Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Dylan Shumway
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 59 | Signal | 👥 | Vibe Check | jam | 262 | 3.80 | 3.88 | 3.93 | 4.03 | 4.04 | 4.52 | 4.11 | |
| 2025 | 58 | Collector | 👥 | Auctioneer | jam | 3.00 | 1.50 | 4.00 | 5.00 | 4.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 4.00 | |
| 2025 | 57 | Depths | 👥 | Chthonic Cacophony | jam | 520 | 3.44 | 3.30 | 3.69 | 3.50 | 3.40 | 3.90 | 3.76 | |
| 2024 | 56 | Tiny Creatures | 👥 | Critters, Conjure, Cannonade! | jam | 66 | 4.15 | 4.06 | 4.23 | 4.59 | 3.64 | 3.87 | 3.65 | 3.87 |
| 2023 | 53 | Delivery | 👥 | Please, Clap. | jam | 1103 | 2.94 | 2.81 | 3.55 | 3.29 | 3.20 | 3.29 | 3.30 | 4.03 |
| 2021 | 48 | Deeper and deeper | 👥 | Damaged Control | unfinished | |||||||||
| 2018 | 42 | Running out of space | 👥 | CATSITTER | jam | 241 | 3.72 | 3.64 | 3.58 | 4.08 | 3.81 | 2.58 | 3.68 | 3.21 |
I love the way your mechanics tie so cleanly into each other and can serve so many flexible purposes! Seeing the walls being used both as a punishment for poor planning and a reward for thoughtful shooting is super cool! The game is also a blast to play, feeling super smooth and polished. Can't wait to see what you make next!
Love the multi-faceted application of the shooting mechanic! Having to balance your rapid gunning with careful movement leads to incredibly rewarding moments when you're able to dodge out of a cluster of enemies without dying. While the game is already very challenging, it is pretty easy for the player to camp out on the edge of the arena between spikes and shoot enemies for a while there, so it may be worthwhile to add some incentive for staying off the wall? Great job overall!
Has a great aesthetic to it! I don't know if I was playing really poorly or if I was missing the goal, but I found myself mostly walking until I ran out of energy, as my attacks didn't seem to do much to the enemies and I never encountered an energy tower. I think if the way to kill enemies was made more clear, then I would have been much more engaged.
I love the game's visual style! The amount of asset work you accomplished in such a short time is very impressive! Helping people find their personal grooves in the apartment is much more relaxing with the chill audio in the background, and overall I found the experience rather meditative.
In terms of ways to improve, I think the scheduling and log UI could be cleaned up/clarified a little. The formatting within the log seemed rather random, and its not immediately clear how to use the scheduling feature (although that could also be done with a tutorial piece instead).
Really enjoyable game and impressive work for the time frame! Well done!
I love the WarioWare inspiration and game style! The fast pacing keeps things engaging even with the small mini-game pool, and the overall progression of difficulty is just enough to match the frantic desire to beat all the games!! The graphical styling is cohesive outside of the menu buttons and the game's setup is perfect to build upon by adding more gamelad variations! Super cool!
Love the base you've built here! I only was able to play this single player, but I can imagine it getting really intense with two players and would make a great couch competitive game. The song that played during gameplay got a little grating after a few minutes, but other than that I really enjoyed playing this!
Love the visual style and the musical evolution to match the consoles!! Simple but well executed!
This was oddly meditative! I love the minimalist audio, as the engine rumble is an awesome accompaniment to the void-like atmosphere. The tank controls felt a little slippery at times, but the burst dash creates really interesting moments where you dive away from the nether at the last minute to snag a reality fragment. Very cool!
The space allocation gun being used for terrain exploration and health is a super interesting combination! I do wish that the player movement speed and bullet travel speed were a bit faster, but otherwise the mechanics felt pretty solid! The character sprites were also great, but the audio balancing for sound effects (dialogue in particular) was super grating and distracting. Fantastic work!
