FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD59 → Plume Tactics

Plume Tactics

By weirdbitgames

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall37
Fun36
Innovation37
Theme37
Graphics38

Comments

zimennik 2026-04-20 20:45

The art style is amazing! The idea is original too. I'd gladly play something like this. It's a shame there's no actual game.

weirdbitgames 2026-04-20 20:49

@zimennik Thank you! Yeah sorry about the lack of game!

venomousmouse 2026-04-21 15:38

It`s a very nice concept. Wish u luck and strength to make this game happen!

carterjbx 2026-04-21 15:39

Such a great idea, and the visuals are really cool. I wish there was a game!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-21 16:21

@venomousmouse Thank you so much! Maybe I will in the future!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-21 16:21

@carterjbx Yeah me too, things just didn't work out this time!

2026-04-21 18:01

I got a little lost in all the GIFs on the itch.io page XD

It has a really nice style-it’s amazing how you managed to pull this off in such a short time. You should definitely finish your project, it looks great.

2026-04-21 18:15

You've created this game in a day?? Looks magnificent!

mr-flower 2026-04-21 18:16

Like everyone else, the visuals are amazing and the little people just stabbing each other is cute, would gladly play if y'all could get this out :D

nicardo 2026-04-21 18:21

where is the game ?

weirdbitgames 2026-04-21 21:11

@vilumpulump @hoptoad Yeah just a day, thank you. I'll hopefully be up the task soon!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-21 21:12

@mr-flower thank you, yeah pixel violence can be fun!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-21 21:12

@nicardo this is just a proof of concept, I never finished the game in time sorry!

2026-04-22 01:08

很好的想法,但是我想要玩真正的游戏

weirdbitgames 2026-04-22 01:36

@xiyuan said: "Good idea, but I want to play a real game."

Indeed, maybe I'll make it soon!

justinmullin 2026-04-22 01:50

Even though there's no game finished, the art and animations you've shown off are really fun!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-22 02:08

@justinmullin Thank yooou! <3

yodak 2026-04-22 08:46

Very coherent vision! The indirect control idea is pretty cool!

johndare 2026-04-22 11:59

cool concept

you could improve it by adding real time control using the campfire

also a shame there's no game to play

weirdbitgames 2026-04-22 14:35

@johndare There might be a game eventually. Also the campfire is real time, you have to press space with the right timings to make the plumes rise.

weirdbitgames 2026-04-22 14:36

@yodak Thank you kindly!

yorsh 2026-04-23 21:37

You could finish the game at your own pace and join the jam in the extra category when ready. I think it lasts until the rating period ends

weirdbitgames 2026-04-23 23:32

@yorsh Yeah that's what I was thinking. I have a playable version right now actually. I might want to work on it a little longer before uploading it though!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 01:12

@zimennik @venomousmouse @carterjbx @vilumpulump @hoptoad @mr-flower @nicardo @xiyuan @justinmullin @yodak @johndare @yorsh

Hello! A basic version of the game is now completed! <3

Also I've changed the category of my entry to "Extra" now!

camden-obertop 2026-04-25 02:19

i love the style of this game! rock paper scissors with a cool indie game wrapper :)

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 02:26

@camden-obertop Yeeup! Thanks for playing!

agent-p 2026-04-25 03:30

Fun art style and sound effects! The mechanic ideas are pretty cool too, with sending signals to counter strategies, though having more fights or new signals would help show off the cool features!

justinmullin 2026-04-25 03:58

Ahhhh, it's so great! I'm really glad you decided to do the "Extra" submission. This is really cool, and the smoke signaling works really well. The sound effects and the animations are so cute! It was fun to challenge myself to memorize the signals before playing, and then not refer to them during play. Thanks for sharing!

pres2300 2026-04-25 04:53

Glad to see another smoke signal game (this is the second I've found thus far)! I really like the art style and SFX. It's a great idea that I think could be easily expanded on for more complex gameplay. Nice work!

irkar 2026-04-25 07:17

I like simple pixel art in game also very cool and fun smoke mechanic, overall cool fun short game. Great job!Screenshot_20260425_101444.png

verbante 2026-04-25 07:42

i've never imagined myself using smoke signals :D I guess I had a vague idea of how it works but this game made it more clear for me. thus i think this is an educational game

lllarso 2026-04-25 09:33

That was fun. It is a very short game, but very polished. The sound effects are fitting and I like the overall battlescreen.

