FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD59 → Expanding Horizons

Expanding Horizons

By termight

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall1483.4634
Fun1593.2634
Innovation1503.3934
Theme1223.8234
Graphics1423.5135
Audio1213.3735
Mood783.7535

Comments

no-firing 2026-04-20 09:39

Good Game ^^

msipp27 2026-04-20 09:50

the itch.io link doesn't work

trav 2026-04-20 09:51

Great work, I love games like this, big fan of Master of Orion :) (P.S. your itch.io link seems broken?)

termight 2026-04-20 09:53

@no-firing thank you! @msipp27 & @trav thx i fixed the link accidentally put in the game edit link :)

ellaris 2026-04-20 10:11

I liked having to wait for the planets to be in range to be able to discover them, tho it wasn't so easy with the current speed multipliers, so it could have been nice to be able to mark a planet for discovery, and discover it when it gets in range. Definitely didn't like that the camera followed the spinning planets on x10 and x100 speeds, made me feel sick. It was nice to be able to speed the game up, but also made the tech tree inconsequential, the only thing I read from it is some of the names and briefly a tooltip indicating +5%

beareye 2026-04-20 10:18

i have never played incremental games in my life, so this has been my first experience. To be honest, I didn't expect that much deep mechanics from this game, but I was completely wrong. Maybe I feel this way because I've never played this type of games before, but I'm fascinated by small details and non-obvious mechanics. Here is what I'm talking about: -to discover a new planet I needed to wait for the perfect timing when signal of already discovered planet touched new one. And you can not just set 100x speed and buy so many relays to cover all map because they become so expensive after a while, even at 100x speed. -you need to buy relays on different satellites to reach planets more efficient. Ignorings satellites and buying improvements only for the planets is not the best way to expand horizons

And few words about disadvantages: i feel like tech tree is pointless in this game because you can fully close it in like 30 seconds on 100x speed and it won't give you any noticeable benefits. -7% factory cost is too small for this game

That was very good one and you should be proud of what you made in 48 hours!

termight 2026-04-20 18:15

@beareye Thank you for your feedback! This was my first incremental game developed too so I guess we both lost our virginities on this one. :D

Yes the tech tree was just something I came up with and wanted to make it because it seemed interesting however I ran out of time to balance the game. Just jam things. :)

fifut 2026-04-20 19:54

I love games set in the solar system. It reminds me KSP, when put communication satellites into orbit to build a communication network :thumbsup:

shiyuue 2026-04-20 23:19

Really fun incremental concept. Managing factories, relays, and moving planets gives the game a nice sense of scale, and watching your reach expand across the system feels very satisfying.

sthor726 2026-04-21 00:55

Had a lot of fun with this game! The soundtrack is really nice and the outer space setting works really well for this kind of game. Nice work!

udfblr 2026-04-21 11:35

So. I didn't immediately understand what to do. I enjoyed the visuals. The game is very cute ^-^, and I liked the controls. I would have added more power to the mouse wheel

alex-mulkerrin 2026-04-21 14:08

There is a whole lot in this for a compo entry, very impressive. I really liked the aesthetics with the spacey music and planets orbiting around in the dark of space. It was neat to see planetary orbit alignment come up and made it something of a timing game. Incremental games are always nice, especially with a speedup button, if only there was a buy max button for factories and relays. The camera following was nice although it didn't stick around when you stopped focusing on a planet.

All in all a charming entry which fits the theme well :)

gettingrekt 2026-04-21 17:57

Really good game, I dont know if it was a bug but was not able to build more factories after a while which lead to slow progression so wasn't able to complete it. But satisfying to see the network grow and feeling accomplishment even if I was just clicking. Great work!

juanrod707 2026-04-21 18:33

Liked very much how you added the orbital element into the incremental genere, there is room for more dynamic gameplay for sure. But its a fun game

purpledartfrog 2026-04-21 19:15

Really liked the idea of this ... and with not too many tweaks I would return to something like this - really good job :thumbsup_tone1:

Left you a rating :smile:

helslo 2026-04-21 21:44

I actually quite liked waiting for the planets to line up and the time speedup was definitely appreciated. I was trying to get to the furthest planets but kept running into an issue where after connecting to my 3rd planet/moon I wouldn't be able to buy more factories. Since I was no longer incrementing up even at 100x speed it was taking a while to add to my signal.

