MSXdev23 - Games List and Public Poll

The running MSXdev23 competition has just closed doors for participants to enroll with new games, which means it's jury deliberation time! This edition has brought us no less than 29 brand new MSX games. Let's have a look at the pile of creativity that's been published. Also, we're curious about your fave one, so it's polling time.

Not only does this year mark the MSX platform's 40th anniversary, but it's also the 20th anniversary of the popular MSXdev compo. Established in 2003, it has been a consistent institute for developers to show off their skills. MSXdev is a grand stage that's open for anybody to shine - for guts and certainly for glory. In recent years, the prolific international contest has attracted yet even more and more developers, sponsors, and donators than before. There's something about retro programming, apparently, since we've seen quite some new names added to the list, making their debut on MSX. That's a good sign for such an old computer standard.

Those that have been following our website, probably witnessed a steady flow of newsposts reporting on all of those games that were submitted for MSXdev. Each of them unique, as well as a treat. With this year's edition once again having a "Free-Style" rule-set, the required specs for the games vary from classic MSX1 to more high-end machines. A good mix of everything, for everyone.
Here's a sum-up of all the goodies we got:

#01 "Pentacorn Quest" - by Robosoft
#02 "Tower of Damnation" - by Marcelo "BigFive" Correia
#03 "Uchu Yohei" - by FranChesstein
#04 "Pearl Rain" - by Patrik`s Retro Tech
#05 "Super Ory 2 - Enigma" - by Orazio Cacciola and Cristiano Polenta
#06 "Mad House" - by Gamecast Entertainment
#07 "Martian War" - by Fausto Pracek
#08 "Flubber in the upside down world" - by Amaury Carvalho
#09 "The Porpoise Man" - by Jose Soto
#10 "Defuse" - by Gamecast Entertainment
#11 "Mine Command" - by Fred Rique
#12 "Vampire Slayer" - by Seamsoft
#13 "Bricks" - by MoltSXalats
#14 "Global Ordnance" - by Fred Rique
#15 "Eggy's Maze" - by Jacco Bikker
#16 "Plastic" - by Z80ASMer
#17 "Hopper Boy" - by Gamecast Entertainment
#18 "Attack of the Petscii Robots" - by Robosoft
#19 "Woods Rat" - by Gamecast Entertainment
#20 "Farmer's Yields" - by Rio Yamamura
#21 "Last Escape" - by Fred Rique
#22 "The Goblin" - by Hicks & Mananuk
#23 "Double Rainbow" - by Hakogame
#24 "Tenebra 2" - by Haplo
#25 "Crawlers" - by Pixel Phenix
#26 "Snake and Rhino in the sketchbook" - by ARC8
#27 "Phenix Corrupta" - by Casper Croes
#28 "Tetpuz" - by Totta
#29 "Xelden Ring" - by Brain Games

An impressive list, indeed. Within just 9 months, the trusty old MSX computer got 29 more new games in its catalogue.
As we are curious about your favorite game, we've put up a poll to measure the public opinion on which entry all of you think is the utmost best. Mind you, this is a poll that runs independently from the competition, so its results won't have any influence on the jurors' verdict; they'll ofcourse just do their thing.
Some time during the course of november, the official final verdict is expected to be relayed from the MSXdev Team. In the meantime, you're very welcome to cast your vote in our poll!

Donating to the contest can be done here.

relevant link: MSXdev23 information page
relevant link: MSXdev23 public poll

Comments (12)

By Uninteresting

Champion (378)

24-10-2023, 19:10

A vote is cast.

By valkyre

Paladin (724)

24-10-2023, 19:12

Yes, another great competition with some excellent entries. It would be nice to see a bit more money in the prize pot, so dig deep everyone!

By Briqunullus

Paladin (856)

24-10-2023, 21:48

So there's two MSX2 games and one v9990 game if I count correctly? And the rest is MSX1, although some need more memory than others. Just to compare what the open category has brought us. It seems like games on disk is the most popular extension.

The competition took off with two games that I liked, Pentacorn Quest and Uchu Yohei. Somehow I forgot to complete both. I should go back to them. Eggy's Maze has been a favourite with our family from the moment it launched, and Snake and Rhino joined these ranks recently. I also liked The Goblin. I think these would be my top 5 in no particular order (yet).

All in all a great edition. A big shoutout to everyone who dared entering the compo in the first place. I will cast my vote now.

By BlueCrystal

Expert (116)

24-10-2023, 22:17

Briqunullus wrote:

So there's two MSX2 games and one v9990 game if I count correctly?

Small change, I count 6 MSX2 games:
1) Super Ory 2
2) Mad House
3) Martian War
4) Bricks
5) Eggy's Maze
6) Phenix Corrupta
Xelden Ring can (should?) be considered Turbo-R.

24-10-2023, 22:56

Thanks. My bad. I should have read descriptions instead of quickly scanning screenshots and counting in my head afterwards.

By shalafi

Master (190)

25-10-2023, 09:04

I would have liked to be able to vote for 3 games.
I think I have 3 to 5 favourites and most people will agree on the top easily, but allowing more votes will help other games get some, it's very sad to see good games with 0 votes, but for can only pick one.

By wolf_

Ambassador_ (10156)

25-10-2023, 09:22

@shalafi

It's always been like that. A poll shows the winner, not the rest. For this poll, one could say: this poll shows one winner and 28 losers. Whether the 28 losers are runner-up or whether they have zero-points, doesn't make a difference. The results are very binary. For more nuance, there'll be the writings and points of the jury.

One exception in the past were the mega polls, which had slightly more nuance during the nominating phase. In the end though, those mega polls would end up as a normal poll again.

By Totta

Expert (114)

25-10-2023, 10:14

We should be able to vote like in Eurovision.
12 points to our favorite, 10 to the next best etc.

As of now, if 1000 people think Game X is second best, then it will still receive nothing at all, which isn't quite fair.

By ro

Scribe (5127)

25-10-2023, 10:50

https://www.msxdev.org/2023/10/23/msxdev23-games-summary/

By santiontanon

Paragon (1871)

25-10-2023, 15:59

Haha, yeah, I also missed being able to vote for at least 3. But it's ok, this is just for fun I still need to play the games a bit more, I am split between a few for now, so, I'll hold my vote a few days