yepjames 2024-04-15 09:17
I really loved the art and the gameplay was so fun to play.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD55 → Ritual of the Meek
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 97 | 3.75 | 24 | |
| Fun | 89 | 3.70 | 24 | |
| Innovation | 67 | 3.84 | 24 | |
| Theme | 205 | 3.47 | 24 | |
| Graphics | 101 | 3.84 | 24 | |
| Audio | 99 | 3.50 | 24 | |
| Humor | 109 | 3.28 | 23 | |
| Mood | 141 | 3.45 | 24 |
I really loved the art and the gameplay was so fun to play.
meek-ss.png
I somehow managed to move that smaller platform to the other side of the bigger one :sweat_smile: I spent a long while trying to figure it out, but fortunately your gameplay video had that room so I could see that something is amiss with mine. Reloading the game fixed it.
This one was a tough one to get my head around. Really appreciate the creativity of being able to move the platforms, just something didn't click with my brain and moving them in the space given. As always, great art style and music. Cool entry, nice work!
This was nice puzzle game. I liked how music changed when using powers. Art style worked nicely. Good job!
I really like minimalistic graphics with a lot of little things happening in the background. Funky music helps to create a light-hearted mood, too.
The level is huge and it takes a lot of time to collect the candles there! I'm not sure open map fits this game well. It seems that you have to go back and forth a lot, carrying platforms of needed size with you across the screen edges. Also, too often something important was off screen like a platform you're moving, the cat or even your own character (I mean I could see their leg but still...). I think I would prefer if each level was separate and zoomed out so I wouldn't have to fight screen edges.
Still, the game is very impressive and fun! Great job!
I enjoyed this one a lot, the mechanic was simple but it was certainly a headscratcher, well done! I do think having the camera pan between set regions instead of having it follow the player freely does the game a disservice as puzzle solving across a camera border can be quite disorienting and being unable to move and drag platforms at the same time meant that moving a platform between rooms required I blindly drag the platform offscreen. Regardless though, very nicely made! Good job!
@flatgub Yeah, you might be right. At first I did have a freeform camera in mind but then for some reason pivoted for a room based one and sticked with that. Can't remember at all why I did that if there was some problem with the free one or what. I think I'll try to change the camera for the post-jam patch (fixing all the known bugs too) or at least try it out to see if it feels better. Thanks for playing and the feedback! ❤️
Couldn't get past the 2nd screen. Some additional tooltips would have been nice. Music was enjoyable, however the voice(?) sfx overlaying was quite distracting and did not mesh well wit the music I feel. I think a more fleshed out tutorial could have helped a lot in guiding players to learn the mechanic.
@jordan-neff Umm, something like "remember that thing you did a second ago, now do it again"?
Awesome jam! As mentioned it was difficult for the old brain with the different camera scenes and managing your space. Love the VFX and cute 2d character, the font and text usage is way too clean. Funny idea to amp the music when using magic!
Really enjoyed the small character animations, and the speech bubble was really well executed!
The music changing while channeling/moving platforms was a nice touch
This kept me busy for a while, but it was very satisfying when I beat the game. What a great puzzle game! One of the most polished and playable games I've seen come out of the compo this year, aside from a few (minor) bugs.
@edj99 Oh cool, you beat it! 🎉 Didn't think anyone would pull it off as most people only spend mere minutes per game.
@antti-haavikko Thank you, thank you 🙏. I didn't intend to spend as long as I did but it was such a fun puzzle game I couldn't put it down!
@edj99 Cool cool! How did you find the difficulty and pacing? Did you get stuck at all or find some portions hard in comparison to the rest? Like the invisible walls? One of them doesn't have a hint pic and one I think was missing from the dog bark list by accident. Or did you even notice that the dog "tells you" about those? What about the backtracking? I might have underestimated the need for it as obviously the players don't know the "optimal" way to play and most likely wander back and forth more than needed.
@antti-haavikko
Difficulty was well balanced and so was the pacing. It surprised me that you were able to refine it so well in the time limit!
There were situations where I almost got softlocked, but I was able to get out of them by picking up platforms and dropping them in spots that should really be invalid, such as overlapping with walls. I think if you do prevent the placing of platforms in invalid zones you might need to include a setting that resets the players position as well as all of the platforms, without removing any of the puzzle progress.
The invisible wall that didn't have a hint took me a while to find. I even tried that exact wall an earlier time without realising that you had to walk through the very top tile. That was the only time I had to do a lot of backtracking, but once you have the ability to pick up platforms navigating the map isn't all that difficult.
Wait, I didn't realise the dog/cat thing can give you hints! Hahaha oh well.
I wouldn't worry about backtracking as long as that 3rd hidden wall has a pic hint somewhere.
Yeah, the range for the dog (which can understandably be confused as a cat) might be a bit finicky too...
https://youtu.be/KFWy88gX3v8
And yeah, you can do some crazy probably game breaking stuff after getting the bag upgrade (and I'm absolutely fine with it).
This is awesome! I like the use of the theme in both the narrative and summoning of the platforms. I haven't finished it but I think I'll come back to it. Really polished as well (love the audio speedup) and a good amount of content. I was convinced I softlocked myself several times but somehow always managed to get out by fiddling around enough.
This one had me scratching my head for a while! It's a really clever game, but I sadly couldn't manage to beat it. There's a lot of backtracking for the right platform, and while you feel smart when finally grabbing an ingredient, the shuffling and moving between platforms to drive it around can get repetitive. Honestly, I think separating the game into smaller stages instead of the open world with map approach would work a little better, but that's just me. That would also suit your room-based camera more as well.
That said, the graphics are simple but very cohesive, and the puzzles are very well made. I also like the audio feedback while using the platform movement ability. This feels very polished for a compo game, superb work!