Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD52 → Feedback comment stats → Local Minimum

Local Minimum

Feedback comments for LD52

Local Minimum's games and stats for all events →

Timestamp	Since previous	Game		Local Minimum's comment
Jan 12 19:08:18		Travelling Tea Maker	♥ 2	Love the illustrations and a really nice story to play through. I especially loved that it was a very causal game so I could play without stressing my exhausted wrists. I think I figured out two recipes, and liked that the game gave me an option to study them by brewing for myself every now and then. So in a way that became one of the main objectives, and could have been played on more, to find paths through the game where I got to drink most tea myself. It was great that there was a save and load feature, but it could have been a bit clearer (even though it said I died) when the game reached an end and needed load or restart. The little twist about the poster in the epilogue was great too. But I have to ask: What it really thymus (lymph organ in animal bodies) that I served everyone? I mean that does make the game a bit more spicy, or was it thyme (herb) that it was supposed to be?
Jan 12 19:36:37	28m 19s	Vessel Garden	♥ 1	Interesting game, with well written narrative. I don't know if I missed some strategy, but I didn't feel like I was given much chance to optimize the ability to make as many people as possible to move on. But I did get 4 of them at least after the intro bit. I don't particularly mind though, it felt quite fitting to the game that it was short and that there really wasn't much to do to get more than a few seeds. (Or I was unlucky)
Jan 13 13:25:50	17h 49m	Harvestigator: An IRS Tax Auditing Game	♥ 1	Well written and with voice lines! that's something one doesn't see often i LD games. I can't say I understood all of the instructions, but at least I got a star, and almost reached the second. But it does feel within the lore of the game that investigating the tax returns should be somewhat confusing and that one shouldn't be able to ace it at first attempt. Well made!
Jan 13 13:54:06	28m 16s	Haustmåne	♥ 1	I tried it out and I love the setting, art and music but I was very bad at being werewolf and managed only to get burnt and throw toad stools around. I then read up on you instructions and at least managed to lure out some of them, but they were to quick for me. The trees that were helping me to hide were also obstructing vision quite a bit, which makes sense but made it hard to navigate. And on the sides the area with cover was rather thin. So it might have been nice to be able to partially see through the closest tree at least. I really appreciated that the game could be played with a controller as are easier on tired arms. And also I just realized I missed out on your game last LD! Why did I do that?!
Jan 13 14:25:30	31m 24s	Monkey Oolong Harvest Bop	♥ 3	Wonderful leaf picking game, and I actually by chance had a cup of oolong tea next to me while playing! The mechanics was simple to understand and satisfying each time I managed to toss them monkeys around in a smart way, but I wasn't very good at it... Two things I thought about. Because the first branches are a bit ways up in the tree getting well off the ground is actually one of the hardest parts of the game and where I spent a lot of the energy and it feels a bit odd to make the player face that right off the bat. So perhaps give the monkeys a bit of platform to start on or let them spread out in the bush from start... Then the grab area for the tails could be a bit wider in the early phases of the game to make it more forgiving that way and shrink (possibly quite soon, like one or two leaf rounds) to the size it is now. That way we who are not that good get somewhere each time and makes you more invested to keep playing with a bit of sunk cost. Great entry! (The simple interactions might lend themselves to mobile 😉 )
Jan 14 21:35:51	31h 10m	Boxed In	♥ 0	Interesting simple arcade game, with surprising depth to it (though admittedly I'm not the type that would be sucked in to try and get better and better score here). But I think it would be possible to increase the how addictive it is by stopping for a second on death and making the score a bit clearer and adding a high-score. Personally I would have liked to have some extra lives and limiting the monster so it could only hurt you once per bounce or something like that (give the player one or two seconds of invincibility).
