FoonLudum Dare ExplorerUsers → HacksawUnit

HacksawUnit

Category Medals

YearLDThemeGameDivisionCategoryScore
🥈 2025 58 Collector Invasive Spectral Projectiles compo Audio 4.50
🥉 2017 40 The more you have, the worse it is Cardhoard compo Fun 4.31

Games

YearLDThemeGameDivisionRankOvFuInThGrAuHuMo
202659SignalSignal-flag Shufflecompo633.813.853.422.783.973.713.473.70
202558CollectorInvasive Spectral Projectilescompo94.124.023.293.524.504.503.604.32
202557DepthsCast Iron Hammer Golfcompo3.814.004.313.363.953.593.043.31
202456Tiny CreaturesMake Your Board & Climb In Itcompo294.124.174.503.674.094.053.023.78
202455SummoningBrew Some Unique & Appetizing Potions!compo364.074.044.003.283.854.023.823.82
202354Limited SpaceSea Kelp Towercompo454.063.933.713.804.434.063.023.95
202353DeliveryKirk's Food Delivery Gamecompo244.164.353.783.924.304.403.924.12
202251Every 10 secondsUntitled LD Prototype #1unfinished
202250Delay the inevitableGame About Trying to Gain More Time In A Time Cavecompo354.034.003.333.154.124.123.223.68
202149UnstableBaserackcanballcompo1073.843.813.603.294.303.903.253.58
202148Deeper and deeperWorm Excavation Leaguecompo2393.723.853.533.814.013.813.053.59
202047Stuck in a loopFROGS Training to be Heros (In a large 'wheel-thing')compo493.964.013.664.203.743.243.703.45
202046Keep it aliveBattery Paniccompo1613.843.763.753.823.753.772.613.22
201945Start with nothingWaiting for Hot Wings: A Dungeon Dialogue [Unfinished]unfinished
201944Your life is currencyCurANTcycompo973.694.093.463.243.543.303.563.50
201842Running out of spaceGrid Weavercompo74.204.173.944.184.353.553.073.37
201841Combine 2 Incompatible GenresTurn-Based Invaders from Space!compo424.003.823.844.154.143.922.753.66
201740The more you have, the worse it isCardhoardcompo44.284.313.903.914.313.873.263.71
201739Running out of PowerCharge Infinitumcompo1783.563.293.524.084.103.863.483.41
201738A Small WorldWorld on the Tip of a Ballpoint Pencompo1713.563.183.264.134.223.762.944.22

Performance over time

overall score (left axis) percentile (right axis)

Scatterplots

Fun vs Overall

Innovation vs Overall

Theme vs Overall

Graphics vs Overall

Audio vs Overall

Humor vs Overall

Mood vs Overall

Comments by HacksawUnit

LD38 — A Small World

Honey Home by dvdfu 2017-05-19T17:44:57Z

What a great entry! Really enjoyed this. Everything fit together very well.

Adventure Owl Meets the Mole Men by fenwick 2017-05-16T23:32:58Z

Really enjoyed this, the visual effects are a neat touch!

Planetone by shillingburg 2017-05-16T23:39:01Z

Love how this sprinkles in some "Game of Life" with the planet synthesizer idea. Really interesting stuff!

FLUORIDER by anim_ace 2017-05-17T00:26:44Z

Fun little arcade game! Impressed with the smoothness of gameplay. Top notch stuff!

LD39 — Running out of Power

Be Queen Bee by LucasMolina 2017-08-01T01:33:50Z

Great little local multiplayer game! Sound and graphics are very impactful. Super fun to lob the crown around and see the drones (?) speed around.

Charge Infinitum by HacksawUnit 2017-08-01T10:44:28Z

@puarsliburf

Almost everything you do takes power, even clicking buttons and moving your mouse cursor, so that might be why your health was ticking down. You could have also been 'cursed!' by an enemy.

Upgrade zones are tricky; sometimes you get lucky and get good power and recharge options, and other times you have to deal with bad options. Getting to 4-5 rounds is quite good!

Element Quest by Crad30 2017-08-01T02:25:49Z

Pretty interesting entry! Not really sure what the energy bar did, but there was a nice variety of monsters, and having multiple dungeons was impressive.

Hungry Harry's Climb by PBG 2017-08-21T01:35:57Z

Really great stuff, very impressive for a compo entry. Felt great to play, although some more variance would have been nice!

