boltdapikachu234 2026-04-20 11:51
really good and fun, its not too easy but not to hard either
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD59 → Points
By tesseract
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 179 | 3.31 | 21 | |
| Fun | 118 | 3.44 | 21 | |
| Innovation | 157 | 3.36 | 21 | |
| Theme | 157 | 3.60 | 21 | |
| Graphics | 258 | 2.76 | 21 | |
| Audio | 200 | 2.83 | 20 | |
| Humor | 141 | 2.55 | 19 | |
| Mood | 213 | 3.05 | 20 |
really good and fun, its not too easy but not to hard either
Funny, this is the second time I've tried the same interpretation I did, and it gives three very different versions. Well done!
lEVEL 3 is insanely hard haha (20 train is too much ). Good game overall and music is not that bad ^^
(me just before the crash)
Capture d’écran 2026-04-24 105348.jpg
The job of a train dispatcher. The gurgling music is really funny.
Simple and neat entry.
A simple concept that has been very well executed, well done. Being able to pause the trains but and still change the tracks is a god send. I also really like the music, I think it fits perfectly with the style you went for. Honestly, no notes very well done. I'm really interested on how you expand and continue with this.
Had a very good time playing this one! Then after three tries I got fed up on level 3 (20 is a lot!! and I failed two times with only 5 left :cry: )... but anyway, really nice; also with the short tutorial and the simple but fitting music. Only thing I had trouble with some times is that I couldn't directly tell the position of a switch, maybe a clearer indicator would've been helpful. BTW, if you're interested in this kind of games, go also give my game a try, it's using a very similar concept (I feel like your game is more fleshed out though)
It's a simple but fun game with a generous level of difficulty. I believe the level progression could be improved, as there are already many paths available in the second level.
Nice idea, I would like the difficulty to increase more gradually. Well done.
I loved your game! I had a blast (even getting annoyed when the train leaving came from the station I needed to get on)! Even though it's something so simple, it captivated me a lot. I wish there were more levels. I don't really like endless challenges. The graphics are simple, which isn't a problem, but I had some difficulty understanding the paths when I glanced at them quickly. Something more visually appealing might be easier to understand.
I apologize in advance for my honesty, but the music is awful. I had to mute it and open Spotify. It was good in a way because I discovered a wonderful album.
Congratulations on the game. I saved it here for my children to play. It will be good for their brains.
:)
My teammate and I actually DNFed a jam a few years ago where we tried to make something like this! You did a good job with it - I like the elegance & simplicity of the mechanics and presentation. It can get pretty frantic when the trains start piling up, especially when a new train appears from the depot you were just guiding another one to! One thing that might make it a little bit smoother to play would be some clearer visuals on the swapping tracks - it's kind of hard to tell immediately whether the straight or curved one is on top, and it would be nice if you could look at the whole level and clearly see the paths each train will take.
You've made a good start with music, too - it sounds maybe code-generated to me, which is pretty cool. I think you could make the compositional idea work a little better by making it less relentless and choosing a less harsh sound. Let it fade in and out a bit, create a chill ambient vibe. Keep it up, writing game music is super rewarding :)
Overall, great work! There's a nice zen atmosphere to this one.
Fun entry! Difficulty ramped up quickly - didn't manage to beat level 3. I think you managed to communicate all of the game mechanics with a minimal interface really well, stuff like how the incoming train target is shown by the colour of the countdown means the game is easy to understand while still looking super clean.
I wonder if one collision being an instant game over might be a bit harsh on the longer levels - could maybe give the player a few lives instead?
So simple at first glance, but the difficulty ramps up fast 😄 Great concept. It's so fun to watch the trains just go in circles.
If you continue extending this post-jam, I think directional hints/path previews for each train could really help readability and predictability during the later chaos. A high score or speed-solving system would fit nicely too.
The procedural music was a really nice touch. Feels like it could go even further with automation reacting to gameplay/events as things get more intense.
I also agree with the other comments about clearing crashed trains faster to make room for incoming ones (even if that’s not exactly realistic 😄).
And frankly, a planning/sandbox round where we can place all the pieces first and then hit play to watch the whole system unfold would be super satisfying.
penteract.github.io_ld59_points.html.png
Although the screen only shows the interface of the train tracks, it clearly conveys the gameplay of this game and is very easy to get started. If more diverse gameplay could be introduced to enhance the players' exploration, it would be even better. However, perhaps the time frame is indeed too short. Making it this way is already quite good!
Good game! Difficult. But it makes you want to keep trying. "I was so close…" 👀
Overall looks nice and clean, gives you everything you need to understand what's going on, and the overlapping tracks could've easily been messy but you made them work well and it feels intuitive where the trains will go! The UI controls could be a bit more cohesive with the graphics, looks a bit browser defaulty.
I will agree with yourself that the music was a bit grating :p But I still wanted to play with sound on because the sound effects were great feedback. Even more train sounds and animations would've been cool, but I think it also works well with the minimalistic style.
Gameplay itself is great. Again, it was difficult sometimes when there were many trains at the same time, but it didn't feel unfair and it always felt like it was possible to make it if it hadn't been for my own mistakes. The variety between levels is nice. I wonder if it could be expanded into a longer game with more mechanics introduced later. At the beginning I thought maybe a fast-forward button would've been nice but as soon as you get more than one train you definitely don't want that, so I'm not sure. Guess it's nice to have and just not use it most of the time :p
Cool stuff, thanks for making it! I still want to go back and try to do better at it~
That was nice, little puzzle, especially as it was surprisingly intricate, even on lvl 2. What I have problem with is like all other comments, 20 trains as target is a bit too much. I understand that it's probably about getting used to level and not just lucky getting the trains. But after leading many of the trains to their correct station getting accidentally crash and going back to 0 trains is just brutal. It could be slightly mitigated if there was button to increase trains speed to x2 so you could potentially get back faster. But I think decreasing target count would be good idea too, even if speed button was added.
And about music. It isn't that bad, I didn't mute it thru all my tries on lvl 3 and that can tell you sth. I mean it is pretty repetitive so it could get to the point of being annoying. But I also think the track fits the game nicely.