Groundwater Studio

Pneumatic Postman by klausklapper 2023-05-03T03:26:05Z

SUCH a good opening, this game oozes atmosphere. Having played it I can TRULY understand how foreshadowing that opening was. I don't know if my eyesight is going out on me or if I'm just a trash mailman but good lord it was hard to read some of those capsules.

That said I think it REALLY delivered on the overall experience. Idk if I've ever seen a game so truly capture the feeling of being given a hopeless thankless and merciless job. I got one mail delivered successfully but quit out before losing my second play through because I was TERRIFIED of the sound it makes when everything explodes.

Great job, easily the most atmospheric game I've seen so far.

Pneumatic Postman by klausklapper 2023-05-03T14:27:39Z

@klausklapper I'm exciting to see it! The music and coming down from the pipe in the opening IMMEDIATELY had me thinking of Little Nightmares, maybe there's some juicy inspiration to be found there as you build things out ;) course I'm biased cuz I love Little Nightmares.

I'd love to see where you go with this, Do you have any socials anywhere? This was our first LD so idk where to look to find em hahaaa

Pneumatic Postman by klausklapper 2023-05-03T14:41:55Z

@klausklapper done and done!

Badger Break Out by Knatt 2023-05-03T21:59:49Z

Alright so the licking honey combs to launch yourself feels PHENOMENAL. There was one bit towards the end where there are a couple rows of honey combs in sequence and it felt so good launching yourself through them. I would have loved to see that mechanic a bit more frequently in the levels because wherever it was felt great and wherever it wasn't felt a bit lacking.

Great art too, tonnnsss of personality. Props for actually building your tutorial into the game AND adding character to it. The sound design was nice too, I just wish it was mixed a little bit more consistently on the boss. It's such a cool character and the fx sounded pretty solid, they were just super over shadowed by the rest of the mix.

GREAT little game. Be sure to drop reviews for other people so you can get this little gem the attention it deserves! :)

Deliverace by sbeif 2023-05-04T00:00:16Z

love the aesthetic, and the vibe of the writing on the tutorial page filled me with pure glee, but i had trouble understanding the rules and exactly what the gameplay was expecting from me

Cloud City Cargo by homeworld 2023-05-06T00:28:27Z

love love love the art direction here, very nice stuff. I didn't get super grabbed by the gameplay, but i did enjoy just roaming around the environment and soaking it in quite a bit.

Days on the Lake by nardandas 2023-05-06T00:32:02Z

i really liked the aesthetic, that crunchy pixel effect is great. I wasn't really sure what to do through, so i just kind of drove around trying to crash into the other boats :')

Deliver Your Voice by spacemyname 2023-05-04T17:49:29Z

Neat little project, could have really used a bit of text saying "drag the squares to the part of your head that you want to use to make the noise" but I was able to find it in the comments. Shoutout to @spacemyname for the tip!

Definitely makes you think more deliberately about something that's entirely muscle memory at this point.

eelBay by Peco 2023-05-03T04:23:56Z

Alright alright once I finally wrapped my head around how to separate large blobs of guys this game was absolutely in the clear. Such a hugely incredibly Freddy Fish casual vibe after I got my brain screwed on straight. The masking effect on the eels looked GREAT and the sound design for the boats was super nice.

Very clear overall game!

Storky McStorkface Express by Flying Dog Fish 2023-05-04T17:43:32Z

Good lord it's just such a cohesive little goofy game I LOVE it. The verbal SFX were so so so good and fit in perfectly with the art (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee). The flap mechanic felt super good too, tho I had a bit of trouble with figuring out where my hit box was ESPECIALLY when carrying a creature. Direction changing was a great little bonus too, I would have played through the whole thing if I didn't suck so much at it. Awesome job!

Sundae Driver by ComicSans 2023-05-03T18:08:24Z

The airhorn at the start caught me so off guard and set such a fun tone for the rest of the game. The game orbiting so heavily around just going fast had surprisingly good game feel for just being a two button game. There were a couple points where I missed a stop I really needed to make and had a good time just zooming around the track to try to get back to it asap.

The sounds that were in there were great, I would have loved to see some additional car sounds. These little toy race tracks had such a distinct "WWWZZzzzzZZZzZZZZ" noise to them back when I had one as a kid, there are some really neat opportunities to explore this kinda setting sound wise.

Fun little game overall with a nice bit of personality!

DeliverEgg by Tricky_Fat_Cat 2023-05-03T18:02:40Z

Love the gamecube era platformer vibe going on here. The music sets the tone and the like greenhill zone esque level design does a good job of keeping that sense of place going. I could totally see this having some cute little opening scene that gets you vibing with this dinosaur guy. Obviously that kinda thing is outta scope for a jam but the fact the other game having a sense of place put me in a spot where I was hungry for something along those lines.

