Gallery: 48-Hour Adventure Time 'Jam' Produces 100 Weird, Weird Games
01adventureware
Adventure Time, for those not in the know, is a profoundly weird, sometimes disturbing cartoon. It is a world where dogs shift shape at will, where bears throw kickass raves inside the bellies of giant monsters. There’s an Adventure Time game on the way in November for Nintendo 3DS, but it doesn’t look too weird – more like a standard action game with some role-playing influences. Fun, but where’s the insanity? From Sept. 14 to 16, nearly 700 game designers participated in [Fantastic Arcade](http://fantasticfest.com/arcade)'s Adventure Time Gamemaking Frenzy,” an online “game jam” organized by indie developers in Texas and officially blessed by the show’s creators. In 48 hours, they churned out [around 100 out-of-the-box game concepts](http://www.adventuretimegamejam.com/submissions) as unpredictable as the show. Brandon Boyer, co-organizer of the Frenzy and founder of [Venus Patrol](http://venuspatrol.com/), says that both he and Adventure Time’s creator Pendleton Ward wanted to see some “crazier” games based on the series. After some pushing, Cartoon Network gave the event its blessing. To get developers from around the world feeling like they were part of a big event, Frenzy introduced the Beautiful Mess Organizer, named after a character on the show who happens to be a living handheld game machine. It allowed developers to chat with each other as they worked, then immediately push their creations live. Here are 8 of the most intriguing games that emerged from the two-day hackathon. __Above:__ AdventureWare ------------- Aping Nintendo's WarioWare series, [this throws a bunch of a completely random "microgames" at players at increasing speed](http://cardboardandideas.com/adventure_ware/). Creator Jonathan Levstein says his team originally planned on producing three or four games for the event, which might explain why this one is so full of different experiences. (The Ice King stage stressed me out. Man, I hate that guy.)
02adventure-time-crystal-cave-coin-party
Adventure Time Crystal Cave Coin Party! --------------------------------------- There's something inherently scary about a group of faceless drones honing in on you, and [Crystal Cave Coin Party!](http://www.yanki.jp/adventuretime/) is a simple coin-collection-a-thon that plays on that. The little blue guys don't actually seem to deal damage to players, but they make it harder to get a high score.
03noire-time
Noire Time ---------- Point-and-click adventure fans have every right to get excited about this one. [Noire Time](http://www.adventuretimegamejam.com/submissions/27-noire-time) was created entirely by one guy, but features wonderful 2-D art and a fun -- if small -- set of puzzles. Its designer Michael Moore says he spent the entire first night making artwork, leaving little time left for the gameplay.
04princess-bubblegums-slumber-party
Princess Bubblegum's Slumber Party ---------------------------------- I didn’t expect to see a fighting game created, but here it is -- [a pillow-fighting game](http://tsubasa.com.br/jams/gamemakingfrenzy2012/) featuring Princess Bubblegum. I'm absolutely terrible at it, and the AI opponent is sort of relentless. If you don't dodge her attacks at just the right moment, she'll totally destroy you. Generally she'll wait for you to move in and attack first, and then she'll crush you with a volley of pillow attacks.
05lumpy-space-chess
Lumpy Space Chess ----------------- [Lumpy Space Chess](http://www.adventuretimegamejam.com/submissions/20-lumpy-space-chess) may have "Chess" right in the name, but the only similarity between this game and traditional chess is that you have to capture the other player's king. The game lets you earn coins during play, and you can use those coins to buy new pieces. (Download this HTML 5 game and open it in a browser to play.)
06stretchy-powers
Stretchy Powers! ---------------- Not so much of a "game" as it is a musical toy, [Stretchy Powers!](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/15356131/saturday9pm/saturday9pm.html) gets cool points for being compatible with most any tablet. You grab and stretch Jake's limbs out, and depending on their length they'll play different notes when "plucked" with the the mouse or your finger.
07super-jake-snake
Super Jake Snake ---------------- [Super Jake Snake](http://www.adventuretimegamejam.com/submissions/30-super-jake-snake) uses the control mechanic from that old, old game Snake in a unique way: Since Jake's leg is the "snake," it fits in perfectly with the *Adventure Time* universe. This is complemented with some sweet chiptune music. Co-designer Jonatan Van Hove says the team has added a secret 9th level to the game that is extremely difficult. Click on Jake’s nose in the main menu to try it. Van Hove says they’ll give a reward to the first person to send a screenshot of the completed level.
08adventure-time-the-quest-for-the-two-chests
Adventure Time: The Quest for the Two Chests! --------------------------------------------- [The Quest for the Two Chests!](http://www.adventuretimegamejam.com/submissions/79-adventure-time-the-quest-for-the-two-chests)'s creator said that he had to scale back his original plans drastically. The result is a surprisingly fun Zelda-style adventure ... that only takes a few minutes to beat. But its hilarious writing makes it a must-play.
