♦ Livestream Contents
(2:01) “Ordnance” by CJA (2014) [https://www.digitalmzx.com/show.php?id=2105]
A tiny Metroidvania with a classic ASCII character set!
Ordnance is a lovely little open ended game with the simple objective of tracking down a few guardian enemies, and then returning to the goal once they've all been defeated. It's a platformer with infinite ammo, varied element-themed biomes to explore, and some really snazzy effects when blowing up the hostile critters that plague the protagonist.
Defeating a boss grants you a new ability ranging from the tried-and-true double jump wings to an ice cannon that lets you build platforms out from walls. The entire world is open from the start letting players decide how they want to explore, and allowing them to turn back if the tirckier platforming would be better handled with a tool acquired elsewhere.
Screens also have "ciphers" to collect. Little hidden trinkets that serve as a reward for finding secrets or taking on a little extra challenge. These do sometimes require upgrades to collect. Your time is displayed and logged per sector, though there's no need to rush beyond style points. It's even been played as a speedgame! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZW7nWSHCI
It's a lot of fun once you adjust to the physics. (You have quite a large jump). My own run here is unfortunately invalided as it turns out my microphone mute key `, is also the game's secret debug button that gives you all the upgrades. Here I was wondering why the abilties unlocked seemed arbitrary, and why I suddenly had a double jump.
I also found a soft-lock! And lost a bunch of cipher collecting progress so no 100% run for me. I would very much like to try this one again sometime, getting all the ciphers and you know, not accidentally cheating.
♦ Play this world in your browser
https://www.digitalmzx.com/play/2105/
♦ Streamed May 29th, 2026
