Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD38 → Blomst 🌻
By ava-skoog
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 109 | 3.89 | 61 | |
| Fun | 333 | 3.25 | 61 | |
| Innovation | 224 | 3.45 | 62 | |
| Theme | 37 | 4.24 | 63 | |
| Graphics | 98 | 4.34 | 63 | |
| Audio | 162 | 3.58 | 60 | |
| Humor | 476 | 2.31 | 52 | |
| Mood | 128 | 3.78 | 62 |
This is a cute and fun little game. The graphics is cute and the music is great for a space game. It was a bit difficult to understand the game mechanics at first, but when you first understand them it fast become pretty fun game to play. Overall a great little game.
Thank you, @jk5000! We've provided all the download links now, along with a couple of bugfixes and a few texts changed so that hopefully the game is clearer, in case you want to give it another shot. c:
The art is very nicely done. Game is pretty polished. Game mechanics are simple but fun. It relaxed me a little bit :)
It is difficult for me to tell if the game is easier to understand now, but one thing I first discovered by watching your video, is that there actually was more then 3 plants in the shop.
@jk5000: Dang it, we did talk about a scrollbar but then there was no time. Might patch one in tomorrow! Thanks for pointing that out. c:
veeeery cool, everything in this game is awesome, nice work dudes :D
Cool game! I meant to make something similar to this for the jam, but I totally fumbled :sweat_smile: I'm gonna keep working at mine though, I hope you do, too!
Had issues playing the WEB version on Windows 7. In Chrome nearly none of the textures or models loaded, but it everything seemed to work. In Firefox it wouldn't load the game at all.
This game is adorable! I love it so much.
This is so relaxing! Due to various reasons I'm quite tired, and this is just what I needed. Like a miniature holiday on the clicker-like version of SimEarth :relieved:
A couple of (mostly very minor) quibbles though: The shop doesn't show the habitat for whatever fauna :seedling: you're buying. Maybe that's intetentional, but I would've liked it. Also, whenever you're done with a large menu, you've got to scroll all the way back to *Back*. Another menu peeve is that, when you go back to a more top-level menu, it resets to the first option (causing me to cycle between *Sell* -> inventory empty -> *Back* -> *Sell* -> ... doh! etc.)
Though I sort-of get why the option is there, I still have to ask; why'd I ever want to press 'R' for any plant :wink:
(Also emoticon in the title, nice ... I wonder how far we can use MarkDown for titles. Would the checkboxes show up??)
*ETA:* Definitely keep playing until atmosphere completion is > 50% if you want to see the 'good' graphics (not that the first set is bad at all... I guess it's a part of the goal!) I also like that there is a 'keep playing option' after mission end.
Thanks a lot, @remco! 💚
Knew about some of the issues and simply didn't have time to fix them (like the resetting menu), but I can't believe we didn't think about showing the habitat in the shop! Very good point. You can actually go back without scrolling all the way back up by pressing escape, but I get that this is unclear since most buttons are clearly spelled out in the little speech bubbles but this is not. :c
R is mostly a failsafe in case you manage to circle yourself with plants in and get stuck (since the grid was a bit wonky, so it's admittedly a gaffa tape solution), so that you don't have to restart the game, TBH. :p But figured it could be used if you were running out of space for better plants as well.
Such a lovely little game. Super relaxing. I didn't even go to the shop...oops.
My only "complaint" (if you want to call it that) was that the speech bubble would occasionally block my vision. Other than that, super enjoyable. ^-^
This was a cool little game i couldn't stop until i reached the goal lol.
One of the best submissions I have played! Very polished and cool game. Music is calm and fit perfectly with the gameplay, and the simple idea of make a planet bloom is awesomely executed.
Congrats!
bloom.png
One of the best games I've played in this jam so far. Very relaxing game, and incredibly polished (I haven't encountered *any* bugs). I genuinely can't find much of anything to criticise. Well done!
I played this on my livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srBde18ASdY Very polished. I think you have a really solid core game loop, though it is a little slow and the menu could use some more information display for the user. I had to go to the Buy/Sell Menu to understand what anything meant.
I have now also rated your game.
Thanks, everyone! <3
@camilo: Hah, you completed it with only really basic plants, that's interesting! Most people start buying trees and stuff before they do. :D Thanks!
@Stoemason: Thanks! It was a bit buggy near the end which was scary, but I think I managed to fix everything in the end!
