Kingin' It by JoshyOshKenoshi 2018-04-22T22:09:57Z
Very fun game with a unique premise and easy to understand mechanics. Would love to see storylines of characters tie together so there are greater consequences for actions.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → corc0
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 46 | Keep it alive | 👥 | 𝘋𝘜𝘕𝘌𝘞𝘙𝘖𝘜𝘎𝘏𝘛 | jam | 2113 | 3.05 | 2.78 | 3.28 | 2.89 | 3.60 | 3.00 | 2.10 | 3.44 |
| 2018 | 41 | Combine 2 Incompatible Genres | 👥 | Retrograde | jam | 214 | 3.84 | 3.13 | 4.43 | 4.39 | 3.77 | 3.72 | 2.33 | 4.23 |
| 2017 | 40 | The more you have, the worse it is | 👥 | Lightmare | jam | 572 | 3.45 | 3.17 | 3.60 | 3.53 | 3.54 | 3.53 | 4.08 |
Very fun game with a unique premise and easy to understand mechanics. Would love to see storylines of characters tie together so there are greater consequences for actions.
This is a lot of fun! Took a minute to get the hang of the powerups, but the game makes a lot of sense after you do.
@schizoid2k I like the keyboard control scheme, but CTRL + D is a Chrome shortcut (add bookmark), and I seem to be hitting it more and more often when this game gets hard (when I'm dropping a power-up and moving). If you do anything else with this concept, maybe you'd consider giving a panicked klutz a break by making Shift or Space the power-up key?
This feels too real. Ouch.
Mechanically: stacking the bills the way you did was brilliant. Makes them hard to access/keep track of (much like real bills).
It feels like a complete, working system, which is a big deal in 72 hours. I can't say it's fun, but you really did realize your game's premise in an effective way. Nice!
Hey! Love your notes on the game above - it's been a process, and it's interesting to see everyone balance the mechanics and player experience you want with the skills and time you have. I agree with you: I'd love to see more of a story built from this. The marooned-with-a-machine story is fun to tell. Did you ever play "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"? It's totally worth chewing on if you haven't.
Really, really like the dull sound you used for gunfire. And the character animation, too - it looks especially right when you're carrying a bunch of gold. It's really nice to encounter what feels like a well-executed game with a scope that's right for a 72-hour jam. Nice!
Is that a VHS rendering of your game? It's awesome. Is there a separate button for interacting with your phone? @mattdahepic Is there a way to end the Simon/wife minigame without actually succeeding? I got stuck.
This is impressive. Really, really good-looking. You've got style! The music's a little overwhelming but it's a nice track. Took me a minute to figure out how things worked - I think there's just so much you can do that it's hard to find a place to start - but it's well-paced and I feel like I'm getting the hang of it with each playthrough. Nice work!
Can't seem to get far past 44 seconds! I really, really dig this. The pacing's great. It's like others have said - making the timers more visible would do a lot to increase playability/reduce eyestrain (even though I'm endeared to the minesweeper-y simplicity there).
Do you have an invisible factory, @strelly? I had a timer spawn but there wasn't a building with it.
Well, after killing a few cats and making a bunch of money, I've gotta say that this is a fun jam game.
First off: thank you for including an in-game tutorial! It goes a long way, particularly when you've reviewed a bunch of games and you just want to PLAY a game.
Nice scope - there's enough here to do and not so much that things feel janky.
And the music is the calming kind of stuff you'd like to hear when you're being overrun by cats.
Overall, nice!
The small stuff works well: a generous hit box, a variety of simple landscapes and a limited jump. Sounds are calming and a little unnerving, too.
If you're interested, @lot9s I've found something like a bug: for a short period of time, I can still move/complete a level after I'm killed by ghost.
So, this game FEELS good, which is saying something. It's satisfying to shoot and it's fun to move and you really do feel it when you get hit... and all this for a game with a large ball as a protagonist?
Not including a jump was a really good choice. I dig. (EDIT: It totally does, @BinarySpark :sweat_smile:. I must just be enjoying the challenge.) Thank you for this!