Super smooth and enjoyable!! Being able to push the dead enemies around to block new enemies was incredibly satisfying! The minimalist style also works really well, as it feels clean and removes any extra distractions. High score during lunch work break was 120. Well done!
Cool take on the theme!! I found the controls to be unresponsive a lot of the time, but that may have been because of playing on the web client? Drawing the paths is super satisfying and I love the color contrast between the paths and the deep blue of space. Nice work!
I love the overall mechanical structure! The dash and shoot gameplay can lead to some great moments of tension when you're trying to escape enemy bullets or traverse terrain. I do think the balance is a bit off, as the game felt incredibly easy until I got stuck on an island I had no chance of getting off of thanks to the rubber-banding death wall. However, it was still very enjoyable and the graphics and sound have great charm to them! Definitely could see this being developed out into something more!
I love this!! The simple yet clean visuals and the calming soundtrack make the game super relaxing! Even though the mechanics are super simple, the rate at which things to do spawn keeps things engaging all the way to the end. I felt a little attached to my colony by the time I finished playing, and I could see myself picking this up when I need to relax for a few minutes and clear my head. Fantastic job! :D
Pretty enjoyable overall!! The rising ink, while not a new trope, provides a lot of fun and tense platforming moments that make levels engaging. You also manage to combine the few elements you have in interesting ways that make each level feel fresh! There were occasional weird moments with how switching sides of the screen would affect momentum, and a problem where the play button wouldn't work if you clicked on instructions first or died (this was fixed with a restart), but it was a good time!
You have an interesting narrative base here to build off of! I think the mood and tone of your game are very strong, supported by a spooky soundscape. I also find the idea of combining a text adventure and card game rather interesting, however the overall linear structure and rather minimal and randomized card interactions take away a lot of agency from the player. I think if you found a way to develop more player agency in your mechanics, you could have a really strong adventure game on your hands.
This is really enjoyable! While it is simple, its well executed and has a cohesive feel to it overall. While the balance could use some tweaking, the game is a fun, complete experience! Very well done! Can't wait to see what you do for your next Ludum Dare! :)
This was a super fun take on the theme! Ito echo some prior comments, I found a weird disconnect between the chill vibe with people standing around and the fighting/brawler structure. The game never really felt as if it had tension despite the mechanical structure asking for tension. However, I think you could evolve either the brawler or chill side into an enjoyable arcade style game!
This is so slick! The puzzles are really clever and force you to think about the mechanics in new ways, which is super satisfying. Stick a chill music track in the background and some sound effects and I think it could be a full package!
Really chill game! The space capitalism vibe is strong but the chill background music and simplified UI makes it easy to play and engage with!
Really fun and charming!!! The grapple hook is really satisfying to use and fly around the stage with! I do wish there was some way to see the hellgates on a city wide level (a minimap or the like) but I know that's a lot of extra implemetnation. Still fun to play!
I gold starred every level except for Sniper and Purge (and obviously Hero because I didn't unlock it), this game is really fun. The aesthetic is so charming and all of the little design elements (from the target on the stump to the way you pick up arrows when you land a shot next to them) are beautifully done. Definitely my favorite game from the jam so far.
I wanted to gold star every level, but Sniper was just too hard and unforgiving; I had to stop trying that level after 40 minutes because my fingers got really tense. I think if you extended the time window just a bit (8.5 or 9 seconds instead of 8) it would feel like it has a bit of leeway from the perfect run.
Some other tiny pieces of feedback: - I love the procedurally-placed grass clumps, but I think they make it harder to keep the grounding lines of the target front of mind. - I think my favorite levels were the ones at the front half where you can see all the grubbo blobs and plan your route. Personally it was more rewarding than having to react to each individual blob and constantly be a little bit off target when adjusting the cursor. - This may make it too easy, but part of me wonders if having a visual cue for your bow tension near the cursor would make it clearer for planning your shots (and also add accessibility for aurally-impaired players) - I would love more opportunities/levels that rewarded using the dash! It may just be my more methodical approach to getting gold stars on most of the levels, but it often felt like the optimal playstyle was to stand in place and learn the shot strength needed for each grubbo. The dash feels good and is fun! I'd love to be pushed to use it more.
