Dream Disc '24 Compilation Goes up for Preorder! Dream Disc '25 also Announced!

The Dream Disc '24 Game Jam —which ran from December 20th to January 3rd— was a huge success, showcasing a wide range of fantastic new software from the Sega Dreamcast's passionate coding community. It was also an absolute blast to cover here at the Junkyard, and we did so at any opportunity we could — our podcast episode discussing the winners with organisers Ross Kilgariff and Cypress was a particular highlight. 

As fabled in the jam’s original press release, the top ten entries —as selected by a panel of judges— were promised a spot on a physical demo disc. Perhaps this is the titular "Dream Disc"? (We’ll have to wait for Ross and Cypress to officially confirm that particular piece of Dream Disc game jam lore.) Well, Ross's publishing outfit Orc Face Games has finally announced that preorders are open for the physical Dream Disc release. The best part about this whole arrangement? The only thing you need to pay is the shipping fee. In my case, it only cost three measly Great British pounds, which is an absolute steal. If you're not based in the UK, though, Orc Face Games also ships internationally. 

The games featured on this compilation will be Rizzo Island Remix by Dreameater Games, dRxLaX by dRxL_dk, Murph's Big Puddle Fishin' by PsyOp Studios, Order of Titan by bertholet and Ajaxpigeon, Trick Truck and Sky Pirates of Etalmar by WufSoft, Starship Madness by yomboprime, Black Hole Descent by Frogbull, The Eternal Sleep by Locked Door Puzzle, and Defuseball by Freakdave.

For those who have consigned their Dreamcast to a digital-only fate, there is also a digital .cdi version of this release which you can download right now, totally for free. Of course, all of the Dream Disc '24 entries were available digitally for free anyway, but this still gives you the chance to experience the glorious landing screen that Ross has put together, which is a loving homage to the magazine demos of old.

Orc Face also announced on their Twitter account that the disc should arrive with them this month, so if you pick up any other games alongside your Dream Disc preorder, they can be shipped out all at once. Perhaps a perfect opportunity to double up with a copy of the upcoming Chew Chew Mimic, which is now imminently due for release following a video update Ross provided towards the end of last month.

The final version of Chew Chew Mimic we will be recieving.

So, with the final echoes of Dream Disc ‘24 fading, the question on everyone’s mind is… will there be a Dream Disc ‘25 this December? The answer is yes! The organisers are still working out the details, but it’s definitely happening. In the meantime, feel free to stare longingly at this sleek new logo that Ross designed for the event.

Will you be preordering one of these Dream Disc '24 compilations? Are you looking forward to Dream Disc '25? Let us know on our socials or leave a comment below.

Dream Disc '24: Dreamcast Homebrew Game Jam Top Ten Revealed!

It's been a couple of months since Dream Disc '24 —a brand new homebrew development jam for the Sega Dreamcast— wrapped up, providing us with a variety of awesome new software for our favourite white Sega box in the process. Well, co-organiser of the jam, Ross Kilgariff of Orc Face Games, has finally announced the top ten! 

A panel of judges made up of well-known names from our scene —including Ross himself, Derek Pascarella, The Sega Guru, Falco Girgis and Alastair Low— each submitted lists of their top 10 entries, and points were awarded to those chosen games based on each one's position (10 for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 6 for 3rd, and 3 for any other position), with frequency on each judge's list deciding a tie breaker for third place.

This resulted in the list you see below of the judge’s overall top ten Dream Disc '24 entries. All ten games will be featured on an upcoming physical Dream Disc '24 compilation disc from Orc Face Games, and the developers of the top three will each receive cash prizes from a prize pool accumulated from donations by Orc Face and other generous souls.

I will effectively just be reiterating the results from Ross' post on the Orc Face blog, but to get a full rundown of every game each talented dev produced for Dream Disc '24, check out the article I put out back in January. We also have an episode of the DreamPod coming your way soon that will go over each of the winners in more detail with organisers Ross and Cypress (PsyOp Studios). So watch this space! (Update: here’s the episode!)

Every Dream Disc '24 entry is available to download for free on the jam's itch.io page. 

Seventh place (tie): 
Rizzo Island Remix by Dreameater Games
dRxLaX by dRxL_dk
Murph's Big Puddle Fishin' by PsyOp Studios
Order of Titan by bertholet and Ajaxpigeon

Sixth place: 
Trick Truck by WufSoft

Fifth place: 
Starship Madness by yomboprime

Fourth place:
Black Hole Descent by Frogbull

Third place:
The Eternal Sleep by Locked Door Puzzle

Second place:
Defuseball by Freakdave

First place:
Sky Pirates of Etalmar by WufSoft

So those are the winners of Dream Disc '24! Congratulations to everyone who made it onto the judge's top ten list, and thank you to all the talented developers who took part. We here at the Junkyard loved playing through each entry.

What was your Dream Disc ‘24 top ten? Let us know in the comments below, and hopefully we'll see you again for Dream Disc '25!

Indie Spotlight: Rizzo Island

Rizzo Island is the latest in a long line of independently developed games that have designs on a Dreamcast release, and in this spotlight we thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at this promising title and the story behind it.

The creation of Dreameater Games, Rizzo Island is much more than just an indie game - it's also an homage of sorts to the titular character Rizzo, who is based on the musician and surfer Tom Rizzo. The game's director, David Crowshaw is actually Tom Rizzo's nephew, and when Tom passed away in 2016 David wanted to do something to honour his uncle's memory. Incorporating Tom Rizzo's music into the project means that as well as starring in Rizzo Island as the main protagonist, you'll also get the opportunity to listen to the music Tom recorded, which is actually pretty good and perfectly suits the style of game.

As you can probably tell from the screens and video, Rizzo Island is a third person platformer where you control Tom as he searches the various locations looking for CDs. Along the way, he must solve puzzles and fight enemies (using his surfboard as a weapon, naturally), unlock doors and keep his energy topped up by consuming cans of soda.

Rizzo Island is built using the Quake engine, and while it may look fairly basic it actually runs really well on the Dreamcast. Controls work well - you control Tom's movement with the analogue stick and triggers; while jumping and attacking enemies are handled by the face buttons.

The demo currently only features two smallish levels (and a psychedelic hub world), but they give a good idea of what to expect when the final game is released, and from what I've seen so far I can't help but be impressed. The Dreameater Games team is fairly small but from this short demo, they've done a pretty decent job using the Quake engine in a pretty unorthodox manner. That it runs so well on Dreamcast hardware is a bonus, and the lack of a second analogue stick on the Dreamcast controller doesn't detract from proceedings at all.

As stated, this is a very early demo and as such the final game could change considerably. However from the small glimpse at Rizzo Island I've had, I will be keeping an eye on this project. Well, an eye and an ear if more of Tom Rizzo's brand of chilled out surf rock music is included.

Find out more about Rizzo Island (and grab the demo) on Itch.io, check out the project's Patreon here, and follow Dreameater Games on Twitter for progress reports and updates on the game.