FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD38 → Jar of Life

Jar of Life

By hunttis and heini

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall1783.7224
Fun4183.0924
Innovation1013.7825
Theme54.5225
Graphics2103.9525
Audio1293.7022
Humor4602.3621
Mood1043.8624

Comments

demyhallar 2017-04-30 13:06

The art looks like Botanica, really cute, nice idea and perfectly fits the theme.

erkberg 2017-05-02 20:14

A really nice game. The art looks great and together with the smooth music it creates a very relaxing mood. I was not sure how the carnivore would behave, which made survival pretty tricky. But I guess it is meant to end sooner or later, as is all life... Good job overall and a great use of the theme!

diedickegg 2017-05-06 22:51

Love the look and feel of the game. The music isn't annoying and fits very well. I especially love the art. It took me few clicks to understand that the "light balls" are actually herbivores :P

invader 2017-05-08 16:06

Nice and polished mini-game. Music didn't work on my Linux for some reason, so I just turn it from assets in a separate player. It really gives the game a nice touch!

kasarun 2017-05-09 21:39

Wow, I love game with indirect control ! Well polished.

More control could be good (shake the jam to kill 50% of herbivores for exemple).

It wasn't clear for me that light bubles were herbivores. Music was cool, but the loop was a bit short.

Add a bit more content and it will be great mobile game ! :thumbsup:

gael-philippe 2017-05-16 12:25

Really polished graphics. Really nice !

Our game : https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/locker-c-18

alexandr-rum 2017-05-18 07:57

This is a very cute little world in the bank, but I did not understand how to play, did not understand at all.

tuomo 2017-05-18 13:00

Cool little game! Graphics are nice most part. Have you tried other fonts instead of current? I’m not sure how well it fits the sort of ornamental and pretty style you got. Gameplay is simple, not much to do except just observe and occasionally place new herbivores. One thing I found odd is that amount nutrients going constantly down, in closed biosphere that probably shouldn’t happen. I guess you used it as a timer. On one of my playthroughs the carnivore just ignored herbivores and hang on one of the flowers until his health depleted. Background music really adds to the atmosphere.

hunttis 2017-05-18 14:49

Thanks for all the comments people :)

@alexandr-rum : I think our help texts could've been better written :D So here goes another try :D

Help 2.0

You have plants in the jar, they grow on their own. You have one carnivore, who is starving. You add herbivores, who eat plants by clicking. They are prey to the carnivore. Carnivore brings most points while it's alive. Herbivores bring some points. Try to balance the amount of herbivores, so they don't eat all plants (and end up starving to death) and enough to keep the carnivore alive as long as possible.

@tuomo : Yeah, I implemented the scores and help texts in the last few hours of the jam, so I had to pick one and being a coder.. Well, if you have a graphical artist in the team, don't let the coder pick the font :D You got it exactly right, the nutrients are a timer of sorts to prevent the plants from completely overtaking the jar. The carnivore has a quite a short range, maybe we could've communicated that a bit better :) Cheers for the very in-depth analysis!

hunttis 2017-05-18 15:35

And yeah, the song is made during the jam just for this game, the person just isn't part of the LD community (yet). We still have to pull him in :D

So it's ok to rate that one too :)

hackingroelz 2017-05-18 18:16

Very nice art style and relaxing gameplay. Well done!

automatonvx 2017-05-18 18:26

Nice concept, the art and music fit well and were nicely done and gave a good relaxed kind of atmosphere. I had the feeling that my carnivore was not very good at finding herbivores and there was a limited amount I could do about it which spoils the fun a bit. Also I think it would be more fun if the game lasted longer or was more open ended. Also maybe if the player had more chance to interact with the system in more ways apart from just placing herbivores it might help the gameplay. Overall though its a fun experience, good job. Max score 2151

failedstarfish 2017-05-18 19:31

Liked the art style and mood, music helped to make a really nice atmosphere. Bit short of gameplay but still a nice entry.

number6406 2017-05-18 20:00

Waow ! Without your comment I wouldn't have tested you game, and it really is a good surprise ! The ambient sound is very calming and makes a good difference with the stressful management part of the game !

The system you found to make the gameplay interesting is very good and (I think) well balanced. The dynamics of each entity is quiet tricky to manage but I think that this is what make the game pleasant. I didn't hit more that 1980 but I hop it's a great score :D

Graphics are awesome, please keep your friend close to you for next Jams :P Moreover you did a release for Linux and... I only have a Linux computer available for 3 months, so I think I will keep your game on it, maybe I will launch it again soon ;)

megabrutal 2017-05-18 20:39

This is very interesting! You have to keep balance, as too many herbivores eat the plants quickly, but too less of them makes the carnivore to starve and then herbivores can again eat all plants... This is very clever! Thanks for the great game! :) Also thanks for the Linux port!

picapica 2017-05-18 20:49

This was a very nice little game! It's so simple, but that doesn't make it any less interesting to look at. Very much like looking at a little piece of nature going about its business. I didn't really understand when my predator would die (are there clues that I missed) but it was so easy to just start up a new game and experiment, so that didn't reallly matter. I liked it!

mgadrat 2017-05-18 21:07

And now - the Ecosystem version of Tamagochi ! Very nice idea. It takes some time to understand what to do to mantain the system work but it's fun, with pleasant graphics. Good job :thumbsup:

flying-cat-of-the-pepes 2017-05-20 01:44

Wasn't too fun, but definitely gets 5/5 stars in graphics, sound, and mood. The physics for the plants falling where a cool little addition, and the game was very relaxing. AMAZING job, guys!