@OccultOne: Aw, that was a lot of fun to watch! Watched another stream yesterday too. Really helps us see how people play the game and how they figure things out. Thanks a lot for your input!
@jk5000: Oh, judging started now? Cool! I'll start playing and rating everyone's games now too, then! Thanks! c:
This was a real pleasure to play this game! We quickly understand the gameplay. This game is very restful, and very well done. Only negative point: walk around this planet is not very intuivive, I ask myself if controls should be inverted.
This game is very peacefull. I like it !
I really liked the graphics and the atmosphere. I didn't like the fact that you could not use your mouse. Also you could add some kind of gameplay variety so it doesn't get boring after a while. But all in all a really good game!
If you want to try out our game, you find it here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/42-mikronikus
It would be nice if you left some feedback.
I enjoyed this game a lot, relaxing and hypnotic. At first it felt a bit strange to have only 3 inventory slots, but after a while it starts to play well with the game : just separate areas with only 3 different plants in it, so you can harvest them together. It makes the world you create more interesting I think. Thank you for making the game, and keep up the good work !
Graphics are very nice, but gameplay appears to me as holding some arrows and just clicking 1e1e1e1e1e1e1e. Seeds will be collected, flowers will be planted, atmosphere level will rise - just keep pressing these 2 buttons. I mean the idea is not bad, but maybe there should be some penalty for making wrong actions?
Very nice looking game with a great cutesy feel.
Gameplay doesn't appeal to me that much, bit repetitive, but I'm sure plenty will like this style of game.
The sounds and graphics are fantastic, the theme is suited very well and the gameplay is unique and creative.
Great work
Pretty nice game. The sounds effects are cool, and the planets are excellent. and it has actual game too.
This game is soo cute :D And not only cute, it's also fun to play, figure out how the ecology on the planet works, where to plant which plant, decide what to use and what to sell.
In a nutshell, I really loved it. I had no problem at all with the control beside some minor collision issues that really didn't matter.
The particles effects, the music and the art all fit the mood perfectly. This is such a relaxing game, thanks a lot for sharing it!
(You can see me playing this game for the first time on the vod https://youtu.be/lXUmif8KKxM?t=2h12m25s )
I really liked this game!
The graphics really sell the whole concept. They look simple without looking overly quick or poorly done, and the colors work very well. It's really satisfying to see the water and grass slowly appear, as well as the light blue atmospheric halo, as you plant more flowers about in the world. It reminds me a lot of the kind of mood That Game Company elicit in their games.
The gameplay is enjoyable, though a lot of that comes by proxy of the mood and atmosphere. As soon as I figured out how the game works, it sort of became a numbers game which I know would've left the game feeling tedious had I tried to 100% all of the planets. I also think movement felt a little jarring due to the flowers having collision hitboxes, and I think maybe being able to walk through the flowers would add a flow to the movement which in turn would've further aided towards the fleeting and light overall mood of the game.
Those are definitely only minor points though, as overall I really enjoyed the game. It's most certainly one of my favorites so far, feels very aesthetically complete.
Another round of big thanks to everyone! c: The overall reaction seems quite positive, and it's really making us happy. As always there are things that could be improved—especially in a jam game—and it's great to get so much constructive input. <3
@pierallard: Interesting! So you feel like you're moving the planet rather than the character, maybe? Well, technically that's actually what's happening, but not what we tried to give off the feeling of, haha. I guess an option for inverted controllers would be a good idea in a post-jam version, then! Thanks!
@cambryx: Good to know! Opted out of using the mouse since I really would've wanted it to be a gamepad game, but there wasn't time, so this was the next best thing. Again, probably something best handled through multiple controller options in a post-jam version!
@nusan: We did spitball a few ideas for an unlimited inventory, but it was a bit too late into the jam to make anything work, so we just left it the way it was—good to hear it was fine that way. c:
@jaytord: Definitely would've been nice to have had the time to add some more stuff to do, and more goals to shoot for. Watering plants and other mechanics were ideas we toyed with initially, but in the end we didn't have the time. :c
@heinrix: Yeah, not for everyone, but thank you so much for pulling through and playing anyway! Glad you enjoyed the other aspects! c:
@togis: Thanks for the nth time, haha. Again, great stream. Your great personality made it a joy to watch and interact!
