FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD49 → Unstable Stick

Unstable Stick

By joewan

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall1513.73113
Fun693.91113
Innovation2253.45113
Theme1613.89113
Graphics3703.20113
Audio3722.70112

Comments

matthew-roelle 2021-10-04 02:23

Wow. This is a gem! I love this so much. You did an amazing job, I honestly spent like 10 minutes just trying to land sick flips. Bookmarking and will be coming back to play from time to time

lb01 2021-10-04 02:34

This is really hard but it's a fun kind of hard. Sorta like a Nintendo hard. But the fun and smooth controls make it not frustrating at all, and kept me entertained for a while. Good job on this.

florianbald 2021-10-04 07:01

The controls are so smooth holy hell! It reminds me of these games i would play on in my childhood. The difficulty is just what is should be,i have nothing more to say here!

gustavb 2021-10-04 07:11

Love it! I died so many times. There's something super satisfying about the wall-jump section. I believe it would be a bit more intuitive to control if you included some of the character velocity when calculating the next bounce.

varundevs 2021-10-04 07:23

Wow that was pretty cool :v:

3lstmsinatrenchcoat 2021-10-04 08:21

I'm pretty sure I've seen pogo-stick-based jam games before, but that's fine because it really is a fun mechanic. And I don't think I've done pogo-stick wall jumping before. That was pretty cool.

sterngames 2021-10-04 08:57

Wow. graphics: awesome. physics and controls: 5/5. sfx: Holy Hell ! f***ing good! personnally, i got stuck to the 2nd/3rd checkpoint. what a gem! the only thing lacking is, i guess, music. but i guess you didn't have time for that. in all honesty, you could release this on steam RIGHT NOW THE WAY IT IS and nobody would gess it was made in a 48 hour time frame. would love to see this game continued. i hope you and your family have a good day.

amkingtrp 2021-10-04 10:43

that was absolutely brilliant; 25 minutes and over 200 deaths later I got stuck on the vertical wall with gaps in it. I can imagine this being rage-played on youtube in the same way people play "Get over it". :)

gamepopper 2021-10-04 11:06

This is difficult to the extreme, especially given there is no consistency with each jump. Just a tap of the direction will set your path in a variety of ways. I got all the way to the tiny platforms 15 minutes in and 150 deaths and even then I was impressed I made it that far what with two wall jumping sections. Great job!

guntrip 2021-10-04 18:32

What a fantastic concept and implementation. I love simple mechanics that really give you something to master; it may have taken me 50 attempts but the exhilaration when I got to the top of the wall climb was great! I'll come back and play this one again.

icedjam 2021-10-04 18:41

Very difficult game but very addictive. I really appreciated check points and the death counter is a very nice touch! Great job

owca 2021-10-04 18:43

I died 200 times in under 15 minutes. Good game :)

lucas-thomaz 2021-10-04 19:42

i loved your concept and gameplay, but the game is extremely hard, i spent 55 minutes playing, i died more than 400 times and i couldn't finish the game, the gameplay is extremely promising

wbertrand 2021-10-04 21:22

Loved the simplicity, and controls felt great. Landing flips was super fun as well, and the rewarding noise/popup really made it feel cool!

poney 2021-10-05 00:07

This is the funniest game I played so far! It is as simple as it is fun. Maybe a bit too hard but it makes it interesting. The backflip / frontflip were a super fun surprise!

schuster 2021-10-05 00:20

Great game, simple and plays like the getting over it style games.

kora0h 2021-10-05 00:33

Died 91 times in 8 minutes, I give up.I know there is a way to win, but my hands is not working anymore. I love this game, very funny to play, it is more than a demo. Nice work!

circle 2021-10-05 04:30

Once you get used to the controls it's actually not too har-Ah. . . It wants me to go vertical?

