FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD38 → Down the Rabbit Hole

Down the Rabbit Hole

By Kurt Roembke and those-30-ninjas

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall454.0684
Fun803.8684
Innovation194.1784
Theme2563.6784
Graphics1064.3184
Audio494.0383
Humor1383.4380
Mood973.8783

Comments

those-30-ninjas 2017-04-24 22:59

Test

matita 2017-04-28 15:59

Wow, this is one of the few LD games I played that can be seen as a complete game!

Super cute graphics, great music and a very strong game design.

Please tell me you had it already designed or at least deep thought before LD started, because the movement system it's working so well. It took me some time to get used to it, but when you get it it seems perfect. The bunnies also have a good AI.

I didn't get to the end, and it's also not very clear if there is an end. Maybe you did it on purpose to force the players to play as long as they can! But I bookmarked it and I'll definitely try to finish it.

Great work!

affinitychris 2017-04-30 17:42

This is my favorite Troll Games entry yet ;)

affinitychris 2017-05-01 13:35

Little analysis and playthrough of the game (especially since I wasn't around to participate on this one :[ ) - https://youtu.be/k8GZzbCA7v4

Hopefully it'll help bring some extra eyes to the game!

nvrskipgameday 2017-05-01 16:08

I loved this game. You could easily polish it up and sell it and I would buy it. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but that's it. I love the music and SFX, the graphics are charming and the gameplay is really innovative. A fun card puzzle game! Really well done.

nidup 2017-05-01 16:10

Super lovely graphics. Solid game design, mechanics & feedback. Good sounds too add to the overall ambiance. My favorite tested game up to now (i share it to friends btw). Great job!

wolar 2017-05-01 16:21

It took me some time to realize how the movement (card usign) works but other that that I really loved everything, especially graphics.

davidthelazar 2017-05-01 16:31

Whoa, this is awesome. It took me a little while to understand exactly how everything worked (because I stupidly didn't read your game description until after trying it), but once I did it became a surprisingly deep game. Very nice graphics, very nice sound, very fun gameplay. I really like the gameboy aesthetic and this game works perfectly with it.

First game I've played this LD that I would consider buying as is. Great job!

scrumplesplunge 2017-05-01 16:38

This is really nice :) It took me a while to figure out what the cards meant but I got it eventually. The game is pretty fun!

killerkun 2017-05-01 16:49

Incredible puzzle game, I love how the moves are determined by cards and the way you are at a clear disadvantage over the bunnies makes it fun and challenging.

The art and retro look are completely on point! This is over all one of my favorites :)

pierallard 2017-05-01 16:57

I played all the day to Ludum dare games, I think it's the most addictive I had for now! Everything is polished ; music, effects, design... And most important: the idea! Fantastic, I love it, and want more levels!

fran-segura 2017-05-01 17:19

A really solid and well crafted game. I was a bit confused at first about how to play it until I understood the mechanics. Lovely art style and presentation, it looks like a commercial game. Congrats to the team!

zarkonnen 2017-05-01 17:52

Neat mechanics, but one thing I don't understand is how your choice affects the opponent's access to the battlefield.

vidinu 2017-05-01 19:03

Maybe that can be seen as a complete game, impresive in a jam. No need tutorial, have history and charisma character, and it has a very entertaining gameplay. Super cute retro graphics, great music and a very beautiful game design. I'm in love with this game. Well done.

See my jam game: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/limited-space

npizzle1 2017-05-01 19:26

This game is so fun. i love the concept and the sounds are great. The art style is cool too. Great game well done!

theclinthennesy 2017-05-01 19:31

I loved it. And I really like the style/art of the game itself.

I don't play a lot of strategy games- so I would say this is probably the most complex when it comes to turn-based stuff. I wouldn't say the gameplay wasn't fun for me- It's just normally not that type of game I would play. :D

As for the aesthetics though. Like I mentioned, I liekd it. The music and the bloops bouncing effects give it a nice feel overall the game as well. I'm not sure why you guys chose to use green as a main color for the entire game- but I feel like purple might have given it a better "mystery/rabbit hole" feel. :P

Just a suggestion/some thoughts though.

geckoo1337 2017-05-01 20:26

Great game. You got me - I took a heart in the middle, but my cards didn't allow me to get a free place. I have fallen in the void. I love the main gameplay and the mood. The unusual story which you tell is interesting. I assume that noone could do something more or less similar. You have a pretty imagination. One of my favorite projects. Thank you ++

pfeyffer 2017-05-01 23:55

This might be the best ld38 game I've played so far. Nice retro GameBoy graphics and matching soundtrack, the gameplay is easy to learn and challenging to the end. Magical.

moski 2017-05-02 04:37

I'm so very pleased by this game. It's magnificent from top to bottom. I admit I skipped the instructions and didn't understand how to play for the first two rounds, but then I got astonished.