I couldn't quite figure out how to defeat enemies, my initial thought was to throw the egg at them. Maybe they weren't meant to be defeated but the hearts above their head made me think otherwise.

The dinosaur had a great set of little reaction sounds to different stuff going on. I especially dug how emotive the death frustration sound was!

Great little game, makes me hungry to play more 3d platformers like this.

Papi's Delivery Ops: Cardbark Infiltration by nox282 2023-05-03T18:32:01Z

The opening dog scene was phenomenal, really set the tone for the stealth sequence. I had a bit of trouble finding my way back through the level from the stamp but I think that's just cuz I'm impatient and suck at stealth games.

Great vibe overall with the very cute "dog walking hiding under a box" animation

Spacial Delivery by KirKami 2023-05-03T18:19:20Z

First off that little drone you have in the background does WONDERS for setting the tone of the setting. I think the feeling of becoming stranded and puttering around this solar system really really comes through.

Had to restart and re-read the instructions a couple times to wrap my head around it but once I did I dug what you had going on. The orbiting planets and NPC ships are a nice touch. I could totally see myself getting super into this kind of top down elite dangerous-esque trading/exploration game.

The minimap also confused me as first because I had flown offscreen before adjusting the scaling so at first I thought the big yellow dot was me. Not a huge issue but definitely caused some confusion at first.

I really struggle to dive into system heavy games like Stellaris because it's all just maps and menus, this game made me realize that honestly it takes a VERY small thing (like having your own ship) for me to overcome that feeling.

Cool little game, nailed the atmosphere.

Grav-O-Delivery by XeduR 2023-05-03T03:33:56Z

Oh man I loved the vibe here. I was absolutely trash at it but never once felt frustrated, the music REALLY set the tone for my whole experience. It's the first LD53 game I've played so far that I've come away from thinking "man I would love a full game of this, I just wanna feel like this more"

Honestly my only critique is that I wish there was more, different layouts even. It just left me wanting more but still with a smile on my face.

Pizzapocalypse by GERD 2023-05-03T04:16:08Z

THE VOICE LINES. Holy hell what a GOOD ASS TIME. Such oozing personality. The level layout added a ton to the gameplay. I wish the pizza cutter had a bit more range or something but once I kinda got the feeling of it it actually really worked out. There was a point where I just wanted something new, which is defs a W

I can't believe I got fired when my accent is so rad.

Supply Sprint by Mololo 2023-05-03T23:26:38Z

this game SLAPS, the central mechanic is so much fun. I also loved the color palette on the background. absurdly entertaining to play

Expedited by electabledork 2023-05-06T00:51:25Z

I feel like it would have been really fun to lean into the chaos in this game and encourage the player to drive recklessly, I defs had some fun driving around and smashing into things until i blew up

Devil's Corp by Neobit 2023-05-03T23:41:11Z

crazy level of visual quality here, love the art direction a lot. I wasn't super grokked by the gameplay, but the passing similarity to devil daggers and the top notch presentation kept me playing for a good chunk of time

Drifty Delivery Service by Adan1032 2023-05-03T03:11:51Z

First off, gotta say I hardcore sympathize with the build struggles. I respect you being out here in the trenches trying to make it happen for you! Having to bounce between steering and throwing packages was a neat little challenge given how the controls were laid out. I actually think the control layout was my favorite part cuz it really lent it self to the challenge of balancing two things without getting my fingers all tied up.

Would have loved to hear some music here, even something generic could have added a TON to the frantic vibe I got from the game.

Grats on the second jam :)

Deliver Him to Derek by NicLee 2023-05-03T18:24:44Z

Okay I imagine the backstory video had narration of some sort playing over it but good god was there something hilarious about slowly and silently zooming in on these characters. I couldn't help but laugh.

The teleporting to The Butcher feature was neat. Added a bit of strategy though at first I wasn't sure if The Butcher was an enemy or not. Reading the description cleared that right up tho.

Western Fury by AlpalcaLad 2023-05-04T17:20:17Z

Right out the gate, title screen sets a phenomenal mood. The music, the colors, the layout. It just slaps. What kinda threw me off though was how different the vibe of the game felt to the title screen. I would have loved to see that awesome sunset color palette and cool crunched western guitar music be present through the rest of the game.

The bullet catching mechanic coupled with the bullet TIME mechanic was sooooo clean. That final boss was easily my favorite part of the game, especially with how quickly the scene reloads if you die. With that said I felt like the box throwing and corpse stacking bits felt less engaging than those mechanics. I understand the sense of empowerment that comes from earning a power up, however I left the final boss going "oh man I wish the earlier parts had just been me catching and throwing bullets too!"

Some exceptionally good elements here though and a very polished/complete final product. I finished the game thinking "I just want more of X, Y, and Z" which has only happened with a few game so far this jam and this is one of them. Awesome job boss!