I got up there once but died before getting to the checkpoint. Most of my fifty deaths were right there. As for the game itself, I really like it. The gameplay is really solid and the level is designed rather well. The jumping mechanic is simple and introduced to the player very naturally. The checkpoints are a wonderful addition as well, each time I reached one I breathed a sigh of relief. Overall really good game, love the concept.

candlesan 2021-10-05 05:25

This was really fun and it was extremely hard. I got kinda obsessed with the part where you have to make your way vertically up the shaft. I wish there was a checkpoint when you got to the top of that tower but instead there was a platform jumping puzzle. I had to get up the shaft 4 times before I finally managed to land the next checkpoint. It just got harder from there so I stopped but I was really impressed by the depth and simplicity of the core mechanic. Very nicely done.

dangogo 2021-10-05 06:49

It's hard for me but really fun. Nice work.

delightfullymad 2021-10-05 06:55

fun yet frustrating game haha like it a lot. feels good to control too!

vetche-studio 2021-10-05 07:18

Needed to pause and pressed ESC and it crashed right here (my fault, didn't read ESC was quit) :(

Fun game, but very difficult. There seem to be a random offset given on a jump, making it impossible to master, since it's not consistent. However, it's really fun to jump around and try! Good job!

no.png

joewan 2021-10-05 07:29

@vetche-studio without the random offset the jumps would be too stable ;) and I will fix the quit bug on the web version, thanks!

marin0104 2021-10-05 07:41

I have made it to the checkpoint where you have to jump little platforms that are very far from each other. The elevator was quite hard to do, but it was fun! Very nice game, saw the concept often on twitter in the last weeks. This one is a very good and balanced implementation!

cakts 2021-10-05 07:59

fun game but so incredibly hard, somebody please post a picture of the end haha

agameortwo 2021-10-05 11:51

Hard! The wall jumping got me (over 100 deaths on that first section)

mausimus 2021-10-05 11:55

Excellent game, a lot of fun. The feeling that you know you're going to die but can't do anything about it is dreadful though. BTW love the fact you recognize you've done a flip! Great retro design although the big pixels clash a bit with the "air trail". Agreed the checkpoints are quite far apart, these days the attention spans are really short, need to keep these folks playing!

maluskhan 2021-10-05 11:59

Very addictive! Maybe adding more control on jump could be less frustrating sometimes x) The quick reset button is a great idea! Well done :)

sirkovitch 2021-10-05 12:01

Soo frustrating but really fun, and very polished !

korfi 2021-10-05 12:53

I managed to finish the game! Some parts felt unfairly hard because of the random offset (I think?) that each jump had, like the part where you have to jump on the tiny platforms to get to the next checkpoint. Overall it was super fun however, and I liked the artstyle! Probably had me hooked for a good half an hour or so.

totteriludum 2021-10-05 12:54

Got stuck... Very unforgiving! The textures are "bouncy" and complements the gameplay well, while the gameplay itself is simple, but with surprising amounts of depth. This is a very well done, hard, minimalist game. Good job!

joewan 2021-10-05 13:39

@korfi You are right, randomness and precise jumping dont go together very well, but that was my idea about unstability :)

anstabo 2021-10-05 14:08

Beautifully made game, I really enjoyed the backflip jump addition. It felt like a super mario game. I got filtered by the long distance jump.

truedat 2021-10-05 14:59

this is great. loved the walljump part!!! and when i know i dont make it i can do a 360 in air before exploding xD fun game - yeah you nailed it

evogengames 2021-10-05 15:14

Well done, simple concept perfect fit with the theme. thank you for the game!

potkirland 2021-10-05 17:51

HardcoreParkour!!

petturtle 2021-10-05 17:53

Nice simple game, the physics felt natural but I didn't like the random jump force, got me stuck at the long jump with over 300 deaths.

blake-mullin 2021-10-05 18:29

Great idea with excellent execution. As challenging as it is rewarding, easy to sink a few hundred crashes in and be just mad enough to keep going. There seems to be a little variance in each jump which maybe keeps it from being as tight as it needs to be, hard to nail some of the tough segments not knowing if a bounce is going to send you farther than the last. Makes sense for the theme! A post-jam tweak would be a speed-runners dream game.

alpharock6 2021-10-05 18:31

*phew* finally made it! Agreed with others above that both the precise jumping sections at the end (small platforms and falling down narrow gaps) felt like they had a bit too much randomness to them. Totally see where you're coming from with the balance of randomness/precision for "Unstable" theme and I think it works quite well! Maybe there could be some way to overcome that instability over time with skill/progress?

In any case this was a really, really well executed entry and I poured way more time than I expected into it, fantastic job!

