FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD57 → Diggin' Deeper

Diggin' Deeper

By gquibao and Texugo

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall5033.46148
Fun5733.17149
Innovation4883.16147
Theme2054.04150
Graphics3503.85150
Audio4103.25145
Humor4202.82132
Mood6413.21143

Comments

ricesteam 2025-04-08 02:19

Interesting idea, I never played anything like it; gave me a chuckle. Love the super cute graphics. Good job!

kamizenki 2025-04-08 02:21

Wow, This gameplay is very cool! I addicted to it for the first time, simple button but good direction. Artstyle is simple but lovely. Appreciate your work time, good work!

shadow64 2025-04-08 02:53

Really cool idea and executed very well for the time limit. What I like about it the most is that there's such simplicity to the mechanic that you can see how the gameplay would deepen with further development. The art was really nice and the sound was solid too. Great work and congrats on finishing!

ludokai 2025-04-08 03:46

This was really fun to play! Artstyle and sound design were also pretty good!

Just one suggestion: on the deeper layers, I found it a bit hard to see which block was which because the light was too small, maybe the light could be bigger or the dark areas of the screen could be a bit brighter.

Overall, good job!

bassilij 2025-04-08 12:09

Wow, it's a very cool game!)

mineiwik 2025-04-08 12:14

Great gameplay and graphics - well done!

nicknickolas 2025-04-08 12:17

Good concept for a simple game, but it pissed me off:D (in a good way)

zedgame 2025-04-08 12:34

Simple but very fun!

nextnoon 2025-04-08 12:58

For some reason I can't stop laughing at the dwarf's expression. I have never seen someone be so unenthusiastic about flying around on a jetpack. I wish there was a bit more to it but simple and well executed is always welcome :)

genesis 2025-04-08 13:36

The art style is very cohesive. The miner is especially good. It took me a moment to realize I need to alternate shovel vs pickaxe, but once I realized it was easy to understand.

gquibao 2025-04-08 15:25

We were just informed that the ending is bugged haha. The ending triggers by dying on level 40, instead of completing it. It was the last thing I did and I couldn't test it properly so..... Sorry for the inconvenience for anyone who reached it :sob:

ranzor 2025-04-08 16:08

Well done.

delunado 2025-04-08 16:39

Simple but funny idea! I like the light mechanic, when you fail you want to quickly try it again. Almost reached level 40 :')

notnasiul 2025-04-08 17:19

Oh no! It always happens to me - or my brain - that when there are TWO options for something I always end up messing it up. Was it D for shovel or A? Seems easy, but for some reason I'm unable to retain this kind of dual choices. So you can guess I suck at this game XDD But nice graphics anyway! :D

catusfelony 2025-04-08 19:51

Just like @notnasiul above this is my greatest weakness, I could NOT make it to level 40 xwx I really loved the sprite for our little jetpack dwarf, though, and the game has a very relaxing tone. Good one. ^-^

ezcapist 2025-04-08 19:53

YESSSSSS JET PACK GNOME GUY

pro4 2025-04-08 19:55

Ah dang, I got down 32 levels and didn't realize that 40 was going to be the end! Pretty fun and I liked the slow ramp of difficulty as you moved faster and faster with depth. Really liked the dwarf sprite and his tools/jetpack.

Nice work!

whole-garbage-sale 2025-04-08 19:58

I love this game! It feels like something i'd play on my phone in the early 2010s, especially with the art style. Amazing work!

aleksey-salion 2025-04-08 20:02

It's almost like a rhythm game with calm, relaxing sounds — well done! I failed at level 5, but it was fun! :)

pigeon-dp 2025-04-08 20:37

Really nice game. Could use some time constraint, as now you can simply wait it out :D

ottobroccoli 2025-04-08 21:13

Very interesting! I caught myself thinking that I was playing it like a rhythm game =)

dywanix 2025-04-08 21:27

Reminds me a old flash game and I love it!

pres2300 2025-04-09 04:38

This definitely gave me some rhythm game vibes like others have said. The art was cute as well. The gameplay was simple but I enjoyed playing it! Nice work!

ntmalichi 2025-04-09 09:55

really cute game and really cute artstyle (both graphics and audio). Love it

jhonny111 2025-04-09 10:24

Almost like a rhythm game. Very nice

mcramon 2025-04-09 10:30

pretty good little game and the art is cute! I wish there was a bit more to do during the gameplay, but either way great job!

fancyreckless 2025-04-09 10:30

Pretty fun, small but skill based (rhytm?) game. I understood how to play it pretty fast without reading any tutorial. love the fact that background changes the deeper you go and with it lighting change adds a bit of a challenge as you can't prepare your tools as fast in advance.