If you follow the link and find yourself looking at some blurred, squiggly lines with no game, don't leave! It just takes a second and the satisfaction of llama-slapping some grabby kids is totally worth it. (What is that sound, anyway? It sounds like a robotic boxing arm or something. Fun!)
This theme's been interesting: it's pretty much always the case that the more success you have in a game, the worse it gets, or, the more enemies you face, the harder it is. But I like your take on it, especially in light of the backstory (the more looks you have, the worse it is - god forbid this llama runs into some makeup or something).
Game has a fun premise but definitely some balance issues. I'd love to see the cheese balls add a longer boost and for the Fat effect to be more linear - it seemed like I got exponentially fatter and fatter :)
Great art style! And the way you communicated game info was great (like the fat meter, distance from the wheel, broom chasing the rat, etc...)
After you get a bunch of cats, this game keeps you really busy (although I think you're making enough money to load up on food/water early on, so you might just chalk it up to my limited experience with strategy games. Does each cat need food/water/love at a different rate or are they all the same? I couldn't tell.
One of few games to use a story (and to voice-act it, too!). You guys did up the humor category for sure.
Things that look/sound good: picking up treasure, the camera's view of the ship (nice to see it tilt when the ship's at the left and right), and, of course, the intro music.
That sound at game over... is that one of those springs that keeps your door from hitting a wall?
@kirill-venzhin - I had trouble loading the web build until I disabled my ad-blocker and reloaded the page. Just FYI for your game description, @iamsodarncool and company.
Nice job! I wasn't ever clear on what we're matching to - the image in the top left? - and while having a bunch of little screens is a pretty cool effect, I don't think it makes the gameplay more meaningful (it's easier to wait for an adjacent box to match, so there's not really a reason to click in one of the many, many screens that appear). I like the feel of this and it's different from every other game I've played this jam. Thank you!
I'm trying to play this now! It's a little hard to grasp how things work from the intro screen, but I like the idea a lot and it's refreshing to see a game that doesn't quite look most of the others. Restart button might help?
EDIT: Finally getting the hang of it, and I really like the moving treatment bar - the units you're giving aren't clear with the defibrillator (I think it's x% of 200?) but it's really fun. Thanks for making this!
SLOOBRA!
So, yeah, it's a click-to-read story, but it's pretty fun! It's easy on the eyes, too. I like your menus/text and there are plenty of characters to go around... if I could change one thing, I'd say it'd be ditching the tween animations, but that's totally a matter of taste (and time). Definitely a unique experience.
Hey! Saw your blog entry on the front page and was really excited to see someone working with a similar premise!
At first, I kept dying pretty much right away: the platform you begin on doesn't give you much of an opportunity or much space to start to get the hang of what you need to do and when, or, more importantly, to help you understand how the level is laid out. A little bit of persistence totally pays off: the atmosphere is creepy, from the skinless dudes scaling the walls to the alien light-activators, and this is a pretty novel control scheme as far as the games I've played this jam. The camera angle really makes the most of the ledge-maze concept.
I'm inspired! This is pretty cool.
This sounds great. Is it possible to play this without Unity?
EDIT: It totally is.
@emptyrean Looking forward to it! Thanks for the reply.
Okay: I knew this was going to be good! Easily one of the more innovative premises so far. It's a real challenge on a standard keyboard. I don't know how many times I've played level seven, but I'll be playing until I win. And there's none of that bit-off-more-than-we-can chew quality that a lot of us definitely run into: the level design here really does give players a chance to warm up before showing them what a game like this can do. You thought of the player experience and it shows. Really, really cool.
Hey! Really awesome tutorial. Looks good and makes things super clear. I didn't have a lot of luck actually playing this (the bathroom being destroyed/urinating in the office mechanic was neat though).
@dj-depressive Thank you! I wish we could say we were the only ones who found this fit with the theme, but if you're interested, DeLight (https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/$51177) takes our premise in a totally different - and very cool - direction.
@interpol So glad to hear that the mood is working out; I think it's what we've liked best. We didn't even use a third of the concepts/enemies/etc we'd wanted for the game jam, so a fully-developed game is something we'd really like to consider.