8UntzbRzBcRSg6C.png

mvasko2 2021-10-05 19:10

After 13 minutes and about 150 deaths, I guess I still wasn't near the end.

Easy to learn, hard to master. Just the way I like it.

I feel that the game might have been a bit too relentless with the collision - I died when I bumped into my foot. Also I wish I could have controlled the angle with my mouse. The arrows were too slow at times.

Overall, really fun game, probably one of my favorites so far. Great job!

joewan 2021-10-05 19:13

@alpharock6 Wow, great job. Thanks for playing my game for over 30 minutes.

giulychu 2021-10-05 21:05

as soon as the game started it was a heart attack! hahaha the sound scared me to death. beautiful when I did some tricks and I got the message! Nice nice nice!! I had a lot of fun I wasted too much time with the double wall! Great super nice as a game

doc-kaos 2021-10-05 21:10

Wow! This has that "I should be able to do this!" frustration level, which means it's perfect :D And I felt good every "FRONT FLIP!" Thanks for letting me play!

justinmullin 2021-10-05 21:13

I really loved this. Tons of fun to play and master.

The slight random factor on the jumps was completely infuriating though, especially on the section with the little platforms all in a row; I'm convinced it's possible to fail that section even with perfect play just because the game shoots you a bit too far or short. It also came into serious effect with the tall vertical drops at the very end, where I'm pretty sure the best plan is just to sit completely straight vertically right at the edge of the gap and _hope_ that the game gives you a little tip, so that you don't get randomly pushed too far if you have a slight angle to hop in.

Anyway, it's easy to forgive that issue given the charm of the rest of the game. The presentation is so simple, but it fits perfectly and jumping around just feels great. Excellent work!

hygon 2021-10-05 21:21

I was so amazed to see the game acknowledge my frontflips. This game is very challenging, getting to the next checkpoint is really rewarding ahah. The minimalistic controls work great, and there's a risk/reward thing going on with the player's angle and the speed it can give when you're almost going to crash against the ground or a wall. It seems very "speedrun-able", ahah Great work overall !

bernard-bumblebutt 2021-10-05 21:27

Extremely hard but fun to try and master the jump!

prostone 2021-10-05 21:29

Really difficult after a while, but such a treat anyway. Flips detection was such a surprising mechanics, that I just flipped through two levels. Nice game!

hotowlgirls 2021-10-05 23:26

Simple concept that's fun to play. Solid game.

shmador 2021-10-06 08:50

Nice game, very addictive and satisfying

cinar 2021-10-06 08:53

Most original mechanic I have seen o far in the jam. Solid game I cant say no more.

nikolay-zapolnov 2021-10-06 09:17

Simple but addictive game, ideal for compo. Graphics is simple and stylish. Great work!

dobrila 2021-10-06 09:31

loved it xD mechanics fit well with the theme, its simple to play and highly addicting

hardscore 2021-10-06 09:58

Great entry! The mechanics are very solid, and I thought it was going to be a nice and easy experience until I got to the wall jumping XD

peterfiftyfour 2021-10-06 11:39

This is brutal I can't get past the small platforms in a line :@ This is such a great lil game. Does one thing really well. The only thing I don't like is how randomness is added to the bounce so it's pretty hard to know where you are gonna go. I feel like this makes it less skill based and more chance based. I had 500+ deaths trying to get past those bloody platforms and then the game crashed :D

sawdust 2021-10-06 18:10

Cool! Another pogo stick game! You gave me some ideas I can add to mine! Thanks! #pogogang

0x-void-x0 2021-10-06 18:23

cool idea! simple yet not boring I like it, played it for so long due to stubbornness lol

cresceda 2021-10-06 19:05

Fun albeit frustrating entry. 300 deaths on my sleeve and gave up at the double fall down with the walls. Not much into rage games but people that do will probably love it =)

bootak 2021-10-06 20:54

Gerat game! I love this concept, very theme-fitting. I like that each angle of the stick makes sound of different pitch :) Nice little detail. Gameplay is pretty hardcore and with a healthy dose of frustration. If that was your goal, then well done! If, instead, you want this to be more casual, I would experiment with showing trajectory, so you could better plan your move instead of just eye-balling it. Overall, great game!

xparker 2021-10-06 21:18

Fun game, quite addictive tbh...