Having more variety or some kind of progression with levels would have kept me playing.

The controls feel very good. I like the addition of the "instruction button". Congrats for finishing your project. :)

scrapmetal 2026-04-25 12:56

This is a cool idea!! Love the art and animations!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 14:50

@agent-p Yeah I had planned multiple battles with different species (as you can tell from the early gifs that said "Battle 1" in them etc..) After failing to initially even make a working game, I just wanted to publish something that was functional at least!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 14:52

@justinmullin I'm glad you enjoyed yourself so much! I wasn't originally going to have the reminder instructions but felt that alt-tabbing or having to look outside of the game would be doofy. Even if I could remember them all, I'd been playing the game for several hours hehe.

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 14:52

@pres2300 Thank you! Yeah I might just do that perhaps!!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 14:53

@irkar Yeah! After initially not being able to even get a game out the gate, I just wanted to create something simple and short. I did originally plan multiple battles with different types of armies etc..

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 14:54

@lllarso Yaaay, thank you!! Yeah as you can tell from the gifs that say "Battle 1" I had planned originally for a series of different battles against different foes on different terrain!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 14:55

@scrapmetal Thank you so much! <3

nabil-shelim 2026-04-25 18:38

Neat take on the theme. Really simple but fun to try and reduce the number of soldiers you lose.

weirdbitgames 2026-04-25 20:52

@nabil-shelim yay I'm glad you enjoyed it!

sinemual 2026-04-26 06:03

Great idea! It all looks like a little finished game! Kudos!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-26 16:10

@sinemual Thank yooooou! <3

marks 2026-04-27 20:13

Love the retro graphics! Cool twist on rock paper scissors, except it's more memory-focused. I liked the funny animations and audio work, though it feels a bit too silent without background music.

Played around a few times and felt like the player side suffers less even if copying the enemy's signal so it would be interesting to see how that could be expanded. First advantage or factions having different attack set come to mind first.

Good job! This works quite well with retro graphics, feels quite polished!

weirdbitgames 2026-04-27 21:15

@marks Thank you for playing!

Actually the damage both sides take is between the same random variables, so is equal in that respect. The army with more soldiers have the chance to deal more damage while the smaller army does less, but the random range is smaller for them. I think it balances out quite well?

I've got ideas how to expand the game too yeah! <3

purrseus 2026-04-28 10:21

The overall aesthetic is super nice, graphics and sfx work really well together. It's super satisfying to put up the smoke signals!

The game is not very meaty and right now it's super easy to win (or rather, hard to loose :D), but this is a really great foundation I'd love to see something build upon :)

weirdbitgames 2026-04-28 15:38

@purrseus Thank yooou! Yeah well I'm glad to have finished a basic version of the game! I initially failed to even submit one in time. So I'm glad it exists now as an "extra" entry!

tetracold 2026-05-03 02:11

I like the overall concept, I think the smoke signal idea creative the way it's implemented as a rock paper scissor attack system. It could offer some interesting layers to the gameplay in a full game, I would like to see a more fleshed out version of this!

the presentation is also good!

weirdbitgames 2026-05-03 10:05

@tetracold Thank you so much for all the praise! And for the ideas on how to flesh it out too!

kanagg 2026-05-04 15:40

I played two rounds, the theme is on point, and the game is well made and polished. The strategy part is where it is lacking, with the signal being visible for the defender it is trivial to always pick the right thing, and on the other side it just feels like a gamble to pick the right action, unless I missed something. Maybe you can figure something out to make these decisions harder and more meaningful.

weirdbitgames 2026-05-04 19:35

@kanagg Yeah I can think of something to make the decisions harder and more meaningful. Thank for so much for the feedback!

Considering originally I didn't submit my game in time, I only just gifs and it wasn't 100% working. I'm glad I was able to publish the basic premise in the "extra" category after an extra day!