@diego-santos-leao Thank you! It's so hard to tell when you're successfully communicating a mechanic and when you're just being heavy-handed. I wish I'd included a space that's just jam-packed with moths and almost no batteries - just so you get the idea that you're safe while your light's dim. Ah, well. Next time?
@oskarlausson Ah! That's my bad - each battery will only take you to 40% or 60% health in the prototype; you can't store them or add them together. Maybe we should've had the light-man drop a dead battery each time he picked up a new one... or made our health bar bigger... or something. Anyway, thank you for the super useful insight.
@seanbeans Ah, I knew someone would mention the sounds. We had several more but ran out of time. Thanks for playing!
@luciax So, we were hoping that the level would teach the player that the purple blocks disappear when you've got a bright enough light. I don't think it always worked, though, and those black and white squares you mention are what they look like when they're vanishing. Good to know that it wasn't super clear.
@ryusui I'm disappointed about the (lack of) sound, too - we just ran out of time, honestly. We need to do a way better job communicating what's going on and I think it's the level/UI design that should do the heavy lifting... which is pretty much on me. Really appreciate the critique. Thank you!
I'm sorry to hear that! Light only works on those blocks when you've got enough power -- that's right! I wish we'd included a more visible health bar, but the one we have is color-coded, so you should see two colors when you've got enough energy to pass through blocks - and most of the time, the moths won't follow you if you don't have enough light. We didn't make this clear - at all - but there's a recharge time on the shot, and the power depends on how much light you have.
There's a lot going on here and I wish our level design had made things clearer!
One of the best title screens I've seen so far! You've got a really clear sense of style and it makes the game look great, especially as you get close to death. I found it hard to get over that first ramp, which is kind of a bummer in a tutorial setting, but that's partly me and I think partly that depth perception can be difficult in dark spaces.
The aesthetic of this game rocks.
Everything's really satisfying about this game. The tofu gun and the crunch sounds... yeaaaaaah! (EDIT: Oh, and the way the blocks break into little blocks! So perfect.) I'd really like to see more of this character.
I'd totally play this again when it's easier to get around; the camera has some odd behaviors (something to do with being close to the edge of the map), but it's nothing unusual for a game jam. Thanks for this!
49 points! I grabbed a lot of beer and very little else. I could take in a lot of booze without the game getting harder, but the visuals after grabbing a joint really did make it harder to play (and more fun!).
Hey, @bencourt, I'd really like to play this but I'm stuck right off the bat - when are bodies "hidden"?
Hey! Do you do LSAT logic games? If not, you should. This could totally be a teaching tool for would-be law school students.
I got stuck at the second level for a bit, and now, rereading your description, I know what to do. It might help players if, early on, you've got **all** the pills of one kind (red, red/white, green, etc.) in the box - just so that putzes like me know that they haven't gone missing somewhere.
Hey! Looks like I might be your first review.
First: congrats! Have you played Escape Key (https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/escape-key)? It's one of my favorites from this jam and they also use hitting the right key as a fundamental mechanic. Seems like y'all have a bit in common.
This is challenging and I like it. It's funny how these sea creatures can't swim... I'd enjoy it more if there was some correspondence to where keys are on the keyboard and where the holes appear on your boat, but that's totally just me!
Nice game!
Ah, man. Did you get sick or something?
Hey! I'm playing on the WebGL version. I was curious how it'd perform (ours was too sluggish as a web build so we stuck with Windows). The download speed here is pretty slow (several minutes' wait) but it runs well!
Anyway, I liked this! Your light puzzle got me thinking (had to get out pen and paper) and your torch-lighting tutorial was just difficult enough to be challenging with the controls/movement as they are now. The movement is a touch sluggish when it comes to the platforming/cannon-pusher-arounder elements, but the level design makes up for it. Pretty satisfying to light that final torch. Thanks for making this!