Turn 0n D@ Gohst Z0n€ by dubsol 2017-08-01T01:53:32Z

What a treat! Genuinely funny game. Graphics were all over the place, which was a good thing in this case; I never knew what to expect! Sound design was great too.

Turn 0n D@ Gohst Z0n€ by dubsol 2017-08-01T01:53:35Z

(doublepost, can't delete...)

LD40 — The more you have, the worse it is

Permanence by stevenjmiller 2017-12-14T20:09:40Z

This is such a great entry! I love the experimental take on the "sliding block" game, you really pushed the concept far. Also want to give props for all the little things you included that really elevate the entry; I didn't use the 'skip level' button much but when I did I really appreciated it. I would definitely play a more fleshed out version of this, but as it stands it already feels complete. Great work!!

Guy is late for school by phi 2017-12-04T19:50:41Z

Wow! What a creative entry. I love how it seems to be a simple walking game, then once you end up stepping on a potion you get the hook. Tons of fun, great work.

Curse of Greed by Sophie Houlden 2017-12-04T21:01:27Z

Wow! Great platformer, the controls are excellent. Hp and Gold trade off is a really nice concept!

Cardhoard by HacksawUnit 2017-12-04T06:04:09Z

@s-ed Oh no! I forgot to upload the source, it's on itch.io now. Thanks for the heads up. (And sorry for the broken fingers!)

Cardhoard by HacksawUnit 2017-12-05T15:30:07Z

@Ziamor The skull boxes are invincible! Don't get too greedy or you'll lose your combo potential!

Cardhoard by HacksawUnit 2017-12-08T16:29:46Z

@bluemirror Excellent feedback. I will take this into account for any future versions of the game.

Cardhoard by HacksawUnit 2017-12-09T16:34:41Z

@d-studios Being able to climb is a feature! The character's super-tough tape gun lets her scale walls and packages. Thank you for playing and for the feedback.

Zealot by fasterthanlime 2017-12-05T15:41:23Z

Wow, what a great game! Quite impressive. It took some time to understand but I really like it!

Lights Out! by rubr 2017-12-18T05:42:08Z

Deceptively rich puzzle game! It took me some time to understand the mechanics, but you have something really interesting here! :)

Blob Hell by ryuzaki_mrl 2017-12-04T05:22:22Z

This is a very interesting concept. Nice execution! The aesthetic adjustments are a nice touch. I think that the floaty controls aren't actually a bad thing, but could be complimented with more forgiving projectiles.

Panic Blocks by Darkfire92 2017-12-26T17:51:08Z

Wow, what a cool inventive entry! I like how there are lots of little wrinkles in this for those aiming for a high score. I love the graphical style, and want to give a special shout out to the game over animation, very juicy. Great work!

The Weight of Greed by tuzepoito 2017-12-27T18:25:28Z

Way more than meets the eye! I like how you can move through the game at whatever pace you would like. Really cool little puzzler!

BURROWED TIME by endesga 2017-12-20T20:29:04Z

Super cool entry! I'm a huge fan of these top-down gunslinging games, so I was able to pick things up quite quickly. Every aspect of the game is very well fleshed out, and I really love how you tackled the theme. Lots of little details (I love the jittery, chattering ammo counter!) add a lot of personality. A small gripe I have with the game is that the enemies that aren't very fun to fight, because enemies don't really respond to getting hit in a way that makes it feel like your bullets have impact.

Mortal Komba by kokirisandfriends 2017-12-08T18:45:15Z

This game gave me serious Warioware vibes! Takes me back...

wario.PNG

Anyway, excellent graphics: art and animation is top notch. As for the gameplay concept, it has a lot of potential, and I think you realized a good amount of it! The different characters' quirks really gave the game personality in execution. I would have perhaps made jumpers invincible when new characters are introduced, it could have made things a bit smoother. Overall, great entry!

LD42 — Running out of space

Get Comfortable by mcccclean 2018-09-04T01:05:13Z

Super cute and imaginative game. Lots of fun stretching out and searching for new moves (I even learned a ballet fact!) I love how much sense the different moves make from both a gameplay and a snuggling perspective, and how many you managed to fit in sensibly.

modbot by 01010111 2018-09-04T01:11:59Z

A little unwieldy, but still good! Very polished. The 'mod-stacking' idea has potential and I could see it being the basis of a fun puzzle game if you take it any further. As it is, though, fun entry! :) Also, points for the little 1/4 of a tile robot being adorable.

