Apologies to WiL for letting the queue sit like this for so dang long. Things have quieted down a bit, though we should be getting some fresh uploads soon as the next 2.4 Hour Jam event has just begun!
So enjoy this set of five worlds while I continue to poke and prod at old archives of mine in hopes of finding something somehow more exciting than Paintball!
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“Oasis: Part Three” by WiL (2026)
Description
A Nonogram puzzler in the Vödiverse.
The big new release for this pack. Set in the Vödiverse after the events of an non-existing previous game, the crew finds themselves needing to construct a tower from blocks of memories to rebuild the WONDER WALL and rescue their crewmate Tara from the PAIN VORTEX.
Not that I need to repeat myself, but this is a nonogram game.
WiL presents players with a pyramid of around 40 pictures to decipher with a nice smooth and responsive engine. A quite detailed tutorial dives into some of the deeper levels of logic needed to identify squares and empties for those new to the genre, while fans of these puzzles will be able to enjoy WiL's game as easily as they would &:lt;your choice of Picross software here>. The puzzles play on ZZT themes, and while some of the earlier ones are as a straightforward as "lion" and "player", later puzzles with more room to work with contain references to ZZT worlds, syndromes, and gameplay mechanics that will surprise and delight!
And then when you think you're done, there's a pain vortex chapter that lives up to the name and plays with the medium a bit!
“Lolipop” by PinkSamurai (2026)
Description
Take this lolipop!
Newcomer PinkSamurai brings us Lolipop. A very purple game. Get a lollipop. Fight a centipede. Consume lollipop. Enjoy!
“NDBB” by NoahSoft (2026)
The other big new release for this pack. NoahSoft, known for his bizarre experimental and often rather musical MegaZeux titles, has decided to give this ZZT thing a shot. Noah likes his secrets, so to not give too much away, you play as N.D.B.B. explore a weird, but notably considerate world where the people take care of one another and enjoy opera.
When the president invites N.D.B.B. to go on a dangerous mission through space to land on a curious planet called Earth, he has to decide if it's worth giving up everything that he knows and loves to go somewhere his people have never been before, with only a small chance of ever seeing home again.
Delightfully weird. Filled with instances of Noah's strange sense of humor and unusual choices for graphics. And it even still has an impressive soundtrack in #PLAY form!
“Picross ZZT Test World” by Dr. Dos (2020)
Description
An experiment in making a Picross engine for vanilla ZZT.
Needless to say Oasis: Part Three had me digging through some long abandoned projects as I too had the thought of ZZT Picross, but back in my era of making needlessly complex engines for 3.2 rather than Weave.
So this is a few boards of an original ZZT compatible Picross engine with like, one test puzzle that's pre-solved and a Python script to convert text maps of puzzles to a playable, solvable board. While it works, I abandoned the project as the interface always felt a little too awkward for people to want to play, something Weave has no struggle with.
“Paintball” by stampede76 (2003)
More digging! I don't remember this one, or why I had a copy of it, but childhood friend and author of the infamous School ZZT stampede76 I guess had an interest in making a paintball game. I assume this was during the era in which he got into playing actual paintball. The title screen is great. What little is there involves shooting some pre-programmed objects from a little collection of generic items/enemies that I forgot I made at some point.