graebor 2026-04-22 02:35

I was confused why I couldn't discover other planets/moons even though I had the >300 resources the window was asking for, but once I figured out the signal range mechanic it all fell into place. (I ran the game without reading the description first, to give it a fair playtest) It's a cool idea for an incremental game, despite the UI/UX being a bit rough.

sinemual 2026-04-22 04:39

Great idea and nice music! As mentioned above, it’s awesome how you’ve combined idle/incremental gameplay with the dynamic mechanics of the planets’ movement! It’s a great solution for a game jam—the time-acceleration feature is essential for idle games, and while it was definitely necessary here, I’d add it to regular idle games too. It makes my head spin a little at high speeds, haha!

pavel-cherepanov 2026-04-22 06:10

Nice idle game! The planets look beautiful and the atmosphere is very relaxing. I really appreciated the time acceleration feature - it's a must-have for idle games and you implemented it well!

I progressed through the skill tree pretty quickly and unlocked the first 3 planets without much trouble. However, the transition to planet Eramia takes way too long - I couldn't wait for it to complete. Maybe the balance needs some tweaking for the later stages to keep players engaged.

That said, the theme implementation is absolutely spot-on - 100% fits "Signal"! Great work overall!

avhatar 2026-04-22 06:55

Cookie Clicker in space — an unbeatable gameplay formula. At some point the button to build new factories disappeared and the whole point was gone, but otherwise it's hard to stop playing.

shadyshade 2026-04-22 14:02

It was a fun little game, well done! :thumbsup_tone1:

frowsyfrog 2026-04-22 16:26

It’s interesting! I would have liked to see other types of differentiators shown as you progress. Good job!

steveofstevesgames 2026-04-22 22:00

I dont usually play idle style games but this had a twist that i enjoyed and hooked me for a bit, having to wait for the plannets to allign first. Nice music aswell.

baknik 2026-04-24 14:03

Love this one. It's a complete idea and it's well executed.

ugly-robot 2026-04-24 16:34

Ah - I really loved this one! I so whish I could unlock all the planets, but the decision to lock making factories when you discover Thuetania prevented me from doing so.

My first playthough, I rushed to discover new planets as fast as possible (thinking I could use them to set up new factories) so I discovered Thuetania with only ~50 factories.

I didn't know if it was a bug, so I restarted, and this time got 600 factories before discovering Thuetania. Still, even with full tech tree, 600 is not quite enough to make the game playable. (Even afer getting food and coming back, still not enough relays to reach Xenides, etc) Screenshot 2026-04-24 122348.png

That being said - I adore this concept (the orbital mechanics is a great touch to the incremental gameplay). I'd love to see what creating probes / stellar satellites would add to this.

A super polished compo entry, the music is fantastic and fits perfectly, and I never got tied of watching the beautiful orbits and data-center signal lines. Gorgeous entry - great work!

wallted 2026-04-27 00:59

Haha indeed wacky UI - but it serves it purpose well and is kinda cute :smile: . I actualy had really fun time with this game - this planetary system look exquisite and I fell in love with it. I think it was incredibly great choice to give 100x from the start - it allowed to kick start the expansion fast and naturally slows down with numebrs, still giving the anticipation factor for further planets. Mesmerising game, worth exploring!

nikitose 2026-04-28 15:58

addicting... great! :)

bushfire 2026-04-28 16:12

The fact that you stop being able to preduce factories at one point, really hurts this game. Waiting for your millions needed for your next array, knowing that it's just a single relay out of many more before you reach the next planet...

bentglasstube 2026-05-01 08:04

Really cozy chill vibes on this one, I played for a long time. At some point I couldn't really expand any more without just waiting forever at 100x to get enough for more relays. The UI was a bit rough as you said, but the core game was fun. I really loved the orbits of the moons and everything and how they interacted to try to catch the further planets. The music was a super nice touch, too. Great work.

flightless 2026-05-07 17:13

I was hooked! :smile: The cost of relays required mid-game(?) did not scale well with how much money one made - even with all the upgrades unlocked. Regardless I found it enjoyable!! Skärmbild 2026-05-07 190954.png