Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD46 → Across the Lake
By stephan-steinbach, Steve LaVietes, Casual Effects and Forrester Cole
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 27 | 4.33 | 55 | |
| Fun | 219 | 3.91 | 55 | |
| Innovation | 137 | 3.99 | 55 | |
| Theme | 133 | 4.24 | 54 | |
| Graphics | 30 | 4.66 | 56 | |
| Audio | 90 | 4.18 | 52 | |
| Mood | 12 | 4.54 | 55 |
This game is great! There's so many things I would think of keeping alive, but a stone skipping? No way, great use of theme. I was pleasantly surprised that there was more depth to the mechanics then it looked like, the physics were quality and the art and audio were amazing. Easily the best game I've played so far!
Most beautiful game I've seen so far. I think you'll place really high in graphics. I also love how chill and simple it is.
Such a beautiful atmosphere - the reflections, colours, sound effects, attention to detail. The gameplay was basic, but I think that's what you were going for. Something calming and peaceful. You certainly succeeded at that. Well done!
The atmosphere... is really great! I love the colors of this game, the mood is pretty nice. You've made a really good game guy!
All those years of rhythm games paid off, my best "run" was 59 skips over a total distance of 172.8m. It really draws you in, you pretty much reach some stone-skipping zen state while playing it, aiming for those perfect bops. The graphics are really pretty as already mentioned, I especially love the nighttime, with the houses in the background, but I think my favorite part is the parallax on the lake with the small colored particles, that added a good feeling of speed to it. Sound-design-wise, the music also added to the zen thing, with its more mystical tone. And on top of all that, it also felt very smooth to play, with the reflection as a good indicator when to bop, and the sound effects guiding towards that perfect moment. So yeah, all-around a great job, well done!
Wow! This is my favorite thing from the jam so far. Beautiful art, tranquil sound design, innovative concept. I love this.
Great theme tie in and beautiful art! Also, how is the quadplay engine? I've been looking for an engine to develop raspberry pi games on.
Thank you! I made the quadplay engine, so I'm too biased to give you a fair response. Try [it yourself](https://github.com/morgan3d/quadplay) and see. It runs well on Raspberry Pi 4 at full res and can do lower res (like 192x112) on older Pis.
Love the zen atmosphere. Everything works so well together to make a really nice final product. Great example of how a low resolution game can feel extremely polished!
Absolutely brilliant! Such a simple idea and it was executed beautifully. The colors, sounds and music made for a very zen atmosphere not to mention the addictive gameplay. I just found myself clicking again and again just to see if I could beat the previous distance I got! The art was amazing and I loved how the scene in the background transitioned from sunset to evening. My best was 85.3m with 29 skips.
oh to be a stone skipping across a lake
great graphics, flows so smoothly.
awesome graphics and sound
what a beautiful game. The visuals are just breathtaking. Reminds me of Vancouver. Simple gameplay, satisfying feedback, beautiful graphics - everything is just well crafted. Great job!
this is surreal, so sweet, as comfy as promised. very pleasantly suprised
Very pretty game. You did a lot with 2D graphics and it is very impressive. I liked the simplicity and day/night cycle. Nice work!
Really nice graphics, it feels so nice
I like your graphical preferences. Good work!
Wow, wonderful! I like art, music, sound fx, mechanic... all! I played about 30 games and your game is the first i give 5 stars in all categories. Congrats!
Lovely aesthetics! And the atmosphere is on point. Great work. :) Furthest I got was 34.1m.
Awesome, great entry. Love the art and mood. Sound effects and music are minimalisic but fit stylistically very well. The core gameplay loop is even simpler, but addicitve. Creative implementation of the theme. Good stuff!
Wow! In the beginning I was not too impressed by the simplicity of the Gameplay. But then I figured out when to press and it looks so beautiful and I just wanted to get a little further than before - and then I played for 15min or so :-D. I tried to cross the lake, but I stopped at ~800m (cumulated) - IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE?!. And then the Night came! This game is art! :)
Great atmosphere!
I love the artwork and the whole atmosphere. Really nice and simple game with the potential of addiction, because you want to get further every time. Really nice entry, awesome work.
This game is so beautiful and the atmosphere is so relaxing. Physics keeps you playing to keep these perfect skips. Great job.