Aeromancer by Ethan Allwood 2018-09-04T01:24:03Z

(Finally getting around to rating this one!) Great entry! Heaps of polish on top of a solid set-up, and made alive with good spritework, music, and gameplay. The bubble feels amazing and is super fun to plan around. It would have been interesting to see the different abilities play off of each other more to open up more puzzle opportunities (Maybe the lifting wind affects bubbles, or punching while using the parachute creates some sort of horizontal dive attack, that sort of thing.) but this is already jam-packed for a compo game! (No pun intended.) Overall, great stuff.

Detox by FiloGC 2018-08-13T00:39:55Z

Great entry! Smacking the orbs around is very satisfying, and the combo effect is killer. Online leaderboards are always a treat, although I don't think I have a chance to get on there, let alone stick around long. Good stuff!

LD44 — Your life is currency

CurANTcy by HacksawUnit 2019-05-01T20:04:41Z

@hypp Hello! There shouldn't be a difference between spacebar and mouse input. Perhaps you just do better with a mouse!

LD46 — Keep it alive

Volleybody by Ramperkash 2020-05-11T22:38:25Z

This is genius!! The main mechanic here is so, so cool. I love how much control you have over the alien thanks to the slightly odd-ball but very precise directional input system. Echoing what others have said, the player control could use tweaking. I would greatly reduce the character's 'slipperyness' (walking deceleration) and maybe add more options, like wall jumping or a fast ground-slide. However, I really like the character's jump as it is now. In most contexts, I don't think I would like the fact you can hold it down for so long, but it makes sense for this game.

Battery Panic by HacksawUnit 2020-04-21T19:14:27Z

@boltkey Sorry for the control issues. I was basing my controls off of common console controls for 'Tetris'-like games- it is very common for 'up' to be a hard drop in these contexts. The game is set up to have rebindable keys, but I didn't have time to add that unfortunately. Thank you for the feedback!!

Keep On by irock 2020-05-11T23:11:01Z

I like this concept a lot! It was a bit unforgiving, but still fun! Would be awesome to play a suped up version of this with the Smash-esque indicators you mentioned and a more balanced stage layout. (Could also see this being a blast in a VS or coop mode.)

Hermann the German Dough by conrad 2020-05-11T22:24:15Z

This is an incredibly sweet little game! I wish I was better at taking care of my Hermanns, though... I do not know much about taking care of dough, so I was at a loss as to what needed to be done.

LD47 — Stuck in a loop

Lucky Lefty Loves Loops by TheBookSnail 2020-10-06T21:17:20Z

I actually really loved the controls. I was impressed by this game's sense of motion, and the zoom at the end, as mentioned before, is an amazing effect. And does the instrumentation change with each loop? Very cool!!

deertective (deer detective) by Samelgamedev 2020-10-05T22:10:05Z

Wow! Very cool game... It was fun walking around and talking to everyone! I really liked the music. My ending wasn't the best for 'Deertective,' so I wonder if there was a good ending that I missed. (EDIT: Oh, the description say there are three endings! I'm going to hunt for a better ending. EDIT 2: I am stumped... I cannot seem to find enough evidence to get a third option in the final trial.)

LD48 — Deeper and deeper

Falling down from above by Sublustris 2021-05-08T15:19:03Z

Excellent, thrilling game! Everything flows very well, and the effect of the bubble shrinking as you run out of time to move is very effective. Oh, and the graphics are quite nice indeed.

Dig To The Core by pirate_pie_develops 2021-05-16T16:47:23Z

This game is maybe too affecting... I played it for too long! I really enjoyed it before I said, "No more!" and stopped playing. I think making the mining part move more quickly would make this game a bit smoother. Also, I agree that some of the collision issues, as well as getting stuck without being able to 'jump' and continue mining, made things a little frustrating at times. But overall, a great entry!

Grave Fallers by Pavel Smejkal 2021-05-16T14:55:31Z

Very nice!! The 'thump' sound effect when landing after falling a while was a nice touch. I like how the projectile shooters mean players can't just hug the wall as a strategy.

LD49 — Unstable

Dogs++ by Jezzamon 2021-10-05T02:50:23Z

Beautiful little game!! It's short and sweet, and the levels flow wonderfully. Excellent art and music, too. While I think this game is a perfect length, I wouldn't mind meeting these dogs again in the future if they end up needing more bones... the game mechanics could definitely be explored even further!

