Heart Rush by gurkan96 2019-05-04T22:11:37Z
As other have said, this game is very simple but also quite fun. The controls were solid and the concepts were well represented, leaving nothing to stand in the way of enjoying the core concept.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Al Bueche
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 54 | Limited Space | Into the Light | compo | 2.00 | 2.00 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 3.50 | ||
| 2019 | 45 | Start with nothing | Ravenous Void | compo | 3.00 | 2.25 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 2.75 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 2.75 | ||
| 2019 | 44 | Your life is currency | Herding Cats | compo | 368 | 3.10 | 3.07 | 3.57 | 1.84 | 2.68 | 3.39 | 2.73 |
As other have said, this game is very simple but also quite fun. The controls were solid and the concepts were well represented, leaving nothing to stand in the way of enjoying the core concept.
I enjoyed the music, atmosphere and optimization opportunities, even if the game itself was a bit dark. For example, I found I lasted much longer if I let my family die...
The graphic effects, art style, and voice create a wonderful mood. The coloration is very noir and really worked.
The gameplay itself left me wanting. The main attack felt a bit clumsy and I found myself just running towards the center of a group and clicking wildly. Eventually I'd see them fall. I still don't understand what the right click is for. I tried to explore it a few times, but ended up getting hurt by the dead guys and giving up on it.
The rain effect, while very moody and interesting, did make it harder to figure out what was going on in combat. I was frequently unsure who was getting hit, but my life was okay, so I just kept clicking. I occasionally confused a living enemy stumbling towards me with defeated enemies rolling across the ground. I only realized I'd picked some food when I heard the narrator comparing it to blood.
Overall, I really enjoyed it!
Interesting concept, but I found it got significantly easier the further in I got. I died once or twice before purchasing my first three upgrades, but always stayed alive indefinitely after that. Increasing enemy difficulty over time could have helped the game stay exciting as could multiple and/or differently positioned enemies. I also like the hotkey idea mentioned above.
I loved the music and gameplay felt smooth.
I tend away from consumables in most games and this one was no different. I much preferred the katana to either of the guns.
I would love to see content expanded a bit, particularly a way to 'win'.
Thus is a very unique concept, and I love that. I generally liked the humor and mood you set up.
The rounds themselves were a bit long for me and I always ended picking randomly when the decision on show type came up.
The camera for looking at the items on the counter moves a ton and I don't really understand why. I found it easier to guess from what I could see from the primary camera angle most of the time.
Very unique and fun little game. I really like the play on words.
I did have some difficulties with the camera, but that's to be expected with all the jumping around. I frequently felt it pointed the exact opposite direction I wanted, but that may have been because I was trying to hide with my back to a corner. I made it up to almost $2 with that tactic.
The increased jump was an interesting feature, but it got a bit out of hand at the half-dollar level. It was so extreme, it made it difficult to go anywhere specific. The half-dollar also started to show issues with the shot sound effect, as it gets repeated so much it starts to become a vague background drone.
The game is fun, engaging, and pretty well balanced also pretty well. I like that you really need to use both upgrade options to progress and that increasingly demanding enemies push you to do so.
There are a few bugs remaining like the pause button and firing while selecting upgrades. I also missed the upgrade options during my first playthrough (pretty obvious now though).
This is an enjoyable little game.
The controls took some getting used to, but I picked them up eventually. I liked the differences in movement between various creatures, but was there any difference in gold value?
This is an interesting platformer and kept me engaged enough to complete it. Graphics and sound effects were simplistic, but served their purpose well.
The jumping mechanic took some getting used to, but once I did it worked well enough. Its consistent and allows me to adjust the height.
The first 'cutscene' caught me by surprise, but they worked well enough to keep me from feeling lost. The 'life' was also useful in that regard.
Collision detection around combat was a bit buggy. I frequently ended up to close to the enemy for them to hit me. They also had a lot more HP then I initially expected. It works well enough for the boss fights, but I have an urge to kill enemies as I move past them, so I spent 2 seconds or so killing each one in some of the areas.
Overall, combat was a bit too easy. I was never afraid of running out of HP, so the jumping puzzles and time required to take out enemies were the main obstacles.