Jan 17 16:03:20	66h 27m	Shape Orchard	♥ 2	Really unique game! It took me a while on the first painting because I though it was red enough there in the middle so was about to give up on it... so in that regard, it might be worth considering making an even easier first level where there's no almost right alternative just to let the player know that when they've done right they also get that visual ring around the circle feedback. I really loved the twist in how after a while there was some gravity, and I feel like it could be expanded with different fields or areas behaving slightly differently. But not at all to make it a hard game or anything, but to add some more variation to add to the joy of navigating around the paintings. As someone who barely ever manages to add music, and many times have made silent games, I should perhaps not say this, but I think some experimental music or if music was created based on movement of circle and its coloration would have added a lot to the mood of the game. Very happy I found it and got to try it out
Jan 17 16:30:28	27m 08s	Carrot Conundrum	♥ 1	Wow that was a great puzzle game. I was about to give up on a level until I read the text page intro once more and realized there was a hint in it. Still some of the levels really had me thinking for a while before I figured it out. One UX thing that I noticed though was that I got lost about which pane I was on quite a lot, so perhaps the effect on the active rabbit was a bit too subtle, and perhaps the active pane should be standing out more too. Another minor thing was that on one of the levels towards the end with a lot of panes and quite a few positions within each, the sprites got really really small and might have benefited from a simplified more stylized version. Over all though a really great game.
Jan 17 17:05:25	34m 57s	Furious Farm: Total Reap-Out	♥ 1	Fun arcade game. I played on the controller and it took a little while to get a feel for forward on one stick and turning left-right on another. For me the speed would have felt more natural one on each bumper and then the turning on the left stick. But not a big issue. Enjoyed the game, great feel on the title screen and fun to play.
Jan 19 16:08:24	47h 02m	Fenasi	♥ 1	At first I was a bit confused about what to do, or rather I was harvesting a lot of seeds but there seemed to be nothing I could do with them... then I found the bucket but that didn't help. So I had to read the instructions to find a way to work the fields, by that time I had almost 100 seeds 😆 So I think the game has to help the player a bit more in finding the tools need by some means, the character could say something like "Where did I leave the pitchfork?" if one doesn't get it and has accumulated a few seeds. Then, perhaps because my game was so unbalanced by many seeds, it sort of felt like the bucket could have lasted for watering more than one field. Perhaps the monster veggies could mutate the crops too so that they become monsters rather than something to be eaten if one doesn't keep them off the fields that are growing or if one takes too long before harvesting crop that is "ready". I also found a bug, perhaps. When retrying a second time, I already had all the tools and kept all the seeds from my previous attempt.
Jan 19 16:50:40	42m 16s	Horsepower	♥ 1	Fun worldbuilding! I found myself (on computer) trying to drag the option to either side at first because of the example you had included here, which didn't matter too much but was a little confusing first. Perhaps you could disable text selection of the story-decision content. I also got a bit confused about what the time was supposed to do. What it might be counting up to, if something was to happen at a certain time... that type of thing. Perhaps it should be counting down instead so one knows the dreaded 0? And perhaps each decision gives some extra seconds? But also people read at very different speeds to combining reading with time/stress might be problematic. Anyways interesting world you created.
Jan 19 17:43:06	52m 26s	Sanity Farmer	♥ 1	Cool hostile game! I didn't last long enough to get the option to give up or not. After a while I tried interacting with the little settings-looking cogwheel in the lower right but it didn't do anything and mashing all keyboards produced no discernible effect either. I liked the concept but I would have wanted to escape at my own leisure.
Jan 19 17:53:32	10m 26s	Chaos Mode	♥ 1	Really cool entry, I like the controls! Feels like I haven't seen stuff like that before. And though I've never lived with a robot, the movement felt quite realistic and worked well with the feet. It would have been great with some hectic music and maybe the character could say stuff when the robot isn't doing the right thing. Like getting stuck at the wall for a bit. Or if there seems to be no progress in specks collected or real progress towards closest speck being made. That would have added a lot to the mood and humor of the game. But as a very interesting puzzle I liked it a lot.
Jan 21 16:36:13	46h 42m	Crop Creep	♥ 1	Great entry! I must admit that the first level took me a while to complete but then it got easier once I understood the mechanics. Lovely graphics and funny sound effects. Very well made.