This game is addicting. I spent 15 or so minutes trying to get better and Better on my timing got about 20 or so skips and then died :c. But the stunning art. I was speechless how amazing it was. The beautiful changing atmosphere was a HUGE highlight on this game. I loved every second I played. No complaints. The fourth game I'm giving 5*'s
I adore this game! The atmospheric music and the parallax background are beautiful. I wanna share this with my coworkers as a way to help them relax. I must be pretty bad because the most I got was 7 skips / 92.3m, haha. I tried my best to cheat but couldn't make it happen. I've never heard of Quadplay till now, but it looks really fun to use.
This is an extraordinarily calming game. The better I got at the game, the more calming it became. As my runs got longer, my brain tuned out and turned off, which weirdly made me feel more immersed in the game. It reminds me of my experiences with meditation. By clearing my mind, I become more aware of the moment.
After a few tries I found myself relying heavily on the stone's reflection for timing my presses. I eventually found that pressing space at the moment that the stone completely overlaps its reflection, or maybe a frame or two before, is about where you can get a perfect skip (losing no height). I would guess that there is about a 4 frame window in which you can get a perfect skip. My best score was 76 skips.
across_the_lake-Apr_28_2020_1_57_AM.png
Those long skips felt really nice and calming. I "entered the zone" on those. It's really amazing that something so mechanically simple could do that for me.
I really appreciated the effort put into creating a calming atmosphere. A big part of that is the soundtrack. The soundtrack is amazing, like I can't believe how well it fits the game. Of course I can tell that it repeats, but I can't tell exactly where, and it never got repetitive. The synth drones are my favorite part. It's literally just so chill.
The background is full of character despite being mostly a pure-black silhouette. It reminds me of one night when I was driving from California to Oregon: a moonlit sky, the dark silhouette of trees interspersed with lights from the sprawling towns. I'm focusing on the road, but in my peripheral vision, I notice the landscape lazily drift by. This game reminds me of that, and it felt real nice.
Loved the subtly multi-colored particles on the surface of the water. I love the impression of speed that I get from watching them whip by as I'm skipping.
This game is strong, focused, and well-executed. Congratulations on making a wonderful game.
At first I thought this was going to be a Yetisports-esque game where you get angle and power and see what happens, but it's an unbelievably relaxing rhythm game. I played this over-and-over, and as other people have said, just started getting into "the zone". I literally can't think of anything that needs to be improved. Fantastic job.
Beautiful music and background art, and a very original concept. This game is quite relaxing. The day night cycle is gorgeous. Great job! I love the parallax effect.
Wow. Excellent job. This game is very nice to look at and once you get the rhythm you get lost in the gameplay.
Awesome!!! Really simple gameplay but also really funny. Excellent Graphics!
Incredibly good and simple gameplay, an amazing job indeed!
Good job to all of you for this little masterpiece!
super simple concept with an amazingly polished presentation! Really appreciate how focused and well-executed this was
Absolutely gorgeous game!! Super zen and relaxing. great audio too.
Very nice and pleasant game! And awesome graphics!
I don't have much to say here except that this is my highest rated game. It is a perfect concept for an LD game.
Really dig the aesthetic here. The parallax water debris really gives the illusion of a reflection. The music was minimal but fitting and the controls were super simple but worked well for such a minimal game. It was still pretty fun for a few minutes, however I actually got to a point where I seemed to actually be _gaining_ height? Frame perfect inputs or something? lol
That being said, I found the "ping" sound when you hit the water to be a bit on the grainy side. I know that's a nitpick but everything works so well, that it stood out more. Might be a "hardware" limitation, but something closer to a sine wave sound would work a bit better imo.
I should also mention I like the font choice. Works well and look unique (and even has the reflection for the title which is a nice touch).
Overall, while not the most ambitious game, it's certainly really well-rounded. Well done.
Simple, beautiful and relaxing. I love the concept. The art was something special. Well done!
Awesome game! Managed to get 63 skips, 401.8 meters!
Definitely one of my favorites this LD! It's so simple and elegant with such gorgeous graphics. Congrats!
Wow, it's gorgeous! <3 Amazing atmosphere. The interpretation of the theme is great and the gameplay is fitting and fun. Definately one of the best entries.