YuraYura! - Tidying up the tilting tower! by Cornflowerblue 2021-10-06T03:56:09Z

This is a really great entry! The gameplay set up is awesome, as is the art, the music, the feel- basically everything! Although, I think the balance (pun intended, hehe) holds the game back a little bit. I wish that more things could pile up during gameplay instead of just one or two hazards ending the game almost immediately; it feels a bit sudden. But, that's mostly a nitpick coming from how much I love the 'tilting base' setup and wanting to have more room to enjoy it. Oh, and while playing I was wishing for a double-jump and some sort of combo attack... Anyway, would love to revisit this someday if you ever do a post-compo. Great work!

Experiment #56 by ildfuglen 2021-10-17T20:29:42Z

Lots of great feedback here already! I'll just say I loved the feel of the grapple, just wish I could have used it in more places, even if not really 'needed' by gameplay. Although, knowing where grapple is possible does help 'signpost' where it's needed to progress. Anyway, great gamefeel, some nice polish- and like others have noted, a little audio would have done a lot. Overall, awesome entry!

Buggy Bot by ursagames 2021-10-05T01:50:22Z

Great little 3D platformer! Smooth gameplay all the way to the end, although figuring out how to complete the last level was a little tough. The momentum mechanics feel great and I could see speedrunners finding all sorts of ways to speed through.

Snmuloc by tayl1r 2021-10-04T01:05:08Z

Very cool take on the theme and a very interesting puzzle game! Requires a totally different strategy and feels very fresh despite its inspirations.

Unicycle Scientist: Saves the World by MrWhimble 2021-10-21T19:59:11Z

One of the biggest surprises of this LudumDare for me! Amazing art, polish, and mood! The gameplay (ESPECIALLY when not on Easy Mode) is pretty tough, but feels great after getting used to. Great job!

Mystic Push by TheSomeoneXD 2021-10-05T02:16:50Z

I'm not a very big fan of these sorts of games, but I stuck with it far longer than most thanks to the incredible sound and art. And, despite not being a fan of the 'push stuff' genre, I thought the puzzles were well designed, even if I had to skip them Tunnel onward because I just couldn't crack them. Amazing work!!

Surgeon Rush by erkerkiii 2021-10-20T23:00:00Z

Great first effort! Even though this entry is small and could use a few things like music and more sound effects, there's some cool stuff here. I liked the decision to show the total combined 'health' of all the remaining ailments, and that there was a nice variety of 'enemies', including a big boss. Plus, the art is very nice, too! Some improvements could be allowing the user to hold down the mouse button instead of having to click rapidly, adding a way to lose the game to create more strategic decisions in the gameplay, and maybe a little extra polish here and there. But, overall, very nice job!

Landslide by Reef 2021-10-05T02:28:50Z

LandslideHighscore.JPG

Cool game, and a cool way to make an 'unstable' platformer! I think it's weighted a little too far towards luck in terms of getting good pillar placement, and it's very hard to dodge any incoming rocks- but still a fun little game!

Landslide by Reef 2021-10-05T02:52:34Z

@reef I see! While an indicator would have been nice knowing it's in the same three spots definitely helps! (Maybe you could add it to the description if you think it would improve the gameplay experience?)

Simply Blocks by kuviman 2021-10-04T18:50:00Z

Could play this for hours, tons of fun. The building restrictions inspire creativity. Thank you for this wonderful game.

Here are some highlights:

**LudumDare Logo** coolLD.png

**'Tower of the Gods'** towerofgod.png

**Archways** arches.png

BUMBLING BUILDERS by Oroshibu 2021-10-20T01:03:47Z

Excellent entry all around! Great art, sound, music, design... Very little to nitpick! That being said, the difficulty of some of the challenges seemed to be a bit uneven- although that could just be me! Some puzzles will probably vary in challenge from person to person. :) Despite being physics based, the way things flowed feeled pretty sensible, although it would have been nice to know where certain 'enemies' would have appeared ahead of time instead of having to do a 'trial run' to see what and where things would appear. All that being said, fantastic entry! (PS: I managed to three-star all the levels! (3-2 was quite the challenge...)

Deathrail by Hotowlgirls 2021-10-04T23:44:42Z

Challenging little game! I couldn't move past the 'Journal #3' entry- not sure if that's the end or not. Using both WASD and QE to do everything was pretty tricky! I ended up using my other hand for Q and E which made it more managable. You have just enough here to create an interesting atmosphere and mood, and the art is pretty good, too!