All that aside, this is Amazing! I would definitely play a full version of this title should it ever grow beyond it's tree trunk roots. Thank you for sharing your work!
Screenshot 2024-10-07 215654.png
Adorable!!! The little guys feel like they're straight out of a Ghibli film and that makes me smile. :)
I didn't have the time to set up emulation for this, but I just wanted to say this is super cool! Super interesting to see a console title come out of the jam! Hope to give this a try at some point! :smiley_cat:
Super satisfying project! Gives strong Downwell energy in the best way. :smile: I love the artstyle as well! The visuals are really refreshing and make it fun to see how the environment changes the further you go. The controls handle super well and reward a bit of patience, which gives it a nice balance of easy to pick up and fun to master. Well done!
Really fun take on a shmup/bullet-hell type game! The music is a super fun groove and the graphics are really cute, which makes it fun to play through. :smiley: I wish it was more clearly communicated that the edge of the screen will deal damage to you (maybe with a vignette?) or that there were just hard boundaries instead, but I still enjoyed my time. Well done! :confetti_ball:
A really chill time to play through! I love how the stat bars glitched out when your... patron(?) comes to give you more ingredients, a super cute and fun flavor touch. To follow-up on Jhax's comment, it seems like if you put a non-spirit/liquid ingredient in the blender first it will act as though it's full and won't allow you to put the liquid in. Seems to be fixed by just changing the order though! Thanks for the game! :beers: :confetti_ball:
Really interesting result from the theme! I love the idea of diving deeper into the Mandel Set. I would add a detail on the opening controls language that specifies left/right click as I tried to use arrow keys at the start. Well done though overall!
LOVE the vibe of this one. The quiet soundscape and the harsh, synthesized sound effects really give the cavern you're stuck in an eerie air. A fun take on RTS style resource management too! It was fun to collect a whole pile of resources and then build a chaotic structure out of wood and stone.
I think my only nitpick for this would be to have a little bit of audio balancing options, but outside of that I really enjoyed my time! Thanks for sharing your work!
This is a super cool entry! Rappelling is such a neat direction to take with the theme, it makes total sense and takes the easy to grasp cave environment in a new mechanical direction. I love the way the game feels to control and how it embodies the sense of slowly making your way down a rock face.
My two critiques are pretty small. One is that the audio loop is a bit clunky (and was really loud for me on the WebGL build) which could get distracting. The other is that I'd love to have some way to easily restart the climb as I got stuck halfway down with an unreachable swing and couldn't figure out a way to reset without just refreshing the page.
Overall though, super impressive. Well done! :confetti_ball:
Very smooth experience overall! The changing frame as you move between scenes is really smooth and gives the game a nice sense of identity. Plus the simple jazz beat in the background was a nice touch. :)
This was super impressive! A really fun game loop and the controls of the little robot are fun to mess around with, especially as you get upgrades. The sound design/music is *fantastic*! It adds so much atmosphere to the game, along with the lighting. My only critique is that I wasn't sure if the audio adjustment sliders actually worked, but otherwise I had a really fun time! Well done! :confetti_ball:
Super smooth execution of a sokoban...Sonic game? :laughing: I really enjoyed it! All the little sounds are fun to hear chime off as you bounce around, and the momentum based block gates are a really clever puzzle mechanic! No real complaints from me, just genuinely enjoyed my time! Well done! :confetti_ball:
Super fun project! I love a good main character with an umbrella :smile_cat: The layout of rooms (?) are fun to navigate and leave the little coins in just tempting enough places to push me out of the easy route. The part of me that has played a lot of platformers wishes I had control over the jump height (being able to hold the button for a higher jump and vice versa), but I know that implementing that sort of mechanic often comes with it's own balancing problems. Really enjoyed my time overall! :confetti_ball:
I was so excited when I saw you two had participated again! I *loved* Grubbo and played it all the way to the end because the polish was just so smooth. You knocked it out of the park again this time too! This game hits all the buttons that DRG/Minecraft/Core Keeper do while being a soothing little romp underground.
