrack, no doubt. I hope you finish this later on. I like the scenarios where the player runs around from npc to npc, fixing their problems and getting other items in return. (Reminding me of the bazaar in Sierra's Conquests of Camelot.) I found the ending, but I don't think a finished game will be spoiled.

[close]

Yeah I wasn't planning to submit due to changing computers and whatnot but after going through all the frustrating things with my pcs and it still being open I decided to make it after all. Thanks for playing!

[soulstuff]

Here are my thoughts this month:

Limblob by Soulstuff:

Spoiler

This is your first game, right? I think you have done a good job. I liked the different walking/bouncing animations, and the blob population reminded me of Shape Village, which is not a bad thing in my book. There's a clear objective in the game, and fair (if easy) puzzles to get there. Well done. Next time, try to add sound or music as well.

[close]

Finding Balzac by Pell:

Spoiler

Short visual novel, four endings, placeholder sketches (which work fine, actually) and a clumsy/evil doc inspired by yours truly.    I'm honored! This was the funniest entry and had me laughing several times. Downside - unfinished and probably shorter than it was planned to be.

[close]

MAGSMan by Kara Jo Kalinowski:

Spoiler

I wish I had not read your idea before playing! Anyway, Hangman is a classic, and the quite large word list makes the game replayable as a casual game. Downside - no other extras like sound makes the game bare-bones. It's not an original idea, of course, which may count for something in a MAGS vote, even if it may live on my hard drive for a while.

[close]

Mall Quest (Unfinished) by Babar and jfrisby:

Spoiler

Ooohhh, I am getting Commodore 64 vibes again, partly because of the soundtrack, no doubt. I hope you finish this later on. I like the scenarios where the player runs around from npc to npc, fixing their problems and getting other items in return. (Reminding me of the bazaar in Sierra's Conquests of Camelot.) I found the ending, but I don't think a finished game will be spoiled.

[close]

Yep very first one. I got inspired by recent mags to start finally and make something. My background is in codig so music was the first thing i cut when the deadline was near since my objective was to finish something for starters  .
Thanks for playing and the kind words!

[WHAM]

Behold, WHAM's Regular Monthly MAGS Videos (WRMMAGSV)! As always, play the games yourself if able, but if you just can't find the time, check out the videos and consider voting.

Limblob (by Soulstuff)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLehNMEmN8k

Finding Balzac (by pell)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF8aYnVGMzw

MAGSMan by (Kara Jo Kalinowski)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWYNCPwOM3M

[pell]

Holy batcrackers I actually finished something with AGS



WELCOME TO LIMBLOB
A short and simple adventure

Story:

You arrived at the adventure game afterlife. Sadly, your poor
performance in your last game has left you a blob with no mouth or limbs.

You need to find a way to get limbs to be able to leave the afterlife and go into your next adventure.

DOWNLOAD LINK


Use of the theme: (light spoilers)

Spoiler

As you get more parts for your body you get access to actions or verbs. For example getting a mouth allows you to talk to people and since some of them are removable having them or not resolve different things.

[close]

I enjoyed the blob character and the game overall - I left a review on the game itself.

Here's mine. It still has placeholder art, but it's playable. There are multiple endings, depending upon your choices during the game.



https://gamesbypell.itch.io/finding-balzac

A quick funny little game, with a certain kind of humor. I appreciated the multiple endings, not a whole lot of games do that, especially MAGS games. A streamer playing the MAGS games thought that the game might have been hand drawn and scanned in, I was curious if it was that or if you used a tablet or something.

Thank you. I'd never made an AGS game with dialog before, so I wanted to try it out. The game I need to finish with heltenjon has a lot of dialog in it, so now I've got some experience with coding that.

Those were digital drawings done with a tablet.

[pell]

Here are my thoughts this month:

Limblob by Soulstuff:

Spoiler

This is your first game, right? I think you have done a good job. I liked the different walking/bouncing animations, and the blob population reminded me of Shape Village, which is not a bad thing in my book. There's a clear objective in the game, and fair (if easy) puzzles to get there. Well done. Next time, try to add sound or music as well.

[close]

Finding Balzac by Pell:

Spoiler

Short visual novel, four endings, placeholder sketches (which work fine, actually) and a clumsy/evil doc inspired by yours truly.    I'm honored! This was the funniest entry and had me laughing several times. Downside - unfinished and probably shorter than it was planned to be.

[close]

MAGSMan by Kara Jo Kalinowski:

Spoiler

I wish I had not read your idea before playing! Anyway, Hangman is a classic, and the quite large word list makes the game replayable as a casual game. Downside - no other extras like sound makes the game bare-bones. It's not an original idea, of course, which may count for something in a MAGS vote, even if it may live on my hard drive for a while.

[close]

Mall Quest (Unfinished) by Babar and jfrisby:

Spoiler

Ooohhh, I am getting Commodore 64 vibes again, partly because of the soundtrack, no doubt. I hope you finish this later on. I like the scenarios where the player runs around from npc to npc, fixing their problems and getting other items in return. (Reminding me of the bazaar in Sierra's Conquests of Camelot.) I found the ending, but I don't think a finished game will be spoiled.

[close]

Thank you. It's really an interactive gag cartoon with multiple endings to make it a game. Without the multiple endings, one of them would have been the punchline panel. I intended more polished graphics, but a late start and technical issues prevented that.