Hey! This has to be my favorite game so far. I haven't loved a title screen this much since... I don't know when. And there aren't many jam games that you get to learn so naturally; I loved figuring this out through trial and error. I'm not sure I ever understood why the brain had a battery slot, but it didn't seem to hinder my progress (or enjoyment) at all. If y'all have some games/art/music coming out elsewhere, I'd love to hear about it.
Hey! You're my first five-star rating on theme and music so far -- really nice work. I dig your:
* Clear instructions regarding controls * Non-video-gamey music * Ability to complete an entire game once the mechanics are mastered * Sense of challenge, especially as food runs out * Small touches, like having the 2D fish flip over to turn
Like other folks, I struggled to figure out what to do initially. The arrow you added to indicate direction was super helpful, but only after I'd read the comments here. But it's the sort of thing that could easily be fixed with a couple of small tweaks. You're miles ahead of other entries in terms of your visual style: it's clear what can and can't be interacted with (and it's really easy on the eyes). Thanks for making this!
Hey! I haven't had a chance to play many Godot games and was excited to give yours a try. I dig it! Like @quinn-patrick mentioned, the enemies are too dense (and the firing too slow) for me to survive long, but the bass line kept egging me on (I had the pleasure of hearing the choral effects in your game over screen... many times!). I wasn't clear on what the color-coding meant (or what the benefit of immunity was). But a short description, here or on Itch, could definitely fix that. I hope you enjoyed working on it! It was fun.
Edit: If it's not too late -- and it wasn't intentional -- you might want to opt out of the "humor" category?
@jeroenwimmers Ah! That's a heckuva compliment sandwich. Did you get to check out the rest of it? Thanks for playing!
@wheybags The art is all @prototype6 ! I'd love it if we could implement auto-rotation -- it was one of my goals, actually, but I was fighting with the ragdoll physics and the animations and wasn't able to implement it in time.
@gurglesprain That's awesome feedback! I agree across the board and I'd love to implement those changes in an update.
Hey, @prototype-jon ! "Challenging and addicting" is high praise! Thank you. The last puzzle provides only _some_ of the completed route. Each golem shows lights from only one row of the completed path. I wish we'd shown it more clearly - we were hoping to squeeze in a puzzle-puzzle where you'd have to do a little inference, but I suspect that we didn't do enough to make the concept clear.
Hey, @gurglesprain ! You left us some really helpful feedback and I'm hoping I can do a bit of the same:
This is one of the tightest games I've played so far. Almost nothing feels clunky, unnecessary, or untethered to the theme. The visual style is simple and really telegraphs where players should be spending their time. The controls feel natural. The progress gauge does exactly what it needs to do. And while I would've loved some sound, I really appreciate that the focus was on gameplay first and aesthetics later.
The only thing that didn't feel quite there - and I think other folks mention it in some way or another - is the bot's speed. I found myself holding shift constantly, and I wasn't sure why I'd do anything else. But there's a million other approaches to try (discharging the boost all at once, making it unusuable until fully recharged, or just ditching it in favor of a higher speed).
This could easily be expanded on and, if you ever do, I'd love to play.
Hey! There's a lot I like about this, including: * It's a small file and it's nicely hosted on itch.io (seriously, thank you!) * Your user interface is clean and super cool, and the tutorial/instructions clearly shown * The rain sounds and music loop nicely - and do a great job complementing the excellent visual work that's at play here.
The character does a good job of moving through platforms; the gun fires exactly as you'd expect. There's nothing janky about the basic mechanics (which are often neglected in these jams). I like the control scheme. And the audio clips you've added do a great job of rewarding the player for surviving and grabbing those chips. That said, if you ever revisit this, I hope you'll make some changes to the jump mechanic: the camera movements when you jump are a bit extreme (even a tiny bit nauseating, in my case) and I didn't find it particularly easy to jump and shoot (which would've been really fun!).
This has a solid mood and EVERYTHING WORKS! I'd be pretty proud if I made this.
Hey! Nice game. It has a super-clear connection to the theme and a couple of things that are typically needed (and often missing), like in-game instructions and a working UI. It's a basic game with straightforward mechanics that tie in nicely with the theme (and it's a web build!), which I dig.
