debugman18 2026-04-19 04:25
Tiny little top-down shooter with a neat use of theme.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD59 → Short-Range Robot
By ajisboss
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 742 | 3.00 | 25 | |
| Fun | 744 | 2.73 | 25 | |
| Innovation | 654 | 2.97 | 26 | |
| Theme | 415 | 3.76 | 25 | |
| Graphics | 756 | 2.58 | 25 | |
| Mood | 766 | 2.84 | 25 |
Tiny little top-down shooter with a neat use of theme.
Super creative way of breathing new ideas into the bullet hell genre. I'm not that good at bullet hell games so I died almost immediately lol
Fun and cool idea, feels a bit too rng if the controller goes into the wrong places
The mechanic where you have to stay close to the orb so you don't lose the signal is cool! But I'm not skilled enough to kill the boss x)
I think 500 hits on the boss is quite a big requirement from the player and the hitboxes are fairly unforgiving. Nevertheless the bullet hell concept of you having to stay near a controller is really interesting and fits the theme well, and I like the variety of attack patterns the boss does. Great job!
Really creative idea how you mixed the bullet hell shooter with the theme!
For feedback: the controller drone often gets stuck in a corner, or stays there for a long time without moving out again. And sometimes it looks like you can hit yourself. It doesnt deal damage, but it still causes the laser to disappear instantly.
Despite that, its still a very well executed project!
It's a little too challenging for me, but I think the idea of staying close to some target while avoiding projectiles is a neat concept. I like how the static becomes more present the farther away you are from the controller. Maybe some sort of feedback when you get hit would be cool, like something as simple as a sound effect playing or screenshake, screen visual effects, slow-down, etc. Neat game!
I really liked the concept! It just need some tweaks imho. I would make the controller non-solid, because I would die a lot just by bumping into it while trying to avoid the bullets, also when the controller gets too close to the enemy it's almost a death sentence, I would make it stay away from it (while keeping it random). It would also benefit of invulnerability frames after getting hit and some sound cue. Aside from that, it's a really interesting concept, good job!
Pretty interesting concept for a bullet hell though I'm not so good at it haha
Bullet hell!
It's *so* hard, especially because your whole robot body is a hitbox, but you can kinda string together heals if you get a chance. I got down to 247 hits left so I haven't beaten it but I had a pretty good time for a while when I figured out how it ticked
Thanks for the feedback! I agree that I made the game a little too hard. Just so you know, this is what the hitbox looks like: hitbox.png
I'm afraid I lack the ambition to persevere :D Nice idea with the theme interpretation, and could need some work on player feedback, and not making it hurt my eyes so much. :P
Kinda hard, but a nice and cool concept :)
My main tip would be if you can, try to get people to play test your game during the jam so that you're able to adjust the difficulty to make it more accessible for people! Because yes I agree with others, the difficulty is too hard. Gave a solid few attempts.
Good use of the theme! I think the concept is solid, it's just really difficult, as others have said. I tried many times, but I just can't beat it :( Even slightly bigger gaps between the bullets would've helped a lot.
Using the signal device as a shield is a cool idea but it was difficult to stick with it without getting in the way of the bullets, so maybe a more predictable pattern or a track that it follows would've been good.
The graphics are nice, and think the noise is a cool idea for showing signal strength, but in practice it was a bit hard to look at, and I think it might make it difficult to play the game if you're sensitive to it. Maybe if the noise was only around the edges of the screen.
I like the sounds and music but see you opted out of the audio category, so guessing you didn't make them? Still, they fit the game :)
Cool concept that I think could work really well with some more polish!
A bullet hell boss where you have to stay close to a randmoly frolicking source… You devil! :rofl:
This is really cool concept! Took me a few tries to realize I could actually shoot back with my mouse. :grimacing: :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
And before I understood how it worked, I was thinking... these controls are too sluggish for this type of game. :joy:
I love the idea of balancing dodging and trying to stay near the signal... but tbh, a few things sort of took away from the 'fun' of it for me.
I do wish having a good signal meant having really snappy controls, or a shield, or a way to dodge, or a powered up gun or something. Some reason to have a good signal. Having it go from sort of normal-ish controls to no control at all made it get frustrating real fast.
I also felt like the orb or signal source should have small or no collision? Like... I'm supposed to get near it, but can't get closer than a 2M radius around the thing. :grimacing: it felt kind of punishing in that way.
But I do think this could be a cool game loop. Nice job!
@jezzamon, Thanks for the feedback, I'll have to take that advice.
Nice looking and a nice take on the theme. Unfortunately I think it's a bit too hard, I couldn't finish it. Most importantly, congratulations on taking part in your first game jam! Submitting anything within the time limit is a triumph and something to be proud of.