Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD45 → Zen Man
By mrerdalural, idikit and team-catwheel
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 394 | 3.60 | 105 | |
| Fun | 642 | 3.16 | 105 | |
| Innovation | 336 | 3.49 | 105 | |
| Theme | 500 | 3.38 | 103 | |
| Graphics | 273 | 3.98 | 104 | |
| Humor | 793 | 2.17 | 89 | |
| Mood | 168 | 3.87 | 103 |
my favourite game so far. Saw different meditating game and this one renders the concentration concept very well. The movement is smooth, the graphics perfect, I loved the round progress bar and the animations. Very well done!
Can't understand the point of game part of this game :U I'm so far from meditation stuff.
Like it. Maybe distracting thoughts could be more visualized.
Really fun, graphics and audio were perfect, well done :)
Very Zen! Understood the game mechanics without reading the instructions, graphic style is consistent and great looking, and the audio perfect. One thing I missed was not getting some "zen" back when I completed a section, it would've extended my place session and feel rewarding at the same time.
Interesting concept. I really liked the outer black ring for the health indication. I reached level 6.
The first philosophical game of the day. Perfectly clean and efficient graphics and a superb sound accompaniment. A true success. level 4 211.8 secs.
Awesome! On the dipel in St. Petersburg, it looked very strange, but you just need to try it yourself! This is the second LD-level artwork game!
Awesome game. The graphics are so good. Even if the gameplay is pretty simple to understand, it gets so hard to dodge the thoughts. Interesting, you have to focus so much, a game about playing this game almost. Liked the birds and the music. Really, an awesome game, great work ! :thumbsup:
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Here's my score !
@darkcmd @jlindell thank you for the constructive criticism!
@darkcmd The first idea was to use sprites instead of text but the time limitation didn't allow it unfortunately.
@jlindell Getting some “zen” back is actually really good idea! I'm only concerned that it might make the game a bit too simple. I want people who enjoy this kind of games to try at least a few times before they get to reach the game's.
Cool game! Reached nirvana and learned Zen)
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@xakkar Hahahaha! Congratulations and best wishes for your next adventure! You are the first!
This is extremely satisfying!
Great game. Love the aestethic and the general polish.
I did somehow miss the highscore...
This is a really pretty game, also very interesting gameplay. I haven't played something like this in the jam and it does stand out as one of my favorite entries so far. The circle that gets less black is a really cool feature, and the fix rotating as well as moving makes it feel more alive
@azamatika can you explain what part of the gameplay you didn't understand? The controls? The goal? Do you have any suggestions? Making this game as understandable as I am able to make is one of my challenges. Your feedback can be very useful for the future versions.
@mrerdalural i think that game need gameplay feedback. I understand that game more like art house meditation installation, but each stage goal bar would be nice, cause it's still a game for wide audience (i hope). And about controls - holding left mouse button not a best choice for a meditation style game, if the ball always follows the cursor without lmb holding, you won’t lose anything.
@azamatika Thanks! I will add more feedback for level progress. The reason we did hold down left click was for accesibility for the players who would want to play the game with a gamepad or a keyboard. Also we could disable mouse controls on keyboard or gamepad input.
Really nice graphics and gameplay
Nice graphics and smooth controls. The movement of the disctracting thoughts is quite unpredictable near the edge. Had fun maditating :smile:
Awesome game ! Graphics are nice, the zen music when you concentrate is awesome, controls are easy to use. Congrats !
Very clean and polished! The sound effects and ambience work every well to help immersion. I dug it.
simple game!! really loved the way you made
:)
Really good game. Now i know that i'm not very zen in this moment ;)
This is so nice and relaxing ! I absolutely love it !
Well, this was certainly a unique entry. Interesting concept and art style!
Love the take on the theme. This was such a relaxing game, it really makes you want to keep playing. Everything was spot on and feels very polished. Really great work!
Reached nirvana in 132 seconds. Really relaxing experience! Probably must try it at the end of the day after work. :D
Simple and very well polished. Liked it!
Really amazing experience my guy, not only are you being super helpful by leaving tons of quality feedback, you are also making great game! Glad we have you in our community
I liked the kind of ludonarrative consistency of this game. You actually need to keep your head empty if you want to reach the virtual nirvana. The audio is great, too bad I can't rate it!
Nice art work!
died to sex, feels bad man x)
This game is so relaxing, the colour scheme works really well, and seeing the ink drawings come to life is really cool! This is such an original interpretation of the theme! This audio worked well with the overall style! Overall, this was a very good jam entry! The audio*
Nice presentation. Enjoyable to play.
The sound is spot on, ambient, instruments, very nice. I would maybe mix up the gameplay after a bit o time but the game is simple and that fits with the theme you went with :D. Artstile fits amaizingly well too!
interesting really interesting...
Nice game) that is how the person really feels in a meditation. Looks very polished and finished, good job)
Very nice and contemplative experience. Feels somewhat like making a zen garden. Graphics and audio are both great. I really enjoyed this one!
This was really pleasing to look at and listen to. As an occasional meditator, it goes some way to capture the essence of mindfulness, to notice one's mind drifting and coming back to the point of attention.