Western Fury by AlpalcaLad 2023-05-04T17:51:30Z

@alpalcalad I TOTALLY get it, we ended up with the worst level design imaginable in our entry because we didn't leave ourselves enough time to do a fun layout. The parts you focused on definitely shone through!

Drone Delivery (My version) by Pixelverse 2023-05-02T04:31:17Z

absolutely banger soundtrack. I would've like a bit more feedback that there's actually a goal, the resemblance to endless runners sets up an expectation that it'll just continue until you run out of lives. I also liked how the parcel had a little bit of motion to it, that was a nice lil touch

Crabload of Shells by mitur 2023-05-06T00:46:56Z

honestly kind of a perfect jam game. Everything is exactly where it needs to be, kudos for scoping perfectly

Lexicon by John Kisner 2023-05-03T18:48:34Z

This is SUCH a fresh take on the theme. Pitching the voice lines as you draw was an inspired way to wrap up "delivering words" into a gameplay mechanic that felt like I was actually doing it. Very immersive. That said I wasn't able to beat it because it got pretty discouraging having to restart from scratch each time.

Tremendous art, easily my favorite that I've seen so far.

SendNood.exe by Azzriell 2023-05-06T00:19:58Z

loved this sm, the title immediately made me laugh and the gameplay was super clever and fun. I dug the music and artwork, this whole game was just a whole a e s t h e t i c

Deep Sands Delivery by Rjdrag 2023-05-03T02:57:36Z

Love the delivery spin on a classic tower defense type vibe. Something about riding the platform that I'm building on feels very cool. I had some trouble figuring out where certain items could/couldn't be delivered to at first but once I got it it always felt fresh planning out the trips. Big dig on the setting by the way, sand oceans are slick as hell.

Out For Delivery by Groundwater Studio 2023-05-03T14:40:16Z

Thank you guys SO MUCH for the feedback so far. It's pretty euphoric to come out of that nightmare weekend to such helpful and warm feedback. Ludum Dare slaps (even if it slaps so hard it almost killed our team hahaaa)

After getting some sleep and chewing on feedback we've decided that we're gonna polish it up, get some proper level design in, tweak the game design a bit, and drop it on steam here as our first steam release :) It'll be small but we're super psyched about it. Stay tuned!

@gerd @hani @fuzzydunlop @morepixels @firebugs @kleich

Thanks for all the insightful gameplay feedback. We SUPER agree. Right now the gameplay game plan is to make the game more of a puzzler. Where you're connecting outlets to different devices to activate functions like doors. Levels will be a bit more non-linear with the final goal being powering on BIG BENSON by connecting all the outlets back to em in one way or another.

Little stretch goal we have is to add physics to the cable so it can be used to block sliding objects ;) tho don't hold your breath for that one cuz it's a bit of an unknown at this point.

Man the game design community is COOL this was COOL and FUN. VIDEO GAME!!!!

Thanks again and much love from all of us at Groundwater.

Out For Delivery by Groundwater Studio 2023-05-04T05:26:41Z

For everyone who was not born with THE GREAT KNOWLEDGE OF ALL DIMENSIONS required to navigate the OG build, we've published a QOL update that's at least marginally more playable. Peek patch notes for the deets :)

Out For Delivery by Groundwater Studio 2023-05-04T17:53:37Z

@benskca Secrets secrets, ya neevveerrrr knoowwww

Ensomniac by WigHz 2023-05-06T01:05:04Z

very concise, i really enjoyed this one. As soon as my attention started to wane i got my first upgrade and i went "OH" and was all-in for the rest of the round

Color Delivery by Zephyr19 2023-05-06T00:39:19Z

really cute and fun concept, you stumped me by level six XD i really liked how even thoough the art was super minimalist, it was still nice and clean and appealing. Howeverrrr, that two bar loop that was playing nonstop in the background made me feel like i was losing my mind

edit: adding an airdash was an inspired choice

Delivery Duck by xxstdyk 2023-05-03T03:47:23Z

10/10 only duck game I've played on Ludum Dare.

Just felt great to play as these GOOD OL DUCKS.

Would have loved for there to have been more.

Eggs Delivery by yoddaa 2023-05-03T23:46:05Z

I had a lot more fun with this than i expected to, i think i figured out the mashing advanced techniques. 1917 eggs, lfgggggg

Jitto by osullivp 2023-05-03T03:02:58Z

Loved the vibe of the title screen, the controls being on screen adds such a nice sense of immersion as well. Would have been neat to have some music going during the game itself, I was bopping to the title screen.

Corporal Pigeon by YamDaddy 2023-05-06T00:58:06Z

top tier concept and aesthetic, i was NOT expecting to fly 100' in the air and burst out laughing when i did

Pack-Man by GyReDHawK 2023-05-03T23:53:55Z

excellent art direction, all the illustrations of the boxes were super cute and charming. Using the lights to communicate the guards sightlines was a good call, I felt like the rules of the game were very clear and consistent.