owinmowe 2025-04-09 10:33

Simple game with a nice thought out mechanic. Nice job!

katjes13 2025-04-09 10:38

Love the artstyle! The dwarf looks so cute<3 Sounds are very satisfying. Just wish it would be a bit faster to be a real challenge.

texugo 2025-04-09 11:30

@katjes13 You should try to reach the end (level 40)! It gets reaally fast and dark! Thanks for playing 💕

meskaline 2025-04-09 12:16

Very nice and relaxing game to play. Love it, love the style also. Simple and efficient. Good job.

duke-ua 2025-04-09 12:51

Nice idea, I like the character. Great job!

playrea 2025-04-09 14:11

Nice game, fun to play! Also the graphic is so cute :)

thomas-bringer 2025-04-09 14:48

Nice one! It's basically Minecraft, but rhythm-based, which is interesting and a unique take on the theme! i believe it has potential to be expanded, maybe could make for a nice chill mobile game, too

tunasandwich 2025-04-09 14:57

This game is really pleasant to play and replay ! I didn't reach the level 40 though :')

jtap 2025-04-09 15:36

Funny game, beautifully drawn, thank you

ruslana 2025-04-09 15:41

Looks nice, how to start playing? It just stands in place when I press A/D or with any other input.

texugo 2025-04-09 16:10

@ruslana You just need to press the PLAY sign on the left of your screen!

verttixpertti 2025-04-09 16:58

I wish there was some urgency to destroying the blocks. You could just play with very safe and not lose a single heart. Still a fun time.

follusior 2025-04-09 17:28

Very cool game, graphics, music and idea. But sorry, it doesn't relax me :) I was hoping, even though they didn't give me a reason.

maskrosen 2025-04-09 18:32

An interesting and unique idea. The graphics are really nice and fun. Good job!

ruslana 2025-04-09 20:28

@texugo thanks! I did not notice that was a button.

This game solves the theme very smartly with nice gameplay idea. Art and sound fit well :)

jacky-san 2025-04-09 20:47

Simple, greatly designed, sharp arts, I enjoyed it :)

ausstein 2025-04-09 22:13

Very Nice Idea.

I feel like the timings were a little off. I had to intentionally try to hit the buttons when it switched to the next block. But it was a bit annoying. Maybe some input latency issues were involved? idk After a while I was able to somewhat adjust but it still felt off so I did not try for higher levels.

scoreMine.png

arthur-tang 2025-04-09 22:28

Lovely simple mechanica. Our game has the same idea of digging downwards. But I like how you slowly cut out the light source when going deeper. That's a really good idea and reflects the actual world. Keep it up!

monogatari 2025-04-10 00:58

Simple game with good idea, nice music and graphics. I never seen a game like this before so i find you very smart on this presentation of theme =)

freamdev 2025-04-10 06:49

Great graphics and fun gameplay, input timing felt a bit off at times, but I had some fun with it :smiley:

fupi 2025-04-10 16:34

Fun little game! Feels like something you'd find at an arcade. Others said it was hard to remember which key was which, but I found the game really easy :sweat_smile: which is not a bad thing, at least once I started to get bored it was already over. Maybe one thing that could help people getting disoriented with the controls would be to assign one tool to each hand, i.e. A for the shovel, and Right Arrow for the pickaxe, so that each tool can be activated using a different half of the brain or something like that.

buni 2025-04-10 18:41

This is surprisingly challenging - well done :)

510 2025-04-10 19:11

Cool little game. It becomes quite challenging when it gets faster.

Is it just me or the shovel sound should be the pickaxe sound and vice versa? (idk I feel like the shovel one "hits harder" haha).

There should be a reward for players who clear consecutive blocks. It's a bit too easy to wait it out and there's no disadvantage to do it ;)

petitcoke 2025-04-10 20:13

This game is actually really fun to play! Well done on the mechanics, and even the visuals are nice, overall a 10/10 game!

soul-grinder 2025-04-10 22:04

Some really nice graphics and nice challenging shovel/pick axe reaction tester. I liked the dwarf character graphic, nice work!

platonenko 2025-04-10 23:45

quite a nice game! great and complete jam project!

chocolatedoodads 2025-04-11 01:09

yo acutally hella dubbayou brow great idea

protzz 2025-04-11 08:51

I like the concept of the game!

dismox 2025-04-11 09:22

The concept of the game is really cool, I immediately imagined how cool this mechanic would be for a rhythm game where each block would beat out its own instrument

jadener 2025-04-11 10:34

Simple, sweet. Would love this as a mobile game.