jamesmiller 2021-10-07 07:09

Simple but enjoyable entry. Found myself playing this one for quiet a while!

xpoho 2021-10-07 13:54

Прыжки - наше всё! Дети, прыгайте на палках! Прыгайте дома, прыгайте во дворе, прыгайте в школе! Не уставайте! Иначе не победите! Вперед, вперед!!

rengo 2021-10-10 07:47

really damn good. probably one of my favorite so far

arturogcdev 2021-10-10 09:56

omg such a good entry! but the wall jump was a bit frustrating for me :(

mtabasco 2021-10-10 10:23

Very fun game, the controls feel better than most games with pogo stick mechanics. For being made in 12 hours you managed to also implement some fancy UI animations and particles/trails that make up for the lack of assets. Good job, congratulations!

xariusexcl 2021-10-10 10:45

Bonus points for celebrating a successful back/frontflip haha

Pretty fun yet frustratingly hard, I could see this becoming the new rage game :D

I didn't finish it, gave up at the wall jumping with the holes but I might come back to it :laughing:

jiri-hysek 2021-10-10 22:24

That was fun! Such a simple idea but it's quite catchy! Great entry.

javicoder 2021-10-11 09:00

incredible, very good entry for only 12 hours. It is very playable and fun, the physics are very well done. good job

guilloteam 2021-10-11 10:15

Simple concept, greatly executed, solid entry! Impressive that you did it in 12 hours!!

leggy 2021-10-11 10:30

fucking hard as much as an engagine entry! I could not manage to finish it but had fun in making close to 150 deaths :) Nice antry, for sure above average!

georgy 2021-10-11 10:50

It's a lot of fun and very challenging!

gerrrard 2021-10-11 16:52

Restarts should be faster. After some play really start to annoy. But was fun afterall!

joewan 2021-10-11 19:10

@gerrrard just press R

gerrrard 2021-10-11 19:48

@joewan I know about R, but it takes too much for me

almost 2021-10-12 09:11

Cool idea, but really really hard! The concept is simple but feels remarkably unique.

Bouncing off of walls was pretty cool, but it annoyed me that the player's upper body is wider than the base of the pogo stick, so if you hit a wall with a small angle your body barely touches the wall first and you explode. This happens a lot because you often want a shallow bounce angle on a wall, and it's hard to tell whether or not an angle is too shallow.

I wonder how the game would have felt with some kind of mouse-based control scheme to control the orientation of the player. I think this might have allowed more precision of angle while also allowing quick changes in angle.

It took me 56 deaths to get past the first wall-jumping section, and I was not able to complete the long-jumping section shortly afterwards.

garywiss 2021-10-12 09:40

Simple and very fun, good job !

daniikk1012 2021-10-13 08:55

Wow, that was difficult. Took me 34:18.95 time and 329 deaths to reach the end. It is fun, graphics and sounds are good as well. The only frustrating thing is randomness in jumps, which made the section with multiple small platforms in the air hard as hell.

gaming-night 2021-10-13 09:52

Same as other people: hard, but fun, but hard! Nice simple concept, could be a nice smartphone game!

brotherst 2021-10-13 14:55

So close to being unbelievably satisfying, but due to the RNG jump direction it's just unbelievably frustrating - there should not be randomness in the jump direction. When you're making such precise jumps and it's all down to RNG whether the jump has the arc you want it to or not, what's the point in even trying or getting good at the game? Or edging towards the end of a platform in preparation for a big gap only for the pogo man to suddenly do a massive jump off the edge. When you play a precision game and there's no way to predict what will happen, my god. if you just took out the random jump direction this would be a really solid game.

[Edit] Had a moment to calm down and realised I shouldn't get that irate over a LD entry :D I like the minimal art and I was actually having a lot of fun until I got stuck on the same jump for half an hour due to RNG sending me off the edge every single time lol

ddrkirbyisq 2021-10-13 23:27

Had way more fun than I ought to have with this thing, haha. Got tired of praying to RNGesus after about 150 deaths, but I applaud anyone who has the luck and patience to get through the rest of it!

zimny11 2021-10-15 21:32

I'm terrible at this one XD Nice idea for a game. The mechanics and controls feels good. The art style is nice and simple. Good job with the game.