Jan 21 19:52:55	3h 16m	Harvest Roar	♥ 0	Very interesting controls. Unfortunately they didn't work very well for me and my setup. I played the web-version with a single mic and headphones. While setting the level I could hear myself through the mic so it was the right mic selected, but there was a huge delay on the sound and it kept repeating itself and I had to put it on next to the background dB level for it to at all register shouts. Which meant that with the but of the sound coming back over and over made it so the big character kept screaming once I got it screaming and there really was no way of controlling it. I managed to get some apples though and it was a very cute art-style to it too. The nice music at the start screen could well have continued in the background during the game too. Again very interesting concept
Jan 21 20:03:52	10m 57s	Vermin Attack	♥ 1	I managed to get to the end, which with these types of entries doesn't happen all too often. That I did manage with full health says something about it being kind of on the easy side at the moment. But I'm not complaining. The controls were nice in their simplicity and it was very satisfying to be able to wack with both arms at the same time. For increased complexity one could imagine a second row of crops though it will add two keys... or zooming out to have a bit more slots where they can appear. But it was fun and a bit stressful as it was now.
Jan 21 20:16:45	12m 53s	Money grows on trees	♥ 1	I really liked the art style of this game. And tried it until I had unlocked all four types of trees, but then it felt like there was missing some progression to the clicker to keep me wanting to play. I also got a bit confused in the upgrades. It felt like sometimes I could and could not buy even if I had enough money. And it took a while until I saw that there were tabs and then I already had enough to buy all kinds of trees and max out the upgrades (or so I think because I could not buy more even if they only cost e.g. 30)... One way to sort of prolong the game would be if each successive upgrade of a certain type cost 10x more than the previous. E.g. 6 > 60 > 600 on the apple upgrades.
Jan 21 20:57:45	41m 00s	Ethereal Fruits	♥ 1	I played it until everything was maxed out. As a biologist, I must say it felt a bit odd that the fruits came before the leaves and it was a bit confusing too in the beginning that the progression meant I had to start the tree over and over. I thought I did something wrong the first handful of trees. But then I enjoyed it, had a good feeling to it, but a bit sad that each tree had to die as soon as it got beautiful.
Jan 21 21:04:24	6m 39s	Flush U	♥ 1	Great harvest spin, and simple arcade game. I played against the AI and won. It feels though as there was some lack of strategic depth or skill in the game due to where the lorry was placed and how all people converged around the door so it was possible to just stand still near the door to max collection speed and then run to the deposit area and then back.
Jan 23 15:56:31	42h 52m	Puzzle game about farming I think	♥ 1	I got to the end. The game explained itself nicely and there was some strategic depth to the two types of tiles, but I feel like the problems that the player faced in the various levels were quite similar, so perhaps it might have benefited from having a bit fewer levels and introduced more configurations that challenged the player in different ways. Or perhaps there was a need for other tiles, or more fields in the same level to harvest to keep increasing the complexity. There was also something about the countdown to zero, which I completely understood, but it also felt a bit unnatural. Perhaps it would be better if it was counting down to one and and didn't mention moves but e.g. days because it's not really the move that harvests but where you end up after the move. Still a very nice puzzle game and getting the game done is always the most important thing!
Jan 23 16:30:42	34m 11s	Potion Panic	♥ 0	I got to casting the "Find Evil" potion but then I walked around a bit and nothing seemed to have changed. I spent each level more or less systematically walking north east until I got the final potion and I'm not sure if the find evil triggered a diamond shape and perhaps that was meaning to show direction? If so it was pointing towards south west and I walked for quite some time in that direction but there was nothing and the diamond didn't move or change in any way. If I was supposed to go to some specific place, then the world would have to be much smaller or that place needs to spawn in relation to where I'm at when I cast that spell. I liked the premise and the game-play with the fifth potion doing something special each time. But I was quite surprised first time and could have actually missed that central mechanic so I think the special potion needs to stand out a lot so the player knows they need to cast it (and for the final? level that there's no point in casting it more than once (or if there is a point in casting it more than once, show it clearer)). It also felt like the enemies that I needed to make the final potion were way to far in between or random. I think I got 3 at the same time at one point and then had to walk for ages until I saw another. All in all though, a good entry.
