FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD49 → little rats' big top

little rats' big top

By cakeknuckles and Lynnaira

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall2903.8730
Fun5123.6230
Innovation3503.6730
Theme524.3930
Graphics874.4831
Audio1593.9429
Humor1044.0527
Mood1484.0530

Comments

terabyte 2021-10-04 22:29

So cute grafphics! But it's so hard to me

agameortwo 2021-10-04 22:31

Beautiful game. The pause mini game is great too

fizzget 2021-10-04 22:36

Never have i identified so fully with a rat and enjoyed it at the same time. The music and graphics feel really well polished.

pixelydian 2021-10-04 22:39

Super cute and I'm a sucker for cheese puns! Would be nice to start with just one rat and then add the others as a progression system. Pause menu was a fun bonus. Great idea and use of the theme!

john-luke-lusty 2021-10-05 02:25

This is adorable! I love the style and faithfulness to the theme. The assets on here are amazing!

junber 2021-10-06 03:43

This is just too cute! The pause menu being it's own mini game is a super neat touch and the way that the four things you do in the main game are all different from each other in interesting ways is cool.

I do think that the 8 second timer at the beginning is a bit long though, especially if you play the game multiple times to make these rats happy (I made it on my 4th try). At the end it was a bit hard to tilt the tightrope rat to their left because part of the q-tip was already off the screen. But these are really just minor nitpicks.

Great game!

quite-good 2021-10-06 04:59

Loved this game! I think you all stayed true to the theme in a very satisfying way. The art is really impressive, and all the characters are super cute. The squeaking puts on some kinda parental instincts for the little mouse carnies. I thought the music was a great accompanyment, which helped achieve a fantastic atmosphere along with the SFX and UI. I beat it after 6-7 tries and I feel accomplished finishing it to completion! Screenshot 2021-10-06 005528.png

whenyoucantfindafriend 2021-10-07 00:29

so Cute! Congratulations! Love the pixel art and the circus mice characters. Like how the audience tips with cheese!

pigeonliam 2021-10-07 17:34

This is super cute!! As a mouse dad I can relate a lot to trying to keep all the lil guys out of trouble. Very happy when he made it to the end of the rope.

monninen 2021-10-07 17:56

The visual feedback is great! I like the pixel artstyle and the gameplay is simple and fun. I have one complain though, it takes way too long to restart the game. Player's want to get back to playing as soon as possible, and that 8 seconds long starting timer feels just waste of time.

robbietaco 2021-10-08 18:34

Really cute little game. Audio and graphics were on point, all added to the mood and the vibe. The gameplay is obviously a little simple, but the experience itself is fun and cute!

tatu-heinamaki 2021-10-09 13:18

Super cute game with adorable art style and characters! Controls are very intuitive and there's just enough to do so the player feels busy all the time. I would have liked more visual feedback on when the plates are spinning - but it's pretty clear when the rat starts sweating and they need to be clicked. Makes me want to see these characters in more adventures!

nefylem 2021-10-09 23:05

Cool game, the controls were easy enough that I could pick up what was going on. Took me a round or two to learn what to watch for, the 5 second countdown at the beginning, then a few seconds before you really needed to interact with anything felt a bit long once you had the idea down though. But very cool

ldjq 2021-10-10 10:31

The art is cute, and the music gives me spooky circus vibes.

I especially appreciate that the rats make sounds to alert you that they need clicked.

The pause menu is a nice touch :wink:.

Who's that amphibian fellow?

zahab-aq 2021-10-20 05:42

Haha, **such a cute game**. It seems deceptively simple, but takes a surprising amount of coordination to complete successfully.

For pros, I would say that **the game felt balanced** *(ha, geddit?)*. None of the tasks seemed unfairly hard to pull off, and being able to juggle the tasks felt really satisfying. I also like that **the status of the system was visible.** Each rat made a sound as well as cried when they became too unstable. As for cons, I would say that there weren't many. The game was short and simple, with a well defined scope, and it did the things it did well. Maybe **the 5 second countdown could be made a little shorter.** Also, **the play again button could take us back to the game without the countdown**, whereas currently it just takes us to the main menu. Small grievances like these don't take away from the game however.

All in all, **really good job**, and good luck with whatever you do next!

papabirb 2021-10-21 07:13

This was way too damn hard to beat... stupid little tightrope mouse kept falling off when he was ALREADY ON THE SAFETY BEAM... I don't get the point of the arrow pointing to the ruler in the middle either, because it's not hard to collect that much cheese and doesn't seem to help give me a win condition... is it a lose condition maybe? I wouldn't know, because the tightrope guy can't keep his balance at the end of the rope! Where I can't reach the other side of the Qtip to help him!!!

so after a few runs I rage quit and just watched the video the one guy posted in the itch.io comments so I could see the ending, lol. I've got a bit too much of a short temper this week to be playing games this difficult. I love the art and music and the secret on the pause menu, but I hate how long it takes to get back to replaying since your "play again" button is just an arbitrary screen you click on... to go to the credits, which you click on... to go back to the main menu, which you click on... to go to the instructions, which you click on... to get back to playing the game, after what appeared to be a 10 second countdown? In other words: it takes way too many clicks and waiting to get back to the actual gameplay, which adds to the frustration levels.

Good work, but man is it a rage game for me! I really love the bizarre music to emphasize this weird mouse circus scenario.