@mars: Agreed, it would've been cool if we'd had the time to flesh out some more mechanics and things to do. I actually wanted to make the flowers sway to the side when moving through them instead of just stopping you (the resulting bump was at least cutesy, tho, so that's something!), but didn't prioritise it initially and then there was no time left. For a post-jam version, I'd definitely fix that. The comparison to That Games Company is really heartwarming—those people have a gamedev mindset I strongly identify with! <3
This is a truly lovely game. I had a great time bringing the planet to life! It took me some time to figure that you could scroll and find more plants in the shop (mouse controls for the shop would be a big help) but once I did figure it out it was smooth sailing. The first planet may have been too big and I think it might have taken too long to complete in my opinion (Even though I did stick around because of how charming your game is!). Perhaps starting a new player off with smaller first planet might help? Not sure if that helps but thanks for the great experience!
Cute and charming and certainly looks beautiful. Although I personally prefer to have something working against me, I don't think every game needs a challenge as long as there is a goal (which there is). I can see something more fleshed out being pretty interesting.
Very chill game. Im not sure if there is a lose condition but I enjoyed it never the less. Walking around planting harvesting and planting the art was pleasing and a nice change from some of the other Ludum games I've been playing. Well done!
I really like the game for its peacefulness. The graphics are top notch, it's fun to wander around, observe the plants, harvest seeds and visit the shop. (Who is running a shop on a planet without atmosphere? Who cares? :D) What bothered me the most is that you implemented a confirm-button but no cancel-button, to exit menus faster. That would have been perfect for a two-button gamepad. A, plant, select inventory slot, A, confirmed. B get rid of the plant? B, canceled. Dynamic prices for the seeds would have been nice, too. So you can't flood the shop with the same seeds again and again. Only rare seeds should give good money, as long as the plant is still rare on the planet. The music is a tad too repetitive for my taste. That said, the level of polish in this game is awesome. A great accomplishment for a jam. You deserve success! :D
Thanks, everyone! <3
@blacksheepza: I think at least we might have to patch that scrollbar into the shop to make it clearer. I'll see when I have time to! And yeah, the first planet might take a bit too long. It actually took even longer before, heh.
@silkworm-sweatshop: Yeah, having flowers wither if not taken care of and things like that would've been good at least, but alas, no time. :c
@Zorg: Aaah, in retrospect I'm wondering if I should've put the rocket in place of the shop as some kind of storage instead, haha. A rocket was actually modelled, but had a couple of issues with it in its intended position (on the other pole) and didn't have time to fix it, so I just removed it again. Oh, well! There is a cancel button, actually: the escape key! c: And yeah, I made all the interfaces with a gamepad in mind, but in the end I didn't have time to make it work. Would that be considered an acceptable "fix" according to jam rules? Dynamic prices is a really interesting idea! I don't think either of us thought about that.
Blomst is a beautiful game. It's colorful and looks polished. Gameplay is simple and relaxing. Although it took me a little bit to understand what was going on. At first the grass kinda looked like water and i didn't notice the color coding.
But overall it's a great entry and there is room to expand on the idea :earth_americas:
An amazing entry! Blomst is beautiful, intuitive and fun. And of course, it nails the theme. I would like to see a more polished version of the game. With more music and improved controls and interface (feels a little clunky sometimes).
I love this game, even though it could use some improvements. :)
- Kinda hard to understand at first, so maybe some tutorial? - Allow selling everything by just holding 'E'. It's hard to sell dozens of seeds quickly. - Allow going through the lists so that up direction when you are up throws you to the bottom of the list. - Can't quit the game in the WebGL version :(
But all and all, this is a great game and I'm definitely playing it a little bit more after I write this comment and put the rating there! ;)
It's a beautiful game and the concept is well done. It's pretty fluid and I haven't ran in any bugs. I like that you can use the seeds to plant more stuff or sell them to buy better seeds. Overall you've done a good job with the theme :)
Nice and relaxing game. Very enjoyable to wander around planting. Great entry.
Cool graphisms and chill music making a very good ambiance !
Relaxing game with perfectly fit theme. I can't really say more, the amount of objects added is awesome, I was just missing some real atmospheric scattering to show up!
Keep up the good work.
Pretty neat ! I think this is the game I spend most time with.
Really good game. I enjoyed it a lot!
Many more thanks! 💕
@hdteav: Maybe in retrospect we should've combined the colours with icons. Would help colourblind people too!
@pavel-couril: In case you missed it, you can use the left and right arrow keys to choose how many to sell, and if you go left straight away it'll go around to the maximum amount, much like you suggested for going through the lists. c: Did *not* add that functionality when scrolling up and down the lists as you suggested tho—definitely should have! And yeah, heh, quitting the game in the windowed WebGL version makes no sense anyway, but didn't have time to make those disappear specifically in the web version. :'p
I really love this game. It's very relaxing and fun. Also the graphics are beautiful. I like how the colors change in time when there is more and more atmosphere. at some point it has become a little labitynth with all the plants ;) I liked that there's no timer or anything so you just plant your plants and walk around and not really care about how to optimize. If there was one thing I would add is to be able to sell all button.
Anyway congrat's, it's a really fun and polished entry!
The game invites you to relax and enjoy the beauty of watching your planet bloom. Very artistic game. The first time I played I achieved almost 50% of habitability after a long time playing and I thought it lacked of some balance, but I saw the previous comments and could know about scroll bar in the store :P
Great entry.
I really enjoyed the game! The graphics were beautiful, and the music was very relaxing. I sort of wish there was some SFX in the game though.
I thought that the cells for plant placement made the game feel too restrained for what it is. If I'm playing a relaxing game, I don't want all these limitation, I wanna be able to place flowers wherever I want :D! I also noticed that you move faster going diagonal than up/down/left/right. Otherwise, great game!
It's normal view? Mac OS, Safari.
Снимок экрана 2017-05-13 в 21.40.13.png
But in any case game looks great, sounds and music are cute and art is beautiful. Great job!
I really enjoyed this entry overall, my thoughts are:
**Negatives:** I found picking up seeds really inconsistent, always took a few attempts. Going to the shop and selling just felt like a lot of pointless clicks. When I first started playing I almost gave up as I didn't think there was anything to do, so maybe just needed a bit more to do at the start. Only 3 inventory slots was quite annoying and not sure it added much, as the game didn't seem to be about challenging the player.
**Positives:** You managed to fit a lot of gameplay in here, the various plants unlocking past certain percentages was a nice mechanic. There were no game-breaking bugs, it all held together well and the design was of a high standard. I liked how the planet developed over time, it was a nice feeling to help to grow things. The game was very beautiful and the audio fitted well, so top marks for mood. It was a slow-paced and relaxing game, which I'm a big fan of if done right.
My lasting impression was good, definitely more positive than negative :sunflower: :rose: :cactus:
This is really relaxing and atmospheric. I don't necessarily have a lot to add (though I suppose I can echo the interface concerns of @seconddimension), just really enjoyed it!
Thanks, everyone!
@nardandas: There were a bunch of sound effects besides the music tho, did they not work for you? o:
@pascal: Woah, that's weird! Looks like the atmosphere is rendering in front of the planet instead of behind and just covering it up. I did work on Mac, but I don't think I tried it in Safari (I use Chrome), but it shouldn't look like that, no. o-o As for diagonal movement, woops, seems I forgot to normalise the direction vector—good catch!
@seconddimension: Thanks for the constructive criticism! Can't really disagree. Would definitely work on fixing those little things if I were to work on a post-jam version. c:
Woo! Mission complete! Playing this was really relaxing, I kind of zoned out there for a while. Lovely art and shader work on the planet, the background music was nice and ambient and I liked the sound effect for when a plant seeded.
Only bad thing I can say really is toward the end the collisions were getting annoying, I think the game would have been better without them as you still had the radius check on planting so colliding was essentially unnecessary.
Great entry!
I really enjoy the relaxing intentional monotony of this game. Feels a lot like real gardening (my other hobby). It even depicts the practical logistic problems of over-planting and not knowing what to get rid of to make room for something new.
The only thing that really bugged me was that the menu cursor in the "sell" menu moves upwards when the last seed of a certain type is sold. This caused me to unintentionally hit "back" and exit the shop quite a few times. The cursor could move down (instead or up) or the "back" button could be moved to the bottom. But I don't think there should be a "sell all" option since that would increase the game play tempo.
As for aesthetics: Music, sound effects, 3d-models and graphical are all lovely and more importantly they suit each other very well.
So to sum it up: Great stuff! And I'm really looking forward to see what your team manage to come up with next time.
(I was fairly certain that I had already commented on this one. Better late than never, I guess.)
Really love the game :D Very well polished and quite unique! Congrats :)