From the gameplay perspective, it's very simple, but executed supremely well. I began trying to just move from point A to B, but then I understood that I had to pay attention to the rabbit's movements, and also consider the next move. It gains a lot of depth, and I can see this getting off the rails with some additions if you ever decide to continue this project. I'd really like to see how this would pan out with cards that add or change stuff, environmental things, and possibly even some versus mode. The mind games would be fantastic!

Since I'm the artist of my team, I like looking at what other people do with their art directions. Going with the gameboy vibe does the (hat) trick here. The magician's sprite is gorgeous, and the rest is just what it needs to be. There's no excess nor confusion.

The music adds to the feeling of the thing. Not my style, but it does fit correctly, and goes along the mood. It's always good to have an audio person on board, so be sure to congratulate them :)

Overall, it's a very polished experience. I do like the presentation a lot, and the "It's the third time this week" kind of humor never goes old for me. I'm rating this so very well :whale:

Do you or your crew have Twitter accounts? I'd really like to see what you come up with in the future. Anyhow, congratulations once again, and enjoy the rest of the jam!

cosmic-adventure-squad 2017-05-02 07:20

Great retro style! The music and audio fit well too. Interesting card mechanic, but unfortunately I got to a level where I started in the middle and the cards available to me both had no valid place to go so I ended up losing immediately.

huvaakoodia 2017-05-02 10:44

The :rabbit: :rabbit: :rabbit: might not have the smarts, but they've got the numbers! Funny how going in to find a single wascally wabbit ends up in the systematic termination of a whole bunch of them. What is this magician up to really!?

Neat retro graphics, the music is splendid. Hit my nostalgia bone pretty hard that.

Quality work!

dgspitzer 2017-05-02 12:20

Excellent game design! Combining with card games, there are so many strategies behind it! Love it!

wtoa 2017-05-02 14:30

Holy crap this is a good game! I think I just lost 15 minutes playing it! The puzzle elements are great, I think an area to improve is to show the difference between your card and the rabbit's card (eventually I got it) but some sort of visual indication would be amazing!

smbe19 2017-05-02 15:34

Cool game, played it til the end! It's really interesting to find the next move such that the rabbits can't attack you.

Does the opponent have some fancy "intelligence" or is it just "go as close to the player as possible"?

sebasrez 2017-05-02 15:47

Voted! Great puzzle mechanic. I was sure how the bunnys moved in the beginning or what their pattern was until I realized the cards on the right were meant to be their cards. Once I got the handle of it, I really enjoyed the premise. I honestly think the theme in this entry is a bit out there compared to small world but its still a nice entry with great graphics.

stanislav 2017-05-02 17:27

Very funny! Nice job!

julien-foucher 2017-05-02 18:17

Very nice game ! One of the games I enjoyed the most in this jam. Interesting puzzle mechanics, funny little cinematic story... I love it !

askania-m 2017-05-02 20:33

I found the concept great, so funny and scary at the same time :D I played it with pleasure, but it was too hard to keep the magician alive! There is a lack of lives and the rabbits are too clever moving towards and killing :) Besides that, music is great. Top rates for you!

gerardb 2017-05-02 20:34

That was amazing! Great graphics, great animations, great sound, great gameplay.

My only complaint is game speed. It felt a little too slow.

But this is definatelly one of my favourite games! Good job!

samlo 2017-05-02 22:19

Fun game. I really like hex tactics game like this. The card system is very cool, but once you understand how the game works it's pretty easy to not make any mistakes

fiote 2017-05-03 17:13

I love to find games with new mechanics. This one was a blast! Really interesting to have to keep an eye on the enemy options and play accordingly. I died on my first play-through and then I realized the stages were not the same! Pretty cool stuff for a jam game, with limited time we all had and such. Congratulations!

caterein 2017-05-03 19:16

This was a really clever idea for the theme. Great execution and super enjoyable. Just overall a great entry! :)

sir-magic 2017-05-03 21:27

Nice ideas and graphics. The turn-based style of this game worked well with the art style. At first, I was wondering if a tutorial would be needed but after a few minutes of gameplay, I realised that the mechanics are easy enough to understand on their own.

To improve, maybe just explain a bit in-game of how to play.

jlus 2017-05-04 00:20

This is such a cute yet scary game! Love the little story at the start, it really sets the mood. It's a bit hard for me to see the tiles that you can move to, although I do get an indication from the cards. Overall, its a fun game!

kurt-roembke 2017-05-04 05:02

https://spaceowl.bandcamp.com/track/down-the-rabbit-hole

Download or stream the soundtrack here!