A couple of basic things would make this better for me: * Make it so the D-battery (super important!) isn't greyed out - I didn't realize I could buy it. * Don't have the notifications lay on top of the Amazoon menu (makes it hard to click on stuff) * More ambient-ish/longer in-game music -- something that loops without being too repetitive * **Break up the menu into a few slides!** As-is, the rules are a touch overwhelming (even though the game itself is simple)
This is a really good example of a game where the mechanics are simple and complement each other well. While I didn't have a ton of fun playing it, I appreciate how clean it is, and the thoughtful touches (pausing while you're buying stuff) that make it feel like a real (non-jam) game.
Hey! As someone who tried really hard to get through Level 2, but couldn't, I want to say how much I dig the core concept of this game. The ambient noise is creepy/somber, the gameplay is simple (and innovative!), and the first level does a good job of helping you get your bearings.
Some possible areas for improvement: * I'd like to see the rules more clearly established in-game; it was a while before I understood that the numbers at the end(?) represent the number of children who need saving. Making that goal clear at the beginning of the scene would be motivating and make things a little less confusing (and, sorry if I'm overlooking something obvious). * The impassable space surrounding the walls got me killed a few times * I found that the monster's bullet stream was really hard to pass through and would eventually corner me or a kid. I'd love to see them reload or vary their firing patterns somehow.
It's an unusual game with a lot of promise; thank you for making it!
Your link is misspelled! Should be: https://ango.itch.io/a-tale-of-two-kings
Played this all the way through! (And lost, too.)
Saw your comment on our game, and I agree - it's tough to get story-based games off the ground in 72 hours, and it's harder to do that in a non-linear story. Yours is a pretty impressive example of when a story-based jam game works. I appreciate that you included voice acting consistently; I didn't notice any NPCs who didn't speak, which helps to keep the mood intact.
I'd also say that you did a good job with choosing the right scope. There are bits of the typical game-jam clunkiness - nothing happens when you click "castle" from the courtyard, and the main character occasionally walks around in an odd way - but there are far fewer issues in your game than most, especially given how much content there is. Well done!
Fun! Based on one of my favorite arcade games. I wish there was a stronger integration of the Space Invaders elements though.
Played on web build.
Graphics, SFX, and music are excellent! The goal and controls are a bit obtuse, however. The UI buttons to upgrade the city weren't working for me either.
LOVE this game. The style's awesome and you made the most of it by throwing in some great lighting. It's a great setting, especially with the music. Good vibes!
Played on web build.
This was great! Challenging enough to keep players engaged, but simple enough to pick up quickly and even win. The challenging part is when the sprite goes to the far frame and the mouse can't rotate the thruster to get out of the edge — shrinking the playable area, but having the mouse register to a larger area might help? I'm sure there are lots of ways to solve that one.
Sound was great, though a little repetitive.
The physics were fun :)
Great submission!
Hey! Played this through to the end. It's a good game and a tough combination to pull off. At first I thought it was pretty difficult, but then I realized that you could get through most levels just by running as fast as you can without worrying much for the platforms.
By the way, there's a little bug on the level with the three stationary balls. If the top of the player hits the bottom of the ball, you'll have to restart. (Including the restart button makes this a non-issue as far as playability goes - thanks for including that!)
**PROS:** Great mood, music, and style. Very noir. It's hard to make different kinds of interactable objects - and make them work well - in just 72 hours. You did! Monologue reads surprisingly well.
**CONS:** Like the previous comment said, it's hard to tell if we've failed or finished by the end. Not a strong web build; the mouse goes off the edges, unless we're in full-screen, where it's super-hard to control.
**OVERALL:** Short but solid. Technical issues aside, it's a strong jam* game. Congrats!
*EDIT: It's a compo entry!? Seriously, nice job.
Driving mechanics are awesome. I didn't see any health indicators or anything so it was confusing when the car stopped driving.
Great graphics and a fun idea! Som information like abilities could be communicated a little more effectively.
This would be a great party game, where everyone takes turns battling it out! I can see a lot of VS fun in this little gem. Nice!