Falling Tower by Simpathey 2021-10-06T03:24:37Z

You had me at 'wizard construction team'! I first played this a few days ago and really enjoyed it. I really like being able to 'sandwich' things between the red squares, and pulling off last-second 'snags' of far-off squares. The art and music is nice, too! In terms of notes for improvement, I think the pace is a little too fast for proper strategic play, and it seems like the variance in where blocks appear introduces a lot of randomness which impacts how sturdy you can make the tower. All that aside, a very nice entry.

Candle Coffee Courier by BluishGreenPro 2021-10-20T23:50:41Z

The controls and player mechanics are positively funky- very strange, but in my opinion, quite good once one understands Chadwick's capabilities. I actually grew to love the sticky wallslide/jump, and was able to get through pretty speedily once I got a grip on it. Although, I understand where others would have trouble- some of the sections require very tight timing. The twist at the halfway mark was awesome and totally unexpected! Oh, and the art and mood were excellent too. Great entry!!

LD50 — Delay the inevitable

Game About Trying to Gain More Time In A Time Cave by HacksawUnit 2022-04-06T16:45:26Z

@sipfindel You can collect the marigold 'time gems' to skip levels using the door in the first room. It's up to you if you think that's a good mechanic, though!! :D

CounterSplit by NekuSoul 2022-04-11T23:07:04Z

Very interesting mechanic! It's immediately clear how the game works after just a few drags of the cursor, and trying to figure out the optimal strategy is fun! The graphics and audio are simple, but snappy. All in all, great little entry! :) You could do a lot of really interesting things with this kind of mechanic if you wanted to take it further...

Extremely Exteme Sports by kuviman 2022-04-04T23:38:38Z

Amazing game!! The controls and netplay felt as crisp as winter air, and the sound design was pretty fantastic. Plus, the chill guitar jams added a lot! Some of the most fun I've ever had playing LudumDare. I imagine it would still be fun single player, but the multiplayer component is SO fun!

Granting Immortality by BluishGreenPro 2022-04-16T17:26:20Z

Great take on the theme! You did a great job bringing this to life (afterlife? hehe) and it's such a unique challenge. I think the framing of being Death themself and walking around adds a lot to the experience, and the scentario inspires much thought- can we trust the souls? Assuming we can, how do we know they will actually be able to do what they say? On what basis *should* Death grant immortality? Would I be able to put into words a system of how I chose, or was it really just based on my own emotions? One of the most thought-provoking entries I've played for a LudumDare!

Deity of Jigsaw Puzzle by BigFantasyTree 2022-04-11T23:19:39Z

This feels more like a proof of concept than a proper game, but I find it incredibly exciting just to think about! I would love to play a more streamlined, feature-rich game that used the puzzle piece stat and upgrade system... it's a really cool idea and I think there's so many cool ways you could go about using the mechanic!! But, as for the entry itself, it is quite cool in its own right, too! I haven't run into any bugs and there's a lot here for just 72 hours. Great job!

a by mdnr 2022-04-04T21:56:39Z

What a lovely game! The concept is really cute, and the music is just fantastic. (I'm going to have it stuck in my head for days.) I think some sound effects (even for just things like the buttons or when the hourglass upgrades) would add a bit. Overall, a great and fun little clicker game!

LD53 — Delivery

Mission: Programmable by Jezzamon 2023-05-01T06:35:01Z

I've played 'programming games' like this before, but I don't think I've played any with the actual in-browser development tools, nor any with as much style as this. Loved all the little details and how there was a good breakdown of the programming concepts to encourage creativity and critical thinking instead of just mashing moveRight() and jump() a bunch. And the twist at the end is super fun, too! 👑

IceCream Van by notnasiul 2023-05-01T04:37:22Z

Fun arcade game! You captured the beach atmosphere really well, and the risk-reward of attracting a bunch of buisness but risking a cascade of angry customers with no escape route is really fun, and also leads to some pretty funny gameplay moments.

I really liked how the truck moved- felt 'sandy' but also very responsive- along with all the nice visual effects like the tire marks and the sand that gets kicked up. Also, the big variety of beachgoers made the whole thing feel more alive, too. Great entry!

Mr. Delivery Man by pvg 2023-05-01T06:17:25Z

I love the creative ways the achivements pushed me to use the seemingly one-note mechanics! The overall feel is very charming and this was a fun time. Although, I can't seem to get that second achievement...