The artwork and sound were so beautiful that they encouraged me to play until nirvana. I love that this explored one idea / mechanic.
Really well made game, well done. I really like the mood and was so focused on playing I didn't notice the image being created around the side on my first play through. The only thing I can say is using a mouse was much easier than using WASD.
I only reached lv 6 meditation cuz sex keeped bumping into my focus.The game is superb and what I mostly loved were the art ,gameplay and music that are simple but super effective with creating that relaxed feeling. Nice game!
At first I was confused but then it became pretty fun.
It took me a long while to realize I had to click to begin. Once I sorted that out this was a really entertaining and relaxing game. I really like your interpretation of the theme, too. I made it to meditation level 7 in 191 seconds, though I'm not sure how exactly that stacks up.
Overall this was a really cool entry. Great work!
What a great visual treatment! You really nailed the theme on this one, and the control is very smooth. The ambient nature sounds are also a really nice touch. Well done!
Interesting concept and nice atmosphere. By the later part of the game though it had the opposite effect of its theme...I was stressing about all the thoughts in my way.
@gold5games Then you are not focusing enough! Be like the flowing wind! Stress is not your ally.
Great visuals and audio. Playing on a laptop, the instructions were below the screen and I didn't see. so first game I was clueless
@anne-ogborn Yeah... Unfortunately I don't think itch.io lets us put the instructions above the game window.
At first we decided that we should let player discover how the game is played by themselves but after the first few comments we realized that most people don't have that kind of time because they are looking forward to increase their coolness score by rating games as quickly as possible so we included the instructions on the web page but it was too late to include them inside the game.
Thanks for playing our game and a greater thanks for taking your time to understand the game! I hope you had fun playing it!
@morrilet Hahahaha! Sorry for that! I guess we went a little bit overboard with start with nothing theme.
@purpoappo The zen masters start to teach their student by confusing them first. Because you are in the present moment when you are confused. So it was all intended! I'm glad it worked for you. Some people don't give that kind of chance to the games like these.
@ashashza I'm so glad to have people with meditation experience play our game and understand what feeling we went for. Thank you for your comment! It meant a lot to us!
@gaming-night Thanks! I just learned a new English word! Ludonarrative is a very cool word!
We opted out on audio because we used and distorted the stuff we found online. We got different notes of koto by adjusting the pitch of a single koto note audio sample to values that fits the notes in classical Japanese koto music.
Very evocative of my meditation practice. At first I was "eh, not enough distracting thoughts", then it picked up and felt just right :) I enjoyed it, gets very hard though, which is fine. Didn't manage past level 7. The style is nice and the sounds/music used too.
I do have a problem with the tail a bit, as it distracts visually where exactly I'll get hit.
@hajden your problem with the tail is noted! Thank you for the feedback! Did you play it with a mouse or a keyboard? (Mouse & Gamepad) = Hard, Mouse = Easy
I played with mouse
@hajden too bad you didn't reach nirvana.
I gave it only 2 tries so far, but it's very repayable and I'm curious to see it through
I couldn't get to nirvana but I've got the feeling I was pretty close both times, level 7 :) I'm condemned to think about money and sex for the rest of my life. Good game!
Definitely unique concept and gameplay. Smart and fun to play, this is a great entry !
Graphics are so beautiful :O , very good and original concept, good job
Great concept, very well executed, congratulations. Really nice entry!
Good meditation game. Would have some potential as a relaxing mobile game.
@zakamana The html version actually runs in mobile but it's very hard to play because your finger takes up too much space and you cannot see clearly. We will consider a mobile port with an alternative input style after the jam.
Wow nice concept! it was more like an experience than a game but ohh boi really relaxing and beautiful experience... Very great entry : )
also my highest rating in mood so far and possible it will keep this spot :)
I really lowe this game! It's really relaxing, fits with the theme well, and creates an amazing mood! Nicely done!
I dont know what was it that i was doing but i felt a bit relaxed although with some calming BG continuous music it would have felt more zen perhaps? Either way i realised im so far away from peace/meditational stuff.
@karanveer actually there is some ambient sounds that you unlock in the 4th level. The first few level are silent on purpose. Could you read the instructions and try again before you rate it please?
Or better I will explain it right here. You need to stay inside the koi fishes for a few seconds to reach next level but also need to avoid thoughts (moving texts). They damage your concentration (the outer ring) and remove few seconds from koi fishes. If you are out of concentration it is game over. You don't actually need to know how to meditate to play this game. The game play is actually a bullet hell where you cannot shoot.
Okay I did play the game a few times and i got hang of it after 4 times. Im defintitely not a yogi. Also, I did read instructions .. what i am talking about is a CONTINUOUS flow of BG Music. Anyhow, GG :) LD455555.PNG
Great mood! Although my cat woke up for the bird sounds while sleeping next to me :D He clearly could not meditate! I like how the circle is your lifebar. Nice UI implementation!
Nice little relaxing game! The mood is the key point of this game. I meditated for 105 seconds :D
Really classy art! Just in case you wanna try our game again, we now have a WebGL, so no more scary random Avast popups!