All the little bits of juice carry so much charm (the pitter-patter footsteps, the way the ores fly out of your pack and into the ship as you walk away, the small ding when the drill descends) that it's hard not to have a good time.
I'd love to know more about your development process for making something so polished with such a short turnaround! Is it mostly practice? Do you take advantage of work from previous LD games? (the character controller feels similar to Grubbo, but I can't tell for sure) Would love any advice/recommendations you both can offer in terms of development/art workflows! :heart:
Thanks for the lovely game! Well done! :confetti_ball:
I had a fun time with this! The unique control scheme was a fun challenge to try and overcome, and each of the courses were fun to go through. Also love the victory sprite of the two paddlers posing on the boat! :smiley: Well done! :confetti_ball:
Really interesting take on a Sokoban-style puzzler! I'm terrible at these sorts of games, but the cute graphics and chill music kept me trying to solve it for a little while. :wink: Well done! :confetti_ball:
Echoing the praise of the environment design! It reminds me a lot of Subnautica with the fog of war providing just enough mystery to keep you going into random caves or jumping to a new floating island. I wish the grapple hook wasn't as jarring when you actually hook onto stuff (I felt like I went flying every time), but that's a small nitpick when I really enjoyed my time overall! Well done! :smile_cat:
Very calming take on the theme! I've found these sorts of personality quiz games interesting to see how people try and work out your inner quirks, and you picked a fun set of questions to do so. Well done!
Really interesting take on the theme! I really like the stark visual style-it's very imposing and adds a little something to the lunacy of praying your next draw doesn't 100x your deck size.
I do wish there was a bit more feedback when drawing cards from the deck and indicating whether the outcome was good or bad (a sound/animation/something), and I think making the text a little easier to parse with some formatting/font differentiation, but overall I had a fun time. Well done! :confetti_ball:
The intro put a big smile on my face! Super cute little cutscene and a fun opener to the more metal grooves of the soundtrack. :metal: :guitar: The gameplay was simple but fun! I think the theme and the sound design were the highlights for me, and I enjoyed my time overall! :smiley:
Fun spin on the theme! The UI does a great job of creating atmosphere and cohesion with the gameplay. As others mentioned, difficulty tuning could use some work (as most jam games could :laughing: ) but it was still a fun little exploration game! I think my one nitpick is that I wish I felt the speed impact of traveling over difficult terrain more, it may have led me to make different path choices if I could see my character going slower rather than just having it impact a number differently. Well done! :confetti_ball:
This game really caught my eye with it's art style! You all captured such a specific vibe that is *so* good! The music is also such a bop which makes the rhythm game really work. I will echo some other folks comments about the difficulty (it can be hard to tell which of the two elements is arriving first at times, which is tricky), but overall I had a really good time! Well done! :confetti_ball:
This was a great time! The level design did a fantastic job of presenting concepts in digestible chunks, and the core mechanic was fun to use in so many little scenarios! The little robot quips were a great touch, and the ending level palette/scene shift was a great reward for beating the game. Thanks so much for sharing! :)
Really thought-provoking game! It took me a few rounds to wrap my head around the way engagements were scored, but I once I did it was an interesting puzzle to dissect. Super impressed that you pulled this together in the Compo time limit! Congrats! :confetti_ball:
Very spooky, love the ambiance! There's a section of the deeper ocean where some of the rocks are lighter colored, which gives the impression that they're in the background (where in reality they are on the same layer as the other walls. Otherwise, well done! :confetti_ball:
A really impressive little horror experience for 72 hours!! The puzzles were simple but well executed, the mood setting created a nice bit of tension, and the creature gave some good spooks! I also really like how you seem to pull from a pool of questions/reply minigame patterns to give it a bit of replayability.