<3

drestuff 2017-05-04 07:44

Mysterious narrative, hexagonal puzzle gameplay, cool pixel art.. What more is there to ask for?! This Ludum Dare entry felt very complete and polished. Great work! :tophat: :rabbit: :sparkles:

zaibakk 2017-05-04 11:47

Nice game here! The mood is very intriguing and the pixel art is cool. I liked the idea of cards! Good job here! :)

morrilet 2017-05-04 20:06

Clever! I don't think I'll ever be able to play this without sitting there thinking about my move for at least a couple minutes. The story fit the theme really creatively, and the art was just fantastic. Really stellar work. The only thing I don't *quite* get still is the way that the cards swap when you make your move. Maybe I just didn't pay close enough attention. Either way, this is a really solid, well polished entry.

spinaljack 2017-05-04 22:59

Really nice game, love the gameboy graphics and the music. I'm not clever enough to finish it though.

silvertwig 2017-05-05 00:46

This definitely could be released as a complete game, as others have commented, Really digging the art style and the gameplay movements with the cards are just perfect. Nice feeling of accomplishment when you correctly move on the rabbit or door, with the same challenge of not being jumped on yourself. A really great concept from beginning to end, and I know I will have a good time completing this gem of a game.

Fantastic work!! One of my favourites!

iron-leonem 2017-05-05 03:34

Great game, great aesthetic, awesome twist on an established board game. You really made Onitama your own!

diptoman 2017-05-05 08:28

This is awesome! Very well polished, original (as far as I can tell anyway), and has a lot of depth to it! The art and audio is spot on too - with the idea of the game. I don't particularly think it pertains to the theme as much, but that's okay. Great stuff!

fiery-squirrel 2017-05-05 14:56

This is a very nice idea, I wanna know how did you think about that mechanics. The only thing that was frustrating is taking me back to the beginning after game over, there should be at least something that allowed me keep playing in the same level, mostly because it's annoying playing all the levels again. Another thing is probably explaining how to play, it took me some time to figure it out. Lovely graphics and sounds, very nice game!

fatpenguin 2017-05-05 17:29

Really cool innovative game! I had to restart a lot but never managed to finish^^ Is there an end? Except for the first level the level are random, I guess? Because of this, I was able to see a lot of content without playing through every level a hundred times :slight_smile:

Overall: Really Awesome! Please make more games :thumbsup:

haberworks 2017-05-05 20:34

fantastic presentation - the audio and visuals are complimentary and well done. the gameplay mechanic is unique with a good challenge. definitely enjoyed the levels i played.

sean-s-leblanc 2017-05-06 05:20

Very interesting game!

Some criticisms: - the turns feel *very* slow-paced - being able to restart at the current level would cut down on the frustration of losing a lot - there's very little to indicate what the three card groups actually represent: the player has to figure out how to use their set to make any progress, but it would be nice if hovering over the bunnies' set gave a preview of the enemy movements to make it clear how that mechanic works - there's nothing in-game to indicate that you can move onto the bunnies; I think most people would assume the player would take damage if they did this - connection to the theme is a bit tenuous

Although the game could use some polish in terms of interaction + teaching the player, it's otherwise quite fun, the artwork is cute, and it's mechanically engaging. Great entry!

badscotsman 2017-05-06 09:48

Nice game intro and fun to experience. Interesting interpretation of the theme; card puzzler? ^^ Love the retro feel with a great job on the graphics and sound... and a plus on the styling for setting the mood. The game felt complete too. Well done.

markusfisch 2017-05-06 14:34

What a lovely game! Great idea and a fine humor! Look and audio is spot on for me and the concept is really interesting. One of the best entries I've played so far.

hdteav 2017-05-06 15:47

Awesome. Intro, music, sound effects, graphics and gameplay, everything is awesome. I don't know what else to say. Awesome :sparkles:

yami-no-tenshi-8 2017-05-06 17:22

It was a really good game, nice concept, neat realization, love it ! The music is really good, graphics and AD are nice as well ! I would have love not starting over from the beginning after losing. And the pace was maybe a bit slow. Anyway, really solid entry !!! :thumbsup:

adroitconceptions 2017-05-06 17:57

It wasn't clear how to 'clear' the rabbits. graphics, audio, gameplay were all interesting.

shiitman 2017-05-08 13:51

Great concept and great implementation.

cablay 2017-05-09 05:50

Very nice! There seemed to be just the right amount of depth for a game this size and I really liked the art as well.

secret-tunnel 2017-05-09 19:20

Awesome presentation! Seems like there's a lot of depth to this strategy too, I could see myself putting a lot of time into this, haha.

siegfriedcroes 2017-05-09 20:17

Really well made puzzle game! Really liked the Game Boy style graphics and audio :D It would've been even better if the pixel art was 100% pixel perfect but that's just a detail that probably only I notice :P Anyway, you did a fantastic job so congrats!

icxon 2017-05-09 20:42

It feels great and it plays great. Nothing to add, sorry.