Capture.PNG

Inbox Fool by 100th_Coin 2023-05-11T16:41:15Z

Great entry!! The main mechanic was really fun, and Terry's controls are just the right mix of responsive and floaty. The room puzzles were pretty tricky and took advantage of some really weird and interesting mechanical wrinkles. And of course, the art, music, story, sound are all amazing and really came together to make this a great, self-contained little entry. (And, there's still a few mechanics I know you could explore in a bigger version: delayed bomb explosion, more 'destructable tile' puzzles, ever weirder 'border' styles (like the 'M' one)... ! You have some really cool mechanics here!)

Random things I liked: - Lots of little polish and effects like the animated mailboxes, screen transitions, explosion effects... - (Spoilers!) Boss fight was super creative and the, ahem, special attack was a puzzle in and of itself- super cool!! - Didn't run into any bugs, and none of the puzzles felt like brute force.

AIRBOUND: Lillins Tail by boaheck-artgent 2023-05-18T23:38:15Z

Lovely game, and very ambitious. It was really nice to see the variety in villages and landscapes, and flying around gave a very unique sense of scale and gravitas to the whole thing. Navigating by word of mouth/landmarks was very fun and I really enjoyed the game! I'll have to get those other 2 endings some time...

PS: Oh, I shouldgive more feedback, too! Being able to have tighter controls/turn radius on foot would have been nice, as would an 'auto-fly' toggle so I didn't need to keep holding 'W'. I would love more things to navigate/do on foot in a hypothetical larger version of this, too! :-)

Kirk's Food Delivery Game by HacksawUnit 2023-05-01T05:36:05Z

@cruise-elroy Thanks for playing! Nice time- although, that's just how long it takes to deliver. To finish the game you have to make the return trip! *There is supposed to be some text that appears in-game to point that out but it's bugged. :-p

Delinquent Delivery by JesterSeraph 2023-05-11T17:09:32Z

An extremely interesting entry!! The movement mechanics feel *amazing*, and I almost wish this was purely a navigational platformer and not a combat based one. Maybe you actually did *too* good with the controls, because all I wanted was to slide-dash-jump across the map as fast as possible, and those pesky little punching and kicking people were just in my way! That being said, grabbing and tossing things was *also* very fun... I wonder if there's a way to meld mechanics in a different way so going fast without having to memorize item/enemy locations is more viable? But! This is all just nitpicking because of how compelling I found the movement. The overall entry is excellent, and you did a good job of making the different rooms feel interesting to look at, be in, and also feel mostly cohesive. Also, suprisingly bug free with so much physics shenanigans going on. Excellent entry, and I hope you consider using this movement style again somday!

Boxbrawl Delivery by Cruise Elroy 2023-05-01T05:10:01Z

Spectacular!! Amazing arcade game- risk-reward, lots of fun emergent stuff going on, tons of little details and wonderful additions... just a top notch entry! You captured that very certain part of the arcade-era very well, but it definitely feels a lot more responsive and even-handed than some of its inspirations. Also, just all around beautiful animation and extremely well-done (but not OVER done!) spritework, especially for the coworker who hangs out in the van. My high score is $1214.5, but I could probably beat it with a few more attempts. :-) (Oh, and PS: I almost forgot to mention- the 'package damage' mechanic is genius, and really encourages taking strategic risks and getting creative with throws- really reminded of Spelunky in that way!)

Airborne Deliveries by Rendow 2023-05-01T04:29:01Z

Lots of mechanical depth to this one! I like that you explored the mechanics pretty thoroughly in the levels; there were some nice little puzzles to solve and routes to figure out. Aiming the mail was a little tricky, although the targeting line did help a little. Also, there's some nice polish here that could be easy to overlook- I loved how the mailboxes bounced a bit after making a delivery! I also really liked that you always had the correct amount of mail for the mailboxes, and that factored into how many 'mail jumps' you could do! Overall, an excellent mechanics-forward bite-sized entry, nice work.

PAINT PANIC: commission chaos! by LuaOnHerComputer 2023-05-01T19:52:57Z

Great entry! Fun and interesting levels, plus something really cool after the levels I won't spoil. I really liked the weird mashy 'ghost jump' mechanic, and you placed the platforms in some really clever ways which required some clever platforming strategizing. Also- the music and art is very expressive and pretty out there, and it fit the game well! Nice work! 🎨

winner.png

Machine Meltdown by Stefan Funke 2023-05-11T16:47:41Z

Very nice little boss battle game! You implement the top-down dodge-'em-up sort of gameplay well, especially for a game jam entry. Yes, there are ways you could polish this up and make it easier to restart, align attacks with cursor/use a keypress for attack, etc. but I understand that probably just comes down to time. The art is very nice, and you implemented a lot of things that are easy to overlook: dialogue system, little cutscene screens, multiple concurrent boss attacks- nice work!! :)