finntastico 2025-04-11 10:49

Muito bom trabalho! I missed the play button at first, but then had a blast. Love how the mood changes the deeper you go :)

transkuja 2025-04-11 14:33

I spent a bit too much time on it, simple concept but you really need to focus to not make a mistake (it gets tricky when you change lane, maybe a buffer on movement could have been idk), I liked it!

nyxkn 2025-04-11 18:52

Really cute and fun game! At the start I thought controls weren't working because it wasn't intuitive you had to click on play. Game's really well executed. Nice art, nice music, gameplay works fine. A small improvement could have been to stop a little once on a new level to have a chance to strike the new layer instead of always skipping the first tile. Would have been a bit smoother and prevented some waiting around for the dwarf to come back just to strike one missing tile. Pretty fun gameplay overall and neat atmosphere!

batthecat 2025-04-11 19:11

i reached to the level 31... nice visuals, very cozy... nice game

katastudios 2025-04-11 19:32

cool simple concept! I also experienced the timing issue that @ausstein mentions btw. It would be cool to have the guy slide back and forth rather than teleport, might give a more concrete timing hint that way too!

sylf 2025-04-11 19:38

That dashing old guy with the jetpack is hands down my favorite character of this whole Ludum Dare so far! Simple concept, but super enjoyable. Great job!

bashem 2025-04-11 19:48

Nice and simple, I just wished it wasn't teleporting so violently, and whenever It went down, it immediately went to the left or right, instead I expected it for its timer to reset in this case, so that I can dig immediately the tile below me, making it possible to complete the layer in a single loop. Either way, good work! :D

milestone-games 2025-04-11 21:19

Nice execution of the theme! Fun to see another tile-based game centered around digging (although ours is digging upwards rather than downwards :) )

thomas-higgins 2025-04-12 00:25

JET PACK DWARF - I see great minds think alike, as for the game felt like I could see myself playing this in an Arcade really captured that quick simple fun vibe

ammonit 2025-04-12 03:58

Everything looks very pleasant! It could use a bit more musical accompaniment. The pixel art with the hand-drawn bearded Deeper looks very interesting!

7uc4s 2025-04-12 13:01

Interesting gameplay, would have liked to have bonuses of some kind and background music :)

martynas 2025-04-12 13:12

Really simple and solid game loop! The only bad thing was that the background music became repetitive quite early on.

0x-void-x0 2025-04-12 13:56

That was different lol. I love your idea of the theme, the gameplay is very simple yet engaging and the art style is cute.

I have to points of feedback to make: - 1: Please move the notice about the newer version being on itch.io to be at the top of the page so people can read it before playing the game. - 2: The descent from one row to the next right after you hit the last block is very fast even in the first levels, I found myself forced to not hit the first block in a row and wait for the gnome to bounce back which sometimes left killed the momentum of breaking every block first try.

I did have a lot of fun trying to do it as fast as possible lol, great game, I can totally see it as a mobile game!

borabee 2025-04-12 14:30

Simple, yet very effective and fun idea! The little bearded dwarf with a jetpack is really cool XD

gquibao 2025-04-12 14:40

Thanks everyone playing our game and for leaving your feedback here. I wasn't really sure that this game was going to be interesting to anyone, I even said "I don't think this game is fun but at least it will look good" to @texugo at one point during development. I thought it was way too simple for people to engage with, I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

@510 thanks for noticing that. At some point I think I changed the SFX by accident and yes, it's switched indeed lol.

@0x-void-x0 Thanks for your feedback! Regarding the corrected version, I left it down there because I thought it wasn't fair to be evaluated based on a version that I had more time to work on. And about your second topic: yes, I agree with you. I always felt dropping down was too abrupt, but I had trouble making it smoother and I gave up after a while. I really liked @nyxkn idea for that, I think I'll try to implement something like that and see how it goes :smile:

When I started making it, I really wanted to make it a rythm game, but I'm not a musician and I couldn't make the music interesting enough so that it worked like that. The pickaxe and shovel in the first version of the game even had drumkit sounds, but at the end they didn't work really well with any of the music I did and I scrapped that idea haha I also wanted to add some kind of storytelling as the dwarf kept going, I even prepared the system for that, but ultimately didn't have enough time to write anything.

