Michael Thomét
Game Designer
The Cold Equations

You've got a mission. Pilot your ship to the distant planet of Woden and deliver life-saving medicine to scientists that will die before another shipment can be sent out. Your ship is equipped with just enough fuel to get you there, carefully measured based on the weight of you and your cargo. As you near the planet, a warning comes on: the ship is too heavy. 51.2 kg too heavy. Just the right weight for a person. You know what you have to do.

The Cold Equations is an adaptation of the Tom Godwin short story by the same name. It takes the uncomfortable, terrible experience of using harsh logic to save the lives of many. It is an homage to one of my favorite pieces of science fiction ever written. Although an adaptation, my version of The Cold Equations was written without reference to the original material to ensure that I was not directly plagerizing Tom Godwin's work. This game was created in 48 hours for Ludum Dare 43 with the theme Sacrifices Must be Made. View the Ludum Dare entry for The Cold Equations here. Notably, out of about 700 entries, The Cold Equations ranked 43rd in Theme and 18th in Mood. Overall, it was well recieved for its writing and powerful emotion.

You can play or get the game on the project's itch.io page here.

The Cold Equations was made in Unity3D.