Jan 23 17:04:52	34m 10s	Projekt Harvest	♥ 0	I don't know if I missed something in the tutorial, but there was absolutely no way I could harvest the grown crops myself. I clicked on everything with all buttons but nothing happened. So I cheated and got harvesters and robots, just to see how it would work when upgrading and then the harvester could harvest some, but it had great difficulties and seemed restricted more or less to the plot that it spawned in which was problematic when the planter ufos filled up fields. I also feel like the initial planting is a bit too tedious. If I select a seed I ought to be able to repeatedly plant it or plant entire rows of it at ease with as few clicks as possible. The graphics was really nice though, the game looked great and the sound were also great.
Jan 23 17:14:41	9m 49s	Harvesters From Outer Space	♥ 2	Fun little game. I liked how it started with the vignette and freeing you to play by removing it. It was quite deceptive though to say that one should harvest all things when rocks were bad and tanks couldn't be harvested. Perhaps clarify that it's all the living things / animate things.
Jan 23 17:22:08	7m 27s	Repear	♥ 1	I tried about a while and was actually about to give up on it before even managing to activate the scythe even once. And it wasn't so much that it's weird that I had to move as that there weren't actually any instructions what button to use, neither for the use of arrow keys, and that there was a jump. I didn't quite understand how to activate the shift thingy. My meter in the bottom right corner was full and I had reaped all people I could find.
Jan 23 17:30:46	8m 38s	Shadow Harvester	♥ 1	I tried to let the web version load for a couple of minutes (at least 5) but there was just a spinning loader and nothing happened unfortunately.
Jan 23 17:47:27	16m 41s	Hard Hat Harvest	♥ 0	I must admit I'm really confused how this game works. It looks really neat and has a good mood, but I finally manage to place some workers and harvest some materials but had no clue how to activate the factories.
Jan 23 18:09:37	22m 10s	Mad Moons	♥ 0	The graphics were really great, but I didn't quite understand the game-play. I got hurt without understanding why and didn't know what my progress was against the enemy.
Jan 23 18:17:32	7m 55s	They Are Growing	♥ 1	I think I died a couple of times, the game did at least restart but I wasn't able to interact with the growing red meaty things and all of the sudden something said 0 percent at the top. I did manage to read the note on the wall though and I liked the feeling the game was giving off but I never got anywhere.
Jan 23 18:35:11	17m 39s	You reap what it sows	♥ 1	I liked the mood in this, and played it to the end. Some parts felt a bit slow with how little happened and so, but I also get that it was intentional and it definitely was within my tolerance. Fun story, but would have been nice if one had some pets and perhaps kids too, to prolong the story a bit.
Jan 23 18:43:05	7m 54s	Farming Termina-Boar	♥ 1	I played to something like the 12th level without loosing a life. Quite fun, but it seemed like there was no particular benefit to eating most of the crop or letting the harvesters clean out the field. Which felt a bit strange too. I also never saw any of the special crop. Not sure if there was something I didn't understand there. I played the Jam version.
Jan 23 18:52:41	9m 36s	Henbane Farms [Web]	♥ 1	I liked the style and music. I didn't quite understand the puzzles, and thought there were some obvious solutions that for some reason the game said was wrong. And there were some characters I couldn't really give anything. Or so it seemed. Not sure if there was a benefit to having a timer on it. Could have just as well have gotten free time to run around and try out the combinations. That way it wouldn't have mattered as much when I didn't agree with what was correct or not. But cute game all in all.
Jan 27 14:07:36	91h 14m	Harvest Party	♥ 0	I had to try it myself too. A pity I couldn't harvest the other player! The sideways flying birds were funny.
Jan 27 14:18:20	10m 44s	The Redder Planet	♥ 1	I found the shooting felt nice too, but I would have liked to not have to click it each time after a while it felt annoying. For the longest time I also thought the crafter didn't do anything because it looked like I selected and unselected things without knowing what it meant. So first thing there would be to indicate what can be crafted and make it more obvious when the user has actually crafted. Nice entry that with some work, perhaps a bit of controller support, could become really nice.