Tiny Termination by shipx7 2023-05-18T22:21:51Z

Interesting entry! It is a little rough around the edges (the final level seemed to be what should have been the tutorial level?) and it can be very frustrating trying to navigate due to some of the floatiness... but there is something *extremely* cool here! While there could/should be some tweaks for 'quality of life' and playability, increasing speedrun fairness, reset button, etc. the rocket jumping here is pretty solid, and when things felt like they 'worked', they worked really well. I could easily see this being worked on further to feel more responsive and reliable and becoming a full game! :-)

attempt1.PNG

LD54 — Limited Space

Portrait of a robot climbing a dystopian megastructure by voxel 2023-10-17T21:07:12Z

Extremely fun to interact with, very striking visuals, and incredible mood. All the mechanics seem to work as intended and are very snappy, and the sound work is very good- I love the grappling sound! The robot's design is cool, the animations are very expressive, and I like the overall design of the structure as well. It reminded me of some of the moments in Portal 2 where you have to puzzle out where and how to place certain portals to get around and really think spatially. A great little entry, even without a boss fight!

Adelie - Someone Like You by Meep 2023-10-04T16:41:36Z

I struggled to 'get' the game for a bit, but there's a lot of really cool stuff here with surprising amounts of depth. The movement mechanics were very alien to me- I've never really played a game like it... cycycling around to shift things in directions kind of reminds me of dialing with a radial dial phone, if that makes any sense. Anyway, the aesthetic is lovely, and even if I haven't had it fully "click" I appreciate all that is here. Great job! :D

Adelie - Someone Like You by Meep 2023-10-04T17:26:56Z

@meep I think my biggest confusion was thinking that, at first, the timer was for me to decide what my single move was, rather than a window of time for me to make as many movements as I could! After that it made more sense, although controlling a game like this was still very unique and challenging to my mind- of course, not a bad thing!

Diminutive Dungeon by Rose 2023-10-04T17:17:54Z

Very cool concept, and nice execution! It was fun trying to find the best way to get through each room with minimal damage and the most chests. The upgrade system is nice as well, and gives some motivation to keep going. I like that you can chain reaction pushing a rock into another rock- nice attention to detail. Also, the elegance of managing two characters with the two control schemes is very good!

Also, I found a glitch where attempting to move during/right after (?) room transitions causes a character to become stuck, and forces you to surface, although that's not so bad.

Mantra by Haotian Chen 2023-10-17T20:51:24Z

Fun entry! Some of the controls felt a little difficult to use in execution, but the ideas behind the design and general mechanics here are very solid. Puzzling out then executing how to solve each area was a lot of fun! Also, wonderful art and atmosphere- the animations for the player character and the background especially are great.

Don't Melt by Chrishie 2023-10-17T21:22:13Z

Excellent little entry! The wobbly-line art style works really well with the time-slow effect since you can easily see everything slow down as you get ready to launch Drippy- Drippy also has really great expressions! I really liked the music, and the design of the levels is good too. Great work!

LD55 — Summoning

I💰I💎I⚔️I by BoltKey 2024-05-03T17:12:57Z

Very difficult to wrap my mind around it, but I can get what you're going for! There's some nice resource management and puzzling going on, and I like the overall idea. I think I ran into a few visual glitches (like extra cards appearing when restarting and overlapping monster cards) but that might just be me misunderstanding a mechanic.

Conjurers Catacomb by xilentor 2024-05-03T19:52:34Z

Wonderful entry! It feels very cozy, and the puzzles are great brain teasers. The game is very well put together, and besides the "phasing box exploit", it is impressive how solid it feels. And, huge props for the tutorial and hints! :) Great work!! (oh, and the animal companion is very cute! and, the voxel graphics and animations are excellent, too.) (PS: Oh, and I forgot to mention too, that the innovations here are very clever, and the ways they are represented in the world feel great and in-line with the theme of the game.)

Brew Some Unique & Appetizing Potions! by HacksawUnit 2024-04-15T15:44:07Z

Thank you for playing! I found y'alls comments to raise some cool game design points so I'm going to give my (friendly!) perspective. :D

@mdotedot @freakyzelga I think your idea could be very fun in a game like this, but for this game I very specifically wanted the "6 unique" requirement, similar to how logic games like Sudoku work. So, I opted to have a time limit be the main difficulty factor rather than the amount needed to clear. I probably would have kept that the same even with 500 hours to make the game! Bwahahaha... That being said, I could see a similar game that is built around your idea being great, too, it just wasn't what I was going for. Oh, but I *would* have definitely added some in-game control info/rebinding if I had time.

