FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD38 → Superbugs

Superbugs

By breadmower and Bunnery

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall843.9461
Fun294.0561
Innovation643.8961
Theme3833.4461
Graphics5203.1061
Audio1
Humor5752.0554
Mood4053.2057

Comments

zerbroesler 2017-04-24 18:00

Well Done, Works fine and has a nice Gameplay.

dima 2017-04-24 18:22

Very Good

hdteav 2017-04-26 14:52

Simple and fun. Good execution. Great idea for a puzzle game.

coleslaughter 2017-05-02 03:34

Oh man, I had a blast with this one. Easy enough concept to grasp, while at the same time being challenging enough to be super entertaining. It was definitely a smart move to have the color venn diagram in the corner for reference. That's a level of polish I don't see in very many game jam games. :)

Personally, I found the smaller maps to be more challenging than the larger ones, particularly because the smaller maps were more dense with viruses, which forced me to carefully consider where I placed each drug. The larger maps had a lot of extra space where I could place drugs willy-nilly (save for the final level).

I'd love to see this expanded upon in the future. Maybe having a scoring system based on how many drugs you put on the field? If I knew the minimum number of drugs needed to solve the puzzle, I'd probably strive for that on every level. Or maybe a time-trial, or procedural-generated endless mode?

You've really piqued my interest with this one. :) Awesome stuff!

spinaljack 2017-05-02 11:10

Fun game, I appreciate that the logo is also a helpful hint on colour combinations :)

tbureck 2017-05-02 11:22

Hello microbe puzzle game maker buddy :smile:

Very nice game you made there. The mechanics are easy and the color mixing is very intuitive, including the part with the overdose. The audio fits perfectly. Very well done!

I saw the first level always starts a bit different. Is this purely procedural or did you design all levels beforehands?

breadmower 2017-05-02 11:27

Thanks for the feedback so far everyone :-) I think we're going to expand the game a bit and give it a proper release after LD is finished.

@ColeSlaughter - thanks for the suggestions. I originally wanted to work out a "par" system so that you'd have a target number of drugs to beat, but didn't get chance to implement it. The puzzles are randomly generated each time, but - as you say - perhaps that should be moved into an endless mode, and we should have some predefined levels. I'm also thinking about some kind of procedural generation where levels are generated from a seed (perhaps the date, for a daily puzzle?) so players could compete against their friends to see who can find the most efficient solution.

bobsleigh 2017-05-02 11:32

Very nice puzzle game. The level difficulty is on spot and the puzzle were simple yet challenging enough. I really enjoyed it.

I noticed quite late that untreated virus were still moving and treated ones weren't. Nice visual aid, but It would be better if it'd be more remarquable.

jorbits 2017-05-02 11:36

The game works fine, easy to learn the mechanics and the levels are not too difficult. I enjoyed playing the game. (Random levelgenerator would be cool).

breadmower 2017-05-02 13:25

@tbureck Thanks :-) As you've guessed, the levels are procedurally generated each time you play. Each size of grid is used twice: the first time the game tries to fill (roughly) 1/4 of the cells with viruses, and it aims for 1/2 of the cells the second time. It should only generate solvable grids (if I've coded it correctly!), so sometimes there's one or two fewer viruses than the target number.

thedoodleguy 2017-05-02 15:09

Wow, this is different. Very fun little puzzle game, and easy to play (not always quite so easy to solve lol). Well thought out. Great job :slight_smile:

zerbroesler 2017-05-03 06:53

This was really fun to play. I finished all levels.

I miss however some kind of rising challenge. Although the levels get biggger, it is not more difficult. It is more a challenge of endurance to fill the very big play area. This is of course difficult to design an implement within the ludum dare timeframe, so I think it is quite perfect for the short time. Just a challenge for you in case you want to improve the game later on.

quetzakol 2017-05-03 12:36

Loved it ! I think the puzzle idea is really cool and the whole game is very well done. Graphics are clean but could be improved. The difficulty progression was great but I think there could have been more difficult stages added.

pcmaster 2017-05-03 13:15

I think your game was even a bit challenging. I like the controls, the simple graphics and the theme hit. Well done, congratulations!

gustavo-christino 2017-05-03 14:20

I really liked the concept. The game was well implemented. Sometimes I lose control to drag the pills. I would like to see more levels. : D

henrybell 2017-05-03 16:36

Awesome game, I had a lot of fun playing it! It's rewarding and challenging without being frustrating. Nice touch putting the logo in the top right to help those of us who are less artistically inclined XD

One piece of criticism is that sometimes it is hard to see what viruses are still untreated. I know that they pulse if they are untreated but it was a little hard to see this on the later levels.