All of your feedback gave me a few ideas on how to improve this game and also gave us some confidence on our skills, which is something both of us were in dire need lately. Thanks a lot for your insight and for your time. We're loving testing your games and reading you feedback. :heart:

gquibao 2025-04-12 14:42

Oh, I'll also try to fix that input lag thing. I'm not sure what's going on but it's 100% some bad choices I made when making the movement and interaction scripts that are coming back to bite me.

willianfhs 2025-04-12 18:48

Nice game! At first I couldn't see there was HP on top left, so I was wondering why the game was over on level 2 hahaha Once I set it to fullscreen I was able to had some fun and got down to level 30!! I think there could have some object making it clearer what object I was aiming since the pickaxe and shovel were a bit far from the surface. Loved the ambience going further down and the artstyle. Congrats on your entry!

[Level 30 Screenshot](///raw/00e/b5/z/6c136.png)

nnmbzr 2025-04-12 20:01

The idea that we should use one tool or another seems interesting, but I can't shake the feeling that SOMETHING'S OFF when a pickaxe breaks from hitting sand, hahaha.

The rhythmic sensation of the gnome's movement reminded me of Crypt of the NecroDancer, specifically how the mechanics work together with the music in that game. In my opinion, this could work well. For example, if the player's movement speed (forward dashes) was pre-adjusted to match rhythmic music.

Then the player would be able to understand in advance which sequence of buttons they need to press.

artel 2025-04-12 20:28

The art style is great!

bad-fetus 2025-04-12 22:14

Cool concept! Simple but it works. Something felt off with the timings though - I wonder if it would work better if the miner had continous movement rather than a full tile at a time because it's hard to get a feel for it. Good work regardless!

captandrey 2025-04-12 22:14

Reminded me of hypercasual games — fast-paced with two simple inputs. Clever idea! I think adding some kind of time pressure could make it even more engaging. Also, I’ve gotta mention the funny art and sounds — really charming touches!

cure 2025-04-13 03:18

Cute little game! I ended up playing a while more after my stream, but didn't end up getting a better score lol. I had to raise my rating quite a bit because I had too much fun trying to get a better score. Lovely little jam game! Hope to see more games with your wonderful art in the future @texugo :)

`https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBfaZje8liE&t=7845s`

icks 2025-04-13 11:26

Neat little digging game, looks really polished.

mamboman 2025-04-13 19:10

Very nice game! Well done. The further down I came the more nervwrecking it became :D The graphics are great.

marcos-tulio-cavalcante 2025-04-14 00:19

A arte está muito boa,a programação e a ideia também. só acrescentaria algum efeito visual quando erra a ferramenta, nas sprites delas ou algum piscar vermelho no bloco, pois logo de cara não da para perceber que a vida é reduzida. Talvez ao invés de vida poderia ter a resistência de cada ferramenta e a chance do jogador reparar, é sempre bom dar uma chance para o jogador dar uma reviravolta no resultado.

euler-moises 2025-04-14 13:37

It's a good idea. I can imagine other tools with different commands and the knot on the player's head. :D

Congratulations!

andruid 2025-04-14 22:08

Cute graphics! At first I thought it would be easier, but I was gladly surprised how tricky it started to get! Congratulations to you both! Solid submission.

cdupe 2025-04-15 03:24

The dirt vs. stone dig sounds are a nice bit of audio feedback! I do sort of wish there was more movement with the digger's sprite (though I understand the reasons behind just having it "jump" from column to column).

jeffez 2025-04-15 10:12

Really nice game, quite tricky to master, but fun nonetheless.

This is typically the kind of game I would crave on my phone, using it to pass time during waiting times. Just a little thing I had a hard time with, was the delay between the moment you press the button, and the moment it use the tool. Maybe if it was more "on time", It would be better... But I'm just being picky here.

Continue to make games !

oeuegha 2025-04-15 10:48

Like impact from inputs.

atsh 2025-04-16 11:47

I'm not sure I can add much to the many comments above.

The highlight for me was the sprites (espcially the dwarf) and the control method. The gameplay is probably not for me. I wonder if it would have worked better for me if there was time pressure, and you wouldn't move - meaning you just need to hit the correct key for the next block. This would remove the timing element and make it almost a typing game

But I totally understand this isn't what you aimed for, and for a simple game it really worked well

lespaul59 2025-04-16 12:47

Cool little game. Love the art style and the audio. the gameplay is simple but fun.

shadyshade 2025-04-16 17:04

That was pretty fun, ha-ha! :thumbsup_tone1: Like this jetpack dwarf! :pick:

friend-pirozhok 2025-04-16 18:20

Cool interpretation of the theme. Good graphics, sounds and mechanics

librory 2025-04-17 06:58

i reached level 35 and that was funny journey) like the style and idea and that it's getting dark as we descend and caves are changing)

blackcat508 2025-04-18 05:34

simple concept and easy controls!