@wilsk For this game I wanted players to be able to set up huge combos without having to stagger the pieces to avoid clearing early as is common in puzzle games like PuyoPuyo. I think that kind of gameplay is fun too, but I wanted the only pressure to be time and the player's own ability to work around the ingredient randomization.

Thank you graciously for the feedback!

Brew Some Unique & Appetizing Potions! by HacksawUnit 2024-04-16T16:29:12Z

@weirdbitgames I used fl studio for the main theme, and for the "game over" tune I used LSDJ! In terms of the "sound", I just kind of went for what I was feeling in my heart and mind. Listening back, I was probably subconciously influenced by the Pushmo series OST's because I love that mix of orchestra and chiptune. (Even though this entry's music is all sequenced instrumentation.)

Brew Some Unique & Appetizing Potions! by HacksawUnit 2024-04-16T17:59:02Z

@weirdbitgames I encourage you to experiment and try your best to make music in whatever way is most fun for you. I was able to figure a lot out with a little research here and there and *LOTS* of experimenting. :)

Illusions of Grandeur by Koolruz 2024-05-02T19:07:39Z

Extremely clever and well designed logic/puzzling game! A very solid entry all-around. The character feels nice to control and the game works very well for having such a strange illusory logic- I never got stuck in-between tile, found myself glitched, etc. The puzzles were well designed and none of them outstayed their welcome. Great work, would love to play an extended or "super" version.

Sinful Scoops by Blue Pin Studio 2024-05-02T19:24:06Z

Very cool entry! I had some trouble having the signal recognized, but it's very well done for being made for a jam entry. The audio and visuals tie it all together, and the general vibe and execution is very good. Nice work!

The Great Chicken Sacrifice by 1studio 2024-05-03T18:58:17Z

Poor chickens... maybe the Thing is taking them to a better place. :) (Not likely...) Anyway, very solid entry! The exponential (eggs-ponential?) chicken-and-egg situation is a really fun twist on a physics-clicker like this, and it's a very fun thing to just set up and watch go. The little touches like the lighting effects and score pulsing do a lot to make things feel impactful, too. Good job!

Summoning for Dummies by Ilinx 2024-05-03T17:39:08Z

Very neat little game! Scratches the same itch that those classic "combine stuff" browser games used to. I wasn't sure if poking was supposed to be a mechanic or just a bit of world building, but clicking on the creatures didn't seem to do anything. The Lord of the Pit typo was very demotivating... or maybe, "demon-tivating"? Despite this, nice work all around. Oh, and the graphics and general "flow" are quite nice!

Stop the Summoning by Stephen Kyranakis 2024-05-03T18:25:59Z

Nice bite-sized logic game! Even though everything here is very simple and elemental, you were able to make some fun puzzles. I liked how enemies were needed to break level elements, which isn't something you always see with games like this. Good work!

Corrupt Cult: Underground by JoeTheHive 2024-05-03T18:17:46Z

Excellent entry!! It reminds me of one of my all time favorite LD entries, Mystic Push. Amazing graphics, snappy controls, great design... I absolutely love the overall feel, and the run -> box slide mechanic is super fun. It feels like you're getting away with something when you pull it off! I did find the puzzle with the column of cultists a little unforgiving because of how tight the timing is, but beyond that every puzzle felt very fair and fun to get through. Awesome work... but I unfortunately couldn't beat level 8 because all of the keys/cultists were offset vertically so I could not get some of the keys. :( key.png Let me know if there's a way to get past it! :D

Bowl n' Bawls by Silliest Goose 2024-05-03T20:31:20Z

Delightful little entry. It is very fun to go around the bowling alley and defeat the pins while getting more and more bawls, and the payoff for the ending is very good. This little game knows what it's about, and doesn't waste any time getting to the "good stuff". Great work! (PS: Oh- and the graphics and sound fit perfectly, too! Little details make it all come together...)

Summoner's Clash by Hector 2024-05-03T17:48:15Z

I wasn't really able to understand why certain effects were happening, but it was fun to throw together random spells and see what happens. As mentioned by others, more hints for the player would be good. I liked the graphics and the general feