A fighting game filled with minigames, an action title about kids fighting gods, and a post-apocalyptic jaunt won at the competition.
The Pixel Game Maker MV Game Development Challenge ran from October 2019 until the end of March 31, 2020, tasking developers to use the game maker engine to make some neat new games. It offered up some solid prizes for the winners (including publishing through Kadokawa Corporation for the winner), which would be judged by Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, La-Mulana lead Takumi Naramura, and Cave Story developer Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya.
The winning titles offer some various gameplay delights for anyone who wants to grab them. GAME BATTLE TYCOON (which won the competition) asks how well you can juggle tasks, having you play through a 2D fighter while also playing mini games. Have you ever tried to play a fighter while also playing a crane game? If you have, you’re probably making a real nuisance of yourself at the arcade OR you’ve already tried this neat game.
Timothy and the Tower of Mu aims to recreate the challenge of retro action games, having players work their way up a tall tower so that they can lay a beating on a god at the top. This is about as easy as you would imagine this task could be. Z-termination, the audience favorite of the competition, sets players free in a post-apocalyptic world, allowing them to tackle the problems there through sneaking, fighting, setting traps, or doing whatever they like.
The competition’s winners show the flexibility of what seems to be possible with Pixel Game Maker MV, and is honestly making me want to try tinkering with the system for myself. Now all I need is to suddenly have some spare time…
GAME BATTLE TYCOON, Timothy and the Tower of Mu, and Z-termination are all available now on their respective itch.io pages.
About The Author