**PROS:** Characters' art style is great. Silly in a good way.
**CONS:** Controls weren't all that intuitive. Dialogue could use some cleaning up
**OVERALL:** Doing a jam game with story and dialogue is a tough business! If the dialogue choices were more meaningful and it were a little easier to use, players would have an easier time connecting to your interesting concept. Nice work.
This was a fun game - very satisfying to play and think through pattern identification and strategy. I'm not really understanding the genre matchup, however. Also, the SFX to purchase animals hurts my ears a lot - might want to check to make sure you're not clipping as it seems disproportionately noisey compared to the rest of the SFX.
Good job!
Played web build.
Excellent! Very innovative. I love how intuitive the mechanics are, and the first level is perfect for training those mechanics. Also, great job gracefully handling those moments when the ball gets trapped - I never felt like I needed to restart the game (except when I had too many strokes ;)
This was a fun concept and it's always good to see a jam game try to work in some dialogue. An intro screen with controls would help those of us who dive right into the jam games (it's always nicer when games are self-contained!). I'd add that making it harder to fight with somebody who has a higher reputation would encourage players to be more strategic (and have more fun!). I didn't really feel outmatched at any point. Overall, it's a playful game that'd gain a lot from some sound effects and could be fun on a mobile device!
@BlazeDragon thanks for that feedback! We tested the audio on a number of systems - was there a particular screen where you found the volume was too loud?
@limered thank you! We worked really hard on the mood and creating a solid atmosphere across all categories :)
@Marsepstein that's good to know! We tested them quickly but had to push. We thought it was still better than the alternative of falling all the way back to the beginning.
@patvanmackelberg It's tough to get to the end (although we think it's worth it!). Thank you for the kind words.
@kelbg Thanks for letting us know about the small platforms (and it's not just you!).
@theslate Thank you!
@nardandas It's a bug; if you don't land on the punctuation before it falls through the floor, the game won't progress. You've got to fall off the platform at the bottom of the screen and reset the scene to progress. It's not you! Thank you for your praise & insights.
@FredricW Just commented on your game. I agree that the platforming can make the game pretty distracting at times. I'd love to experiment with other ways of combining these genres. And in regards to the story: that's all @indiana-Pones, our writer-in-residence.
@ignaciogamedev What do you think could most improve the controls? We're learning that it's hard for most people to get around. Thank you for your feedback.
@MiracL Totally agreed! Thank you.
**PROS:** Typing for your life! Controls are varied and interesting. Soldiers' movements are surprisingly organic for a jam game (nice!)
**CONS:** No training wheels - jump right in and use all commands.
**OVERALL:** This is an excellent spin on an unusual concept. It's fun and it doesn't look like anything else I've seen during this jam. It's easy to imagine a cruder version of this game doing just fine, but the graphics, controls, and polish make this an impressive jam game.
The link doesn't work :(
**PROS:** Expressions on the demon's face - and sound effects - help players to figure it out for themselves. A "how to play" screen is included! Initial difficulty makes success rewarding Funny animations!
**CONS:** It doesn't get any more difficult as you go along, so it's easy to lose interest. Menu isn't the best-looking thing in the world.
**OVERALL:** This is a fun game and, unlike some other entries, everything works! You definitely did a good job keeping it simple and making it your own. Unsolicited advice: people are more likely to play your game if you indicate that it's a WebGL build, so I'd edit this page to reflect that.
This was a fun game - thanks for making a web build!
My feedback below: - The ship seemed to have a non-intuitive velocity function: changing direction didn't really happen as I thought it would, and it was a little tricky trying to adjust for the game's handling. - Progress is far too slow for the first level - this makes it difficult to complete - After picking an event card, some kind of count down to prepare the player when re-entering play would be nice - Music could use work - An arena that "wraps" - moving off-screen left results in entering screen right - would make this interesting.
This was a great first Ludum Dare submission! Well done!
Cool system! Took a few tries to figure out but was fun afterward. Music is great! Fullscreen wasn't working.
This fits the theme better than most entries I've seen. Nice work! It's unfortunate that the first level is so hard; the mechanic looks like it'd be fun if things were easier.