Relaxing game - I need more games like yours. Neat concept with a simple gameplay. I like the way you manage with the theme - zen attitude. I played with mouse, but I started using keyboard. There is no many noise or sounds - so this create an minimalist mood. Well done. Thank you ++
@huitre I played your game and updated my comment.
Very clever and ZEN game. Would have loved to hear some music. If you need any for future projects let me know!
A game about meditation uh? That's a new concept, very creative! At some point I think I started meditating myself and just stopped reading whatever was popping up and just went with the flow of the game till the end. Great game!
Hey, I played your game on my stream if you're interested in watching the video. REALLY loved the game. (Apologies for the kinda bad audio mix)
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/494757431
Very cool. I would like to play this with touch controls and maybe some vibrations to let you know when you have well or have touched a bad thought. I enjoyed this take on the theme as it more or less repeats itself at the end of each successful...dare I say "meditation?" :D
@weeping-rupee Wow man! Thanks for the video and the great feedback. We are seriously thinking about doing a post jam version of this game we really appreciate your input. It's a shame the collisions bugged out on the last level (thoughts aren't supposed to get out of the ring).
Very nice game. I included it in my Ludum Dare 45 compilation video series, if you’d like to take a look :) https://youtu.be/ZqT_X6b-pfk
A Zen game is no game. Still, this is close. You did well with the theme, and overall this is a solid entry. Nice work.
Music and sound effects gets you in the mood. As a fan of buddha's teachings I really like your idea and it's a cool concept for the theme. Game was relaxing. Good job guys (Tebrikler!)
Does this game read mind? I kept getting "sex" as a distraction more often than any other.
On a serious note amazing job. Great graphics, interesting adaption of the theme fitting sounds and music. Loved the concept.
I guess I'm not very good at this game after all :sweat_smile:
But it does require intense focus to avoid those chaotically spiraling words. But I guess it's even as intense the focus needed to meditate and clear your mind!
Nice take on this Ludum Dare. Peaceful music, nice graphics, while simple, and well put together game!
I went beastmode and achieved Nirvana! Almost beat @xakkar's score:
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> lol...I just used the mouse instead of the keyboard to move
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@itsdanidre Oh nooo! Final image spoiler alert!!! hahahaha! Don't worry about it I'm gonna post a gameplay video soon anyway!
:sweat_smile: you spooked me a bit was about to delete it :joy:
All good!
I love the evolution of the background, it's a very well thought-out idea. I tried the directional keys and the mouse and it's much easier with the mouse :D Relaxing and cool game, good job.
Very very beautiful and a nice interactive meditation experience ... I imagine this would be really nice being played on the ipad with the fingers
@velvetlobster the webgl build is mobile friendly you should be able to play it on an ipad right now
@mrerdalural I will try it when I have my ipad on and see how it goes then ... perhaps you could leverage from features like force press and multiple touches if you intend to focus on mobile platforms in the future
What I liked: * The art! It's beautiful. Really fits the mood and theme. * Relatively simple controls. * The background fading in! * The effect of shattering thoughts when you hit them. It's all very subtle and not-distracting.
Some other notes:
* I was a little confused because I thought staying with the fish would protect me, but it didn't. * At first, I didn't actually notice the background fading in, because I was focusing on the middle section and the fading effect was very soft and subtle. I only really noticed the circle moving, but I didn't realize it refers to levelling up so I thought nothing is happening and it's just about staying as long as you can. * I got to level 7!
Interesting concept, and art works with the theme. Shoudn`t it be "Focus" a thing to collect and not to avoid, since you`re meditating? Good game overall.
@kaizo thinking about focusing also distracts you from focusing
Ego kills.
I've reached Nirvana in 193 seconds. I actually like that there is an ending, because at this point there was such a cluster of word that adding one or two more words would make the level unbeatable. I also liked the background change.
The gameplay itself might not be particularly innovative, but it's not overplayed, either, and here it's surrounded with a neat story and matching aesthetics. I don't know if fish symbolise something, but they're pretty and they're fish, so I won't mind even if they don't. Some things weren't immediately obvious (e.g. it took me quite a few hits to spot how the health is displayed), but I don't mind.
I also like that in this theme execution starting with nothing is beneficial (you want to keep it as nothing as possible) rather than detrimental (you have no abilities/tools/money and must gather them).
Overall, relaxing and aesthetically pleasing entry*. Well done. ^^
*I first typed "empty" for some reason; must be either the game or the theme in general
Very... zen ;) Loved it. The graphics were really nice and the smooth movement of your little ball made it a joy to play. Now, I misread the instructions at first and thought I was supposed to avoid the fish... so I was wondering what was going on for a while... hehe, but that's on me.
Great idea and interesting take on the theme. Very well done.
Wow I loved the colour palette used here, and the ink-brush art style is really unique! The gameplay feels pretty good, works well with the theme I think, but I wish the hitbox inside the fishes was a bit bigger or had a bit more feedback, since I wasn't sure if it was registering even if it looked like I was right in the correct spot. Overall very solid!