Jan 27 14:28:03	9m 43s	Gempire	♥ 0	I'm also confused, after looking at the instructions a bit I managed to plant quartz in some locations and select matching buildings and place them on the same plot but they seemed to sprout as a flower rather than quartz or the building. And clicking on the flowery thing made it disappear without me earning any money back... so I'm mostly quite confused.
Jan 27 14:43:36	15m 33s	Mothman's Forest	♥ 1	Fantastic graphics really! And really great mood with the little flutter sound adding a lot. Some more music and perhaps sounds from the flames and such would have been great. I was taken a bit by surprise the first time I failed because the weakness meter in the corner both didn't sufficiently attract my attention when it was filling up and wasn't entirely clear when exactly it would mean game over. While starting each level felt a bit strange that I was zoomed in on the people and needed to flutter to get to see myself. Very well made entry and hope you can gather some more votes the game these last hours.
Jan 27 14:50:52	7m 16s	MyFirstJam(LD52)	♥ 0	I managed to get a couple of points, but it was really tricky to start pushing the squares. For some reason I only managed to push them first down and then along the bottom and if I lost them for one second I sort of had to reset by getting them to the lower left corner of the screen. That said, the pushing was kind of neat and could have been made really fun if, for example the mouth was moving around and was not at all into eating the stuff one was pushing its way.
Jan 27 15:04:39	13m 47s	Gene Graph Garden	♥ 0	First I was about to give up on the first level because I didn't understand how to start the simulation, then it also felt a bit odd that I had to go back and forth between the levels to be able to reset them. I also made some sort of spinning monster where all tiles had rotating white arrows on the first real level and the animation happened so fast that there was no way of learning much from its progression. Maybe that was because when I couldn't get the simulations to start I increased the speed to max... 🤔 Interesting concept though!
Jan 27 15:12:41	8m 02s	Once a Year	♥ 3	As someone who might not be able to say they are on expert of scythe handling, but uses it regularly every year, I must say that this character has quite the peculiar style and needs to cut more strands with each swipe or they'll be stuck on even the smallest plot for ever 😆 Relaxing little game though.
Jan 27 15:21:06	8m 25s	Farmageddon	♥ 1	Cute little game. The attack and accidentally harvest mechanism was kind of fresh, but it was also very confusing each time I accidentally harvested a teleportation fruit. In general the plants were not distinct enough or didn't sufficiently convey what they were doing from how they looked that I never learned which did which. In part this might have also been because one has no control over what one plants. But in general a cute little game.
Jan 27 15:34:42	13m 36s	Delivery Boy	♥ 1	I feel like it was a bit too hard to find all the resources. I think I got all but one of each kind and I had walked about quite a lot so it didn't feel fun to have to find the very last. I think in part this could have been solved by having a couple of extra of each kind scattered around. The game area also seemed a bit too large without that or some assistance, e.g. fog of war minimap or similar to let you know where you've been.
Jan 27 17:39:37	2h 04m	Corn Clicker	♥ 0	As this is a clicker, I was having fun. But it was a bit easy and all upgrades were pretty much available from the beginning in contrast to how one normally needs to progress a bit to unlock some of them.
Jan 27 17:50:15	10m 38s	Harvest of Love	♥ 1	Nice game. I got them all to allow me to harvest them. I did miss one dialogue though because I clicked forward to the next part in the same area that a button appeared and that made me accidentally select that button. So perhaps it would be nice to ensure that buttons can't be clicked the first parts of a second that they are shown. And that they aren't only triggered by button up, but require button down on them first too.
Jan 27 18:03:31	13m 16s	Soul Harvester	♥ 1	I didn't quite understand how to save any humans, but I loved the walking animation bits and the graphics in general had a nice feel to it.
Jan 27 18:10:23	6m 52s	Harvest - Food Cut	♥ 1	Simple fun little game! I'd say, one thing that might be worth considering is that I can wait for how many passes of the line I like before I attempt the cut and the game might be a bit more interesting if one gets a bonus for cutting on the first pass, or cutting on the first pass several times in a row might trigger a fantastic cut. Perhaps if one doesn't cut on any of the first three passes it's a fail too.