Maybe it is better to make forthcoming cards more darker, but I'm not sure:

20cd.png

huminaboz 2017-05-10 04:17

This music is AWESOME! At first I thought the cards were arbitrary because they looked like the design of a back of a card. Would love to see more options to strategize with your cards.

gameattack 2017-05-10 10:04

Wow ! It seems there is a massive amount of work behind this game and the intro animation. Awesome!

teslov 2017-05-10 20:11

Extremely well thought gameplay, amazing graphics, nice music, it's hard to believe this masterpiece was done so quickly.

I would need months or years to make it through level design alone...

ryte2byte 2017-05-10 21:10

This is super great! I loved it. It is a fantastic concept and you created so many levels in such a short amount of time. I'll admit, I could take or leave the Gameboy inspired presentation, but it at least makes it unique. I played before reading the instructions and found it very intuitive.

It is a bit of a strange thing that the levels are in a random order. I would like to have some measure of progress/score. Simply keeping a level counter on the screen would probably suffice. Also, that level with the TONS of bunnies: Not a fan. It takes FAR to long for all of them to move. Like, "I walked away and made dinner while the bunnies were moving" too long (True story!)

Kudos on making one of the most solid and complete entries I've played from this LD!

archimagus 2017-05-12 03:05

This looked and sounded amazing. The music was spot on. I don't usually go for the retro game aesthetic, but this brought me right back to playing Game Boy.

The card mechanic was neat, but I found it to be a bit frustrating after the novelty wore off. Maybe I was just bad at it, but it just seemed too random as to where I would be able to move.

One issue, it has full screen button, but doesn't scale properly. I tried playing in full screen but it stretches weird and cuts off a large portion of the screen.

Overall, a very good entry. Well done.

kwisarts 2017-05-15 23:01

It is pretty cute and I like the sounds, made me feel like I was playing a gameboy game. The music is nice but... I don't know, it feels a bit... stressful? Kind of expected something a bit more joyful; right there it makes me feel like I'm in a cave or something. I wish the bunnies would move way faster though, they got on my nerves at some point... Otherwise, pretty cute :)

pixlwalkr 2017-05-16 19:37

Nice game and awesome music, Good pixel art also. I enjoyed playing it.

ponywolf 2017-05-17 20:18

Great little game. I liked the turn based card play, but I don't know if I really understood the strategy of how/why I was swapping cards with the rabbits. Graphics were spot on though. Super solid entry.

apostrophe 2017-05-18 02:55

Interesting concept. I enjoyed the Gameboy-like graphics and the intro animations/graphics. I think I made it to the sixth stage before the rabbits bum-rushed me. Quite enjoyable. :)

reiv 2017-05-18 03:30

That intro was funny. I enjoyed the gameplay. The graphics and music are wonderful! Great solid entry!

takusan 2017-05-18 17:15

Okay, really solid. Except for maybe making it pixel-perfect (movement) and adding more levels, I have absolutely no suggestions otherwise - graphics are good and adhere to pixel graphics rules, music is very fitting, game is pretty much complete.

Awesome job! I'd love to give some more constructive feedback, but the mechanic is good as it is. Probably only extensive playtesting would reveal some issues.

Cheers, and stay awesome!

mgadrat 2017-05-18 21:51

It takes long to understand the whole system, but when you're in, it's difficult to stop the game ! When I launched the game in full screen on Firefox, the screen was cut (buttons invisible). Lovely graphics & music !

stoemason 2017-05-18 21:58

Nice. I'd, no joke, love an actual gameboy version of this :D

managore 2017-05-20 11:59

This is a stunning entry! The way the cards shuffle between you and the opponents is incredibly original and adds a lot of strategy while keeping all the information right in front of you and super simple, and I think that can often be very difficult to do in a turn based strategy game. I wanted to use a hex grid for my game as well, but getting the tile based movement and everything else working properly took such a long time I had to give up and stick to a square grid, but you've not only used a hex grid, you've added card based movement and moving AIs!

The visuals, the audio and the story are all top notch as well, of course, but I think everyone else has said that already!