patrykgazing 2025-04-18 23:24

Very innovative gameplay, Lumberjack comes to my mind while playing that

roitchie 2025-04-19 18:21

Took me a little while to figure out what I had to do but was fun once I got the hang of it. The music and discovering what's in the depths like the dinosaurs was interesting. And I love the design of the main character. Well done!

ryano 2025-04-20 05:01

haha, funny game. Really interesting idea and well executed. Was fun trying to time a big run of correct swings. Nice work!

dithom 2025-04-23 07:12

Nice one! Had a bit trouble getting the controls but then it clicked 😉

papaver 2025-04-24 16:25

Cute game! I played a few times, because I was curious would I would find in the ground. I liked how it gradually got darker. However, I found it quite tedious starting all the way from the start again every time. I managed to get to level 22.

I think it would be nice to visually highlight the block that is currently hittable. Also, some feedback on the play button would be nice, like the cursor changing, the text changing color and maybe even removing the button once clicked.

Cute graphics and nice sounds. Well done!

stending 2025-04-25 20:36

PERFECT ENTRY! I spent ONE HOUR playing it, still didn't reach the end because I can't help myself but being super-impatient and try to speedrun when the pacing get faster, like I love to double tap in one "beat" when finishing a level... I believe there're really little input lags, especially when it get faster, I just can't finish the game, FOR NOW! :smile:

Visually adorable, super polished, the concept is SO efficient, it works so well on arcade-tryhard-players like me :clown: It's a full stars from me, can't wait to see your next entry! :smile:

digital-bacon 2025-04-26 11:49

Cute game, love the sound and graphics -- excellent work!

gustavo-christino 2025-04-26 17:10

:flag_br:

caver.png

Sem ler as orientações foi difícil distinguir que a placa de Play servia para iniciar o jogo, creio que tenha sido porque os botões estão fora do cenário e chamaram mais a minha atenção. Minha sugestão é que permita tanto clicar no play, quanto os botões A e D iniciarem o jogo, assim mesmo se alguém se confundir dará tudo certo (somo a isso a noção de que o mouse e o teclado são espaços nem sempre compatíveis para a ergonomia, então acho que pode ser algo a ser refletido (e talvez mantido se for o caso, mas fica a reflexão)).

Foi divertido, demorei uma derrota para entender o que estava acontecendo. Então creio que tenha ficado rápido começar a experimentar o jogo.

O uso do tema foi muito bom, ainda mais considerando a descida que vai escurecendo, então a arte tem uma progressão de transformação, o que é muito bacana para o tempo de uma game jam.

Para o tempo de game jam ter som em jogo é um marco por si só, entretanto (talvez seja pessoal) não é o ponto alto do projeto. Pode ser que eu não tenha experimentado ao máximo, quem sabe mais efeitos e transições ocorram após maior aprofundamento na descida.

Não creio que a ênfase seja no humor.

Apesar do aprofundamento ir escurecendo, não consegui me conectar a uma imersão subjetiva e/ou psicológica, então o clima/ambientação não me pegou tanto (talvez seja uma combinação de fatores).

Minha sugestão é apenas "publique o jogo" para celular e/ou no Steam. Para pegar experiência de mercado (caso o grupo já não tenha). Parabéns.

gustavo-christino 2025-04-26 17:11

:flag_us:

caver.png

Without reading the instructions, it was hard to tell that the Play sign was meant to start the game. I think this happened because the buttons were placed outside the main scene and drew more of my attention. My suggestion is to allow both clicking on Play and pressing the A or D keys to start the game. That way, even if someone gets confused, everything will still work out. (Adding to this, there’s the idea that mouse and keyboard are not always ergonomically compatible spaces, so it might be something worth reflecting on — and maybe keeping as it is, depending on the case, but it’s something to consider.)

It was fun — I needed one defeat to really understand what was happening. So I believe it became quick to start experimenting with the game.

The use of the theme was very good, especially considering the descent getting darker. The art shows a progression of transformation, which is really cool for a game jam timeframe.

For a game jam, having sound in the game is already a milestone by itself. However (and maybe this is just a personal take), it’s not the strongest point of the project. It’s possible that I didn’t experience it fully — maybe more effects and transitions happen after progressing further down.

I don't believe the emphasis is on humor.

Although the deepening descent grows darker, I couldn't really connect to a subjective and/or psychological immersion, so the mood/atmosphere didn’t hit me that strongly (maybe it’s a combination of factors).

My suggestion is simply: "Publish the game" for mobile and/or on Steam. It’s a great opportunity to gain market experience (if the team hasn’t done so already). Congratulations!