The invisible walls were interesting for a while and I like how the 'life' pickup was used to introduce it, but they became a bit of a nuisance at some point. There was also one particular jumping puzzle I had a lot of trouble with (just before the first enemy portal).
By the way, I initially tried the web build, but couldn't get it to load, so ended up playing the exe.
An interesting idea, but I had trouble really getting into it. I wasn't sure whether my goal was to get the most total dollar value, the most sets of complete pigs, or the most total items.
The route to the stock exchange was interesting the first time, but once I had enough pieces to take the optimal route, it was a bit cumbersome to click through.
Not a big deal, but the controls on the main menu were a bit hard to see.
Fun game
I ended up completing the game with the starter pistol because oxygen seemed more valuable to me than a gun with limited ammo. Once I got the strafing down, enemies were easy enough.
I liked the devil's deals appearing periodically (even though I always took them, so not really a choice for me).
I really wanted a health bar to determine how I was doing. I think I took 4 hits on the round I died, but not even sure if I got healed up between rounds.
I liked that upgraded enemies appeared eventually, but I would like to see the progression sped up considerably (player and enemies). I'd suggest having a deal every round with enemy progression to match.
The theme and setting are awesome. The controls and attacks generally felt natural.
I was a bit confused by the shop (I didn't initially realize I was looking at a sell window). I was also confused on the purpose of the corrupted potions and drank one to ensure I was understanding the concept correctly.
I ran into a few bugs, but nothing too devastating. I was unable to pick up the 2nd max health increase item (full inventory?) so it despawned leaving me to kill myself from max health getting through the next door. I also saw the camera bug described in the summary.
Excellent graphics and sound track. I love the overall feel.
As others have noted, the enemies seemed to have a bit too much HP early on and those requiring jump/shoot were a chore. I'd recommend more enemies with less health as well as some difficulty scaling as rooms progress. I like that the levels are somewhat randomized, but I ran into the same one back-to-back and was a bit disappointed.
The controls did feel a bit stiff at times. Using the mouse click to fire while ignoring mouse position felt a bit clumsy to me, as did the inability to change facing direction in the air.
One last note, I was never sure what gun to grab since there wasn't much indication of the differences.
Seems like I've complained a lot, but I really enjoyed this game!
I like the simultaneous puzzles concept, but I found myself largely ignoring the transfusion mechanic. The two paths usually had a similar level of difficulty, so I either died on both routes or neither. There were also many situations that either resulted in death regardless of my HP (stuck between boulders, etc) or left me without enough time to make use of the mechanic.
I was a bit frustrated by traps hurting me after they'd stopped moving, particularly the boulders that tend to end up in front of the exit. That said, it did force me to rethink the order in which I approached the challenges, which ended up feeling rewarding.
@Faulkin LOL, A water pistol would be awesome. Thanks for the idea!
This isn't a bad game, but it has a few elements that make it feel bad and could use some polish (true of most games made with such a tight time limit).
I think I understand how the basic mechanics work, though I didn't see a huge impact from purchasing the upgrades. It appeared that most enemies died in one hit (making increased damage a bit unnecessary).
A shorter base ability cooldown might make the general gameplay more enjoyable, as would an indicator for readiness on the character (where my eyes are most of the time). I found myself frequently circling the enemies while waiting for an ability to be ready, even after spending most of my various life pools to reduce cooldowns.
I also noticed that I was hit and died a few times while it seemed I was out of enemy range.
It took me a bit to figure out how everything is balanced (and why I was dying), but its a nice little game.
As you mentioned, the balance is a little wonky. I found that I either died within the first minute or could go on pretty much forever.
It looks like you can't rebuild on a square that got its building destroyed? Also, is there any way to direct soldiers or is it essentially placing the barracks strategically?
It took me a bit to figure out how everything is balanced (and why I was dying), but its a nice little game.
As you mentioned, the balance is a little wonky. I found that I either died within the first minute or could go on pretty much forever.
It looks like you can't rebuild on a square that got its building destroyed? Also, is there any way to direct soldiers or is it essentially placing the barracks strategically?
@norris-eldridge Agreed on both counts. I've never really composed any music before and found it challenging just to create something I didn't hate. I would have loved to add more interesting stuff out in the world, but ran short on time.