Highlights from the js13kGames 2019 competition

The eighth annual js13kGames competition results are in, and we can’t wait to share the winners with you. If you’re not familiar, js13kGames is a community-run game jam which challenges developers to create a JavaScript game in 13kB or less in 31 days.

This year’s theme is “back” and over 200 games were submitted. Here are the top ten games based on the final votes from the community themselves, specifically the developers that submitted the games. It’s amazing how much fun you’re able to create despite the constraints on size, time, technology, and theme.

Top ten winners

1st – Xx142-b2.exe

https://gfycat.com/sickreliablefrigatebird

“This was an incredible entry! The multiple overlapping timeline puzzles were just great. This was an excellent use of the theme, and near perfect execution all around.” -Christer Kaitila

► Play in your browser · Source · By @bencoder and @SalvatorePreviti

2nd – Bounce Back

https://gfycat.com/meagergrandioseballoonfish-github-js13k

“Very well made! Controls are tight and it has a nice difficulty curve!” -Björn Ritzl

► Play in your browser · Source · By @KilledByAPixel

3rd – Retrohaunt

https://gfycat.com/fearfulobviousarabianwildcat-github-js13k

“One of the best entries so far. The exploration of different ideas and mechanics was pretty amazing.” -Ahmed Khalifa

► Play in your browser · Source · Retrospective · By @DennisBengs

4th – Push Back

https://gfycat.com/powerfulgravebarnacle

“Very interesting concept. Nice work with the fluid dynamics!” -Pedro Fortuna

► Play in your browser or mobile device · Source · By @ErikSom

5th – The Wandering Wraith

https://gfycat.com/mintysnappyanophelesmosquito-github-js13k

“Spooktacular! 👏🏻” -Lee Reilly

► Play in your browser · Source · Retrospective · By @tulustul

6th – [SWAGSHOT]

https://gfycat.com/ringedadolescentblowfish-github-js13k

“Very immersive first-person shooter! Great job.” -Yuriy Dybskiy

► Play in your browser · Source · By @remvst

7th – Back Attacker

https://gfycat.com/portlyenragedkingfisher

“Love the idea! The graphics are nice and the music gives a nice retro touch to the game.” -Florian Rival

► Play in your browser · Source · By @yeonjuan

8th – Dwarfs: There and Back Again

https://gfycat.com/happyflimsyarmyant

“I was very impressed and liked this game a lot! It has great style. Awesome work!” -Christer Kaitila

► Play in your browser or mobile device · Source · By @mvasilkov

Fun fact: @mvasilkov is no strangers to game jams. They created a great Git Invaders game for Game Off in 2012.

9th – Nano-wirebot

https://gfycat.com/passionatebowedarawana

“Each level is like one simple idea, not too long, not too hard—it feels just right.“ -Spartez Team

► Play in your browser · Source · By @mlambir

10th – Play Back

https://gfycat.com/organicgrossgossamerwingedbutterfly

“This is a really clever and unique platformer!” -Jupiter Hadley

► Play in your browser · Source · By @madmaw

That’s just the top ten—there are plenty more to explore. Check out space invaders in VR, a pointy platformer, and a game that’s so brilliant, it will make you flip. We also found the missing green square from your contribution graph.

Have a favorite? Share a screenshot, video, or highscore on Twitter with the #JS13K hashtag.

Pro-tip: If you thought playing the games were fun, try cloning or forking them, and tweaking some variables. Give yourself infinite lives, have fun with gravity, add even add some humorous sound effects—the possibilities are up to your imagination.

Kudos

Congratulations @end3r on hosting yet another great JS13K competition. It takes a (digital) village to build something like this: special thanks to @tricsi for building the new voting app, @platane for building the validation bot, @straker for the small-but-mighty kontra.js that many people found useful, as well as @michalbe, @stasm, and @cyberdees for their support.

Thanks to everyone who took part in the competition: jammers, sponsors, experts, and those who took the time to play the games. We can’t wait to see what you create with 13 kilobytes next year. <3

View the JS13K 2019 entries

Written by

Lee Reilly

@leereilly

Developer / Marketing / Community at GitHub. Twitter: https://twitter.com/leereilly.