FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD53 → Mortality

Mortality

By gamebuilder, genie, yumi8 and KennyMacMusic

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall10713.0128
Fun11642.5427
Innovation8363.0627
Theme10463.2526
Graphics9063.1128
Audio3693.5626
Humor10132.1524
Mood1944.0128

Comments

slimeboos 2023-05-01 14:57

One thing, weird. Everything looks really creepy. Couldn't figure out how to free the fairy sadly.

evogengames 2023-05-01 17:23

Found 3 out of 5 teeth and 1 star, but got no further unfortunatly

nrankin13 2023-05-01 23:06

I love the lite horror/creepy vibe. The music is delightful. For those of you that need help, the answer is further left.

macbarette 2023-05-01 23:21

great music it makes the game really weird

d3kryption 2023-05-08 21:36

Website isn't loading for me :(

mahc 2023-05-08 21:41

I got the teeth and freed the fairy, and I think that was the end of the game, but wasn't clear because I could still move around. Could do with more challenge/gameplay, but great points for the creepy vibe

arsher 2023-05-08 23:03

Taking into account the general clumsiness, the game creates quite an interesting atmosphere (close to a Fran Bow or Neverending Nightmare, for example). Not bad.

gamebuilder 2023-05-08 23:46

@mahc talk to Ivanova after you find the star and you will see the winning message, about ascending to Heaven, etc. Once you see that the game is won.

@arsher thank you for the reference to Fran Bow, wasn’t aware of that. Its art style is very appealing.

suchista 2023-05-15 22:48

I won! :) I live the unique nature of this game, everything about it is weird. GJ!

sheepolution 2023-05-16 01:15

I wasn't a big fan of the art style at first, but the giant flying head had an interesting vibe to it.

justking144 2023-05-16 03:54

The art style and music were terrifying and ominous.

Took me a bit of time to find both the stars and the key, but I eventually beat the game. Huzzah!

madbarron 2023-05-16 04:02

Certainly a unique experience! The whole thing is pretty trippy. It felt very sinister but I'm glad it had a happy ending. Good job!

david-yates 2023-05-16 04:36

Spooky stuff. The music was great, the art charming, and I wasn't expecting the transformation near the end. Is the tooth fairy normally that size, or was that also part of the curse? Being that big would make collecting teeth pretty tricky, even without being imprisoned on top of it.

Hopefully the protagonist turned back before entering the convent, don't know that they have habits for disembodied winged heads!

brigart 2023-05-16 05:28

Looks cute

mrks 2023-05-16 10:57

had some problems with the website but when i reloaded it worked. good game the artstyle and choice of music go really well together to create a fitting dark atmosphere. not at all easy to pull off and i really liked that. good job!

jk5000 2023-05-16 11:08

A bit weird, but also a interesting little game. Well done.

gamebuilder 2023-05-16 11:19

@david-yates you’ve touched on some important issues. I’ll try to answer your questions with brevity.

First, Ivanova manifests herself in different ways, as many spirits do. When she fought against the witch she took the form of a giantess, hoping her imposing body would bring victory. Unfortunately this strategy failed. Ordinarily, when she visits a house she shrinks, though she maintains a ghostly form that is just barely visible. Like many spirits she can even enter one’s dreams from time to time.

Second, I don’t see why a convent would refuse a disembodied winged head. She can sing, pray, and teach, just like the rest of us. God’s creatures manifest themselves in different ways. This brings me back to my first point, and so the circle is closed.

david-yates 2023-05-16 14:03

@gamebuilder That's very interesting, thank you for your answers to my questions!

aile 2023-05-17 13:49

Completed the whole game, liked both the aspect of needing to unlock a house, as well as the transformation after interacting with the butterfly. Very unique vibe in this game, both the art and music create a peculiar mood. The large proportions of the imprisoned fairy was also interesting choice.

With some basic character animation and maybe some more life in the environment/level design, this could become even better! I was also wondering if you'd be interested in implementing choices/alternative endings. (I understand the base for the game is a story, so that doesn't really call for branching - but I still felt it could be a possibility here)

Well done!

gamebuilder 2023-05-17 15:39

@aile once in a while I use animation in my games, was hoping to do the same with this one but ran out of time and motivation.

In general I like games that tell a story and end in a particular way — but I’m not against multiple endings, either. The latter has its advantages. Perhaps down the line I will try that out. Anyway I appreciate your feedback.

cinterre 2023-05-18 03:37

Creepy vibe for sure. Some further hints as to where the key is would be good I think, I essentially found it by brute force. Nice job overall though.

honey-pony 2023-05-19 20:57

I didn't have any trouble with the puzzles in this game--I thought everything was pretty reasonable. It took me a while to find the star, but this is just because there's a lot of sky to search.

I quite like the interaction with Ivanova. When on the ground, the primary concern of the player character seems to be that we can't reach her teeth which is a great reaction to seeing a giant person trapped in a cage. Then, of course, there are the additional interactions once we get the flying powerup, which helps round out the story.

I think the flying powerup is a nice twist. First, the way it affects the player character is vaguely dark--like, her normal body is gone, and without much say in that process (as far as I know). But flying is a nice ability to get in return. The flying mechanic itself is a nice extension of the general left/right movement, and as I mentioned it means that the star requires much more exploring (as now we're exploring a 2D space rather than 1D).

Overall I think the puzzles were nicely balanced, the key seemed pretty obvious to me and was easy to find but then finding the star took longer and let me interact with caged Ivanova to advance the story and see if I could learn anything, etc.

I'm glad to see the music worked this time. :smile:

gamebuilder 2023-05-20 14:51

@honey-pony thank you as always for your thoughtful comments. Try as I might I could not play your game, unfortunately — I kept getting web server configuration errors. Well, I hope next time.

As for the giant tooth fairy, that happened by accident. When I first copied a scan of @yumi8’s drawing into one of the game’s image files, she appeared as a superhuman figure, way off scale. At that moment it occurred to me that she is a spirit, almost like a demigoddess, and so why not make her a giantess — some beautiful, imposing figure who towers above the rest? And it turns out that it adds a twist to the game: the avatar must cross some bridges to finally meet her face-to-face.

But I fear I’ve said too much already. Once again we are grateful for your comments.