Also @theoconfidor, the victory/end-of-game song was FANTASTIC. Genuinely just basked in the sweeping vibes for the full runtime.
Very much enjoyed this! Thank you for sharing! :smiley_cat: :musical_note:
Very well executed! A fun take on the theme and a super smooth play experience. Thank you for sharing! :)
I can't believe you made me kill Borjomi :cry:
Very impressive project for this jam! The theme and the writing are really interesting and definitely pulled me in. Managing the different stories/trying to figure out which framings were correct was stressful, but definitely a fun jaunt! Well done! :)
Really fun little strategy (?) game! The art with the mix of papercraft stylings is great, and the slight physics/positional element of managing where your symbols end up keeps the game exciting. I could genuinely see this becoming a really cute mobile game if you ever wanted to build it out more. Thanks for sharing! :confetti_ball:
Really cozy little project! As a fellow phone-signal-game-concept, I really like how you combined that idea with the kid at school setting (it gave me very fond Backyard Sports memories). Thanks so much for sharing! :)
Very cozy little game! It definitely feels like a game that would benefit from a controller (driving on WASD always feels a bit strange), but it was a fun Overcooked-style jaunt never the less! :)
I really liked the concept of this game! The Howl's Moving Castle vibes were great, and having a giant organ automaton that you pilot is a really cool idea. I wish I had more of a sense of why the rhythm game mattered, but it was a fun little adventure. :)
Love the sprite characters! The controls were a bit slidey, but once I got the hang of it I enjoyed skating around. :)
LOVE your game's vibes! The crafty art style works so well with the hand signal mechanics, and the sock puppet/papercraft characters really made me smile. :smiley: The spell list is definitely a bit overwhelming (I ended up crutching on two spells that I really learned), but flinging spells quickly back-to-back is very satisfying!
This was soooooo smooth to play. The give-and-take on the wheel controls feels so good to just coast with, and the fact that you constantly have to readjust after clicking a response kept me on my toes (in a good way!) The aesthetics are also fantastic and I love the touch of you blinking/drifting-off at the start of every run. Bravo! :smiley_cat:
Beautifully done! The vibes were immaculate and the puzzles did such a good job of combining different sets of the control parameters/star drift that I was hooked the whole time. Combined with the compact but impactful narrative and vibesmithing, this is one of my favorite titles of the jam! Thanks so much for sharing! :stars: :heart_eyes:
I really enjoyed my time playing this! I didn't end up finishing because I had a hard time parsing the cultists hand-signals while reading dialogue (which made it hard to tell how my replies were making an impact), but the setting and dialogue writing were intriguing enough to make me want to keep going!
I feel like some additional cues to draw your attention to which hand-signals each cultists would be really helpful (audio cues, a visual highlight, etc.), but also am very aware that those sorts of features are beyond scope of the jam workflow. :sweat_smile:
Regardless, this project is still super impressive! Would love to see what a refined version of this setting/style/mechanics would look like with more time and iteration! Thank you for sharing! :smiley_cat:
I really liked the vibes/art style! :)
Probably one of my favorites of the jam! Such a unique take on the theme and the core mechanic of actually sending the signals is both challenging and rewarding. The minimal visuals also make it easy to digest what's happening and the audio is a bop! Very well done! :confetti_ball:
Very chill vibes and music, which took me by surprise with the ending! Echoing some of the other comments about UI speed, and I may have had some issues with calls being accepted? But liked the chill vibe overall! :)
Really like the vibes of the game! The art style makes the world really pop, and the ambiance you set does emphasize the Special Agent's intimidating presence. I do wish that the overall pace of the game was higher (maybe personal preference for platformers with a bit more activity) and I think a future iteration could use some more indicators for how players can change their behavior to dodge the agent. Well done overall though! :)
love the shape drawing mechanic! Combined with the power-up system, this was a really fun time. :)