benjamin-gare 2025-10-06 17:07
The web game didn't work. I was able to swim, but could not collect anything the X and C keys didn't do anything.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD58 → Bibli-otter-phy
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 50 | 3.72 | 22 | |
| Fun | 21 | 3.84 | 21 | |
| Innovation | 67 | 3.52 | 21 | |
| Theme | 10 | 4.26 | 21 | |
| Graphics | 69 | 3.77 | 22 | |
| Humor | 90 | 3.00 | 21 | |
| Mood | 86 | 3.45 | 22 |
The web game didn't work. I was able to swim, but could not collect anything the X and C keys didn't do anything.
Very cute game! I can now say I've played a game where you are an otter and a diver and a librarian? I appreciate that there are the items that increase your abilities (stats) but also items that decorate your library! It's very cool you get to accessorize and customize your character.
@benjamin-gare I didn't understand at first as well (it took trial and error) but you have to hold the C key in order to collect items but you have to be very close in order for the collection bar to appear.
A little bit too much going on. I had trouble collecting with the keys it was almost luck. The library was not really necessary in my opinion. I like the swimming mechanic and I felt the world below had more charm. Congratulations in publishing a game!
@benjamin-gare @mdotedot To pick up items you need to wait for a certain amount of time without moving/getting hit. This is shown in the little progress bar below your health/breath meter. Sorry this isn’t better tutorialized!
There's a lot to love here. Juggling the decorations with the game-progression is unique, and those speed boost upgrades from the tablets feel *so good*. I will say, a few minutes in I stopped going for the decorations and prioritized the tablets though.
I think the speed slowdown from carrying items is a bit rough at times, but on the flipside, the punishment for failure isn't too severe, so it balances out.
Here's my video playthrough! Cheers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPcspBANpO4
This is a impressively feature rich game, good job! I liked the detail of swimming to pick up your previous otter if you don't make it back. The library had so many nice details and pieces of polish that I don't expect from a 48 hour game jam. I found the controls were a bit hard to begin with but I got used to it after a few dives. Well done on this submission.
Absolutely the most fun game I've played so far. It's very cute, and there's a lot of little features that I like -- for instance, being able to pick up after you've died. I agree that the library feels a bit superfluous but honestly it ties in with the collection theme a lot. Great entry!
The theme "collector" really shines through—everything from the gameplay to the art fits perfectly. The visuals are clean and appealing, and the core mechanic is simple but fun, and it’s clear you put a lot of effort into the decoration system. Well done!
Loved the otter. (Doesn't everyone? :smile: ) I wasn't sure what to do in the library though?
Girlfriend and I had a lot of fun with this game! We really enjoyed collecting tablets and hoping it was either speed or breath. The decor options were super cute and added lots of personality to our playthrough. I do wish the enemies were a little more dangerous, since a lot of the defense-related upgrades felt pretty disappointing. Some music would really tie everything together, too. Great work overall!
otter.jpg
Very cute entry! I believe I collected all the furniture and tablets, but the counter for furniture wasn't quite accurate (said I only had 20, but I had much more than that). And I got 50/49 tablets because I collected the big one twice!
Loved the gameplay loop of swimming around looking for things and then decorating the apartment.
Man, you really went above and beyond with the customization options. I spent half of the game just moving stuff around. Shame there aren't any SFX or music, but if that was the tradeoff I'd say it was worth it. The controls were not intuitive at all though, especially when it came to collecting the items. I thought the browser version was broken before I saw other people's gameplay. The otter is cute, and I love the custom otter outfits! Especially the fairy one.
I found some bugs: - I found a crab walking on the inside of the wall. - You can't select a decor object 2x2 on the two upper squares if there is a 2x2 to the right of it.
Overall, great work for a compo entry!
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Ah wow, the rating time is coming to an end, thank you for your hard work!
This game was so cool! I was really surprised at how many features you were able to include - especially on the decorating side of things. And the art was adorable. Great work!!
Very cool, I like the progression. For some reason controls didn't initialy "click" with me, but other than that it plays nice. Feels like there's a scaling potential in terms of making it a cobplete feature project. Nice job!
I love the art! The critters are all super cute, and I appreciate the variety of enemy types and attack methods. The range of upgrades made collecting tablets feel exciting and super rewarding.
Picking up items could be a little smoother. It wasn't obvious that I needed to hold down the button, and it didn't always work as expected. I think it would also be nice to have some additional places to recover oxygen, to allow for longer dives and more novel exploration time.
The library decoration part is well put together, but it feels like a separate game. Collecting tablets was interesting enough to stand on its own, so I ended up skipping most of the gifts in favor of those sweet, sweet upgrades.
A chill, laid-back game that still manages to feel like it has stakes! I loved swimming around as a little otter and seeing all the cool sea creatures. The feeling of progression was nice without feeling like I was totally underpowered in the beginning, and the collectable library decorations are really the secret sauce here, I think. I think it is crucial to the game design and really spices the whole thing up to make the place you return to feel like it has its own identity which you can shape.
This game reminds me a ton of the UFO 50 game Porgy, except much more balanced- and going for a different kind of vibe, of course. The quality of life features like running out of air draining HP instead of an instant game over, and being able to retrieve your "ghost" (?) to get back dropped items, are EXTREMELY appreciated. This game could have VERY easily felt like a slog (*cough*, Porgy, *cough*) but you did a great job in making sure things feel snappy and fair. On that note, making the "final" collectable relatively easy to collect with a small-ish number of upgrades was very kind for those wanting to kind of 'get in and get out' while still giving incentive for those with the time to go for a fully decked out library.
The stat upgrade tablets were also fun, although I wish there was a way to tell what the tablet gave you before you grabbed it... although, maybe that's removing too much of the mystery. Being able to drop items to swim back faster could have been nice, too, but might have been weird to implement. Oh, and implementation wise, everything felt great, the various transitions and text pop outs worked well, and the library especially is just wonderful to play around with. All in all, great work!!
PS: I forgot to mention the art! Great sprite work, especially with all the unique decorations and options for customization. And, seeing all the tablets show in the library really sells the theme. :)
Super cute! I love the otter and the animation is quite nice.
It was super fun, too. I always love when the tension is built into the core of the gameplay. Slowing down when you collect things is great, and I had some nail biting runs, hoping I'd get back to the surface in time. I like the "collect your body" aspect to it, especially as it goes on and I'm worried I'd never find those things again.
I'm impressed by the scale of the game. There is so much to it. I do wish there was some difference in appearance of some parts of the map. It would help me navigate and know when I had been somewhere before, but for a jam game it is maybe too much to ask for.
I also wish there was some way I could go for a specific power up. Early on I really wished I had more inventory space, though if I had it, I'd imagine I'd wish for more speed.
I think the best strategy is probably to ignore the gifts entirely and just get power ups as fast as possible.
Overall, it was super fun. I really liked it. Good job!
It's a very cute game, I love the otter! You managed to pack a surprising amount of content in there, I'm actually amazed at the size of this map! I player for an hour and a half and didn't even get close to collecting everything, lucky you don't actually need to collect everything to finish it. Two notes: First, I wish going into the house was optional, especially since I had to go all the way to the end of the menu every time to go back into the water, and I didn't really care for the customization aspect. It's not that it's bad, it's just that I had much more fun just getting upgrades and moving quicker and collecting more things! Second, I think having to hold down confirm to pick up instead of pressing once and waiting, would feel more natural. Holding a button to pick something up with a wait time is a common mechanic in many games, so that might help clear up confusion!