The game would probably work very well for touch screens so maybe making a mobile version could be something worth pursuing...

Overall a fantastic game that I enjoyed a great deal. I could definitely see myself playing many more levels if given the chance! Keep up the good work!

tygrak 2017-05-03 18:55

Wow I really like this, I could see myself playing more of it. It could work really well on a mobile phone too.

The only smally problem I had with the game was how similiar the yellow and green look - I am colorblind so for others it is probably fine, but I cant tell them apart. A good solution would be putting a simple texture on the colors for example.

Overall the game is pretty good, I have finished all the levels and would play more. I didnt know it is kind of easy to get a Nobel prize in medicine :D.

toonteamj 2017-05-03 19:50

I'm no good at puzzles, but these were just challenging enough to be engaging without being too hard. Well done. My only concern is that some colors, such as red and orange, look very similar.

philstrahl 2017-05-03 20:28

Oh man! I was recovering from a serious Hexic-induced fever and now this one hit home *hard*! I had a blast playing this, it's great fun -- minimal but not simple. Just make a bunch more levels and add some variety with, say, bombs, or killer-cells or what not and you have yourself a Candy Crush killer here. Should you ever release this, let me know cause I'll buy it!

samusoidal 2017-05-03 21:49

Excellent game! The puzzles were challenging, the gameplay was simple and easy to grasp, the music was non-intrusive, and the line at the end? Priceless. I always wanted a Nobel Prize...

remicy 2017-05-04 04:50

As a puzzle game's big fan, I just want to play more! How about put it on the Greenlight? :wink: I would definitely vote yes and waiting for buy it.

occultone 2017-05-04 04:56

I Played this on Livestream a bit ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwY1-PtcDqs

This was a really great puzzle game, I have no complaints whatsoever and I really enjoyed myself. The puzzle elements were really innovative and I think this would be a really great mobile game.

huvaakoodia 2017-05-04 12:22

A well designed and enjoyable puzzle. With bigger levels and larger effect areas per drug this might become very challenging and tricky indeed.

Thematically the current levels are fine, but they do get less challenging as they go. The last level is jam packed with viruses, yet it is much easier than the previous levels because there are less positions to put drugs on and each position is more obvious.

Good work!

philomory 2017-05-04 18:03

This works very well, I like it a lot. The mechanic is solid, though a lot of the puzzles are pretty easy.

I do disagree somewhat with @HuvaaKoodia, though; the last level is the only level where I found myself making mistakes and then having to correct them afterwards, so by that metric, it certain seems to qualify as 'harder'. While there are more constraints in the final level, which in principle directs you to the correct solution, the previous levels have so few constraints that almost anything you try will be a correct solution anyway.

Threading that needle, giving enough constraints that there is only one (or a few) correct solutions, but not so many constraints that said solution is obvious, may be difficult. But, if you can do it, you've got the makings of a really sweet puzzle game here.

tylerraz 2017-05-04 18:13

Amazing game! The way the levels ramp up is good, and I would say your way forward would to have some handcrafted puzzles that show off certain techniques/mechanics (I never really ran into overdoses).

earthcollapse 2017-05-04 18:20

I find this game very original! I just really enjoyed to play! I also liked the music, keep going with this great idea, Congratulations!

linus 2017-05-04 18:45

Fantastic game, I love these kinds of puzzle games that have a really neat mechanic. The music and simple sound effects worked well with the game and I found the difficulty level to be good for a Ludum Dare game but more levels could be added that were somewhat harder, still the concept was really innovative and I had a lot of fun playing.

Good job on the short tutorial in the beginning, that was enough to get me started and I knew exactly how the mechanic worked. Excellent job overall!

baby-dino-herd 2017-05-05 05:18

I really enjoyed playing this all the way through! Well polished, easy to pick up, with a slight difficulty curve The red and orange were hard to distinguish at times, though. I liked that the drugs could be removed and re-placed without needing to re-start the whole level.

madmaw 2017-05-05 22:53

Nice game with a good concept and a good level of polish. Very easy to pick up and gets challenging later on. Great work!

stevenjmiller 2017-05-06 04:53

Really great puzzle game, I got the Nobel prize!

bunnery 2017-05-06 10:22

Thanks for all your comments - we're really happy that you find it fun and innovative. We do have plans to release it as a mobile game and maybe even get it on Steam Greenlight. @occultone - we enjoyed watching you play through it - you were really good. Liked that you went back in it to see what the overdose did :-)

davidthelazar 2017-05-06 20:43

This is a really fun puzzle mechanic. I played all the way through, and felt like it never really got all that challenging. Not necessarily a complaint, because it was a nice, chill game. I wonder whether it would be more or less fun if the difficulty were to be ramped up.

it would be nice if there were a bit more visual indication when you have a virus with an incorrect drug. On the larger levels it sometimes took a while to find the one virus that was keeping me from progressing.

Great game.

kroute 2017-05-06 20:49

I completely love your game. It's very simple to understand and yet necessitates some thinking. It would be cool to add a little bit of difficulty by limiting the number of drugs available. Congratulations.

le-slo 2017-05-06 21:28

Great idea, simple but compelling. The last levels are too big maybe, you could take smaller sections and convert each one in two or three levels, as there are independent parts of the puzzle that have the difficulty. One of the games I most enjoyed, really.

nwestninja1 2017-05-07 01:34

I was surprised by this to be honest. Simple, smart and clean. Love it.

lucy-linder 2017-05-07 07:50

Just loved the idea and the realization. Simple and effective !

elektropapst 2017-05-07 10:34

Really awesome puzzle game. Well done!

tuomo 2017-05-07 15:11

I solved all the puzzles (and got Nobel prize), and was left with a need solve more. Very fun and addicting game!

papaver 2017-05-07 20:59

Nice game! It was fun to play with, but for me it was too easy. I like how the levels are generated, so one could play it more often. :)

philstrahl 2017-05-08 02:32

By the way, Superbugs is one of my favorite #LD38 games so far, so thanks again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQSb3D6GyCw

peachtreeoath 2017-05-09 05:43

Awesome idea, haven't seen a game like this before. The levels are bitesized enough to keep you going so I made it all the way through to the end. The UI and graphics are simple but you kept them consistent so that was fine. Most important you did a very steady ramp up in difficulty so it wasn't overwhelming for new players. Very solid entry!

franklins-ghost 2017-05-09 13:47

Really clever and fun puzzle game. Really enjoyed this one and the challenge of trying to figure out the different levels. Good flashback to art school and colour theory. Could see this also working well on mobile with the touch movements. One of my favourites so far.

jelch 2017-05-10 13:07

Very polished, well designed!

2017-05-11 19:09

Nice little puzzler! I included it in my Ludum Dare 38 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P7M7EgUphM

symmsaur 2017-05-12 11:12

Nicely made puzzle game. With some more thought into the level design it could become a really fun game I think.

Never had any problem with overdosing playing through all the levels though. And it was always quite easy. Just add more drugs until you finish.

So, more and harder puzzles and I think it could be really fun. (Maybe you can get more points for solving the puzzle with less drugs?)

cerno-b 2017-05-13 18:17

Wow, a rock solid puzzle game, great job! It's not really my favorite genre but even so I quite enjoyed it. Since it wasn't really much of a challenge for me, it may be a bit too easy for puzzle aficionados, though.

I don't really have any serious complaints. The music choice was nice, the graphics clean and self-explanatory, and as a big plus, you managed to explain the game mechanics with a few words and images instead of a wall of text.

The only improvement I could imagine would be to add an upper limit of pills that determines whether you get a bronze, silver or gold rating, as is quite common in this genre. This would increase replayability.

Other than that, great, polished game!

local-minimum 2017-05-13 21:27

I really liked the plopping sounds and maybe more, the fact that it was a very slow and easy and not really that complex game. Really well made. I must say though that with the presentation about the rules in the game it looked like it would be very complex and somewhat annoying to play. Which it wasn't at all, it was a really smooth and simple game in its interactions. It took me a little while to realize that the thing that looked like a logo actually explained the game and perhaps it would have been helpful to have it larger. Maybe even combine the 3 types of cures UI with the icon, so you pull the cures from the icon itself. I got the price at the end and again a very enjoyable play-through. It is always very satisfying to get to the end of LD-games. The puzzles, if they are to be challenging (they don't have to be), may need more rules or more complex layouts. I'm not really sure, but in general, each time there was a single-color one they limited the complexity since they told me where I needed to put that color and could not have other colors. Last puzzle proved a little challenging since it surprised me that...

Spoiler: !> putting all colors of cures next to each other didn't overdose on the cure-tiles / overdose !> could only happen on tiles where you hadn't put a cure on.

One way to increase complexity would have to limit the number of cures available on each level. Perhaps introduce big-cures that reach the next tier of neighbors. Or similar rules. Tiles that make curing behave differently, or viri that modify spread resistance.

Very well made game!

annagavaldakedavra 2017-05-17 11:13

Nice entry good concept and great polish! You just lack something to make it difficult (there isn't any real puzzle here) but i'm sure you can make it really good with a little more time.

geckoo1337 2017-05-20 06:31

Challenging. Clever. A greate puzzle game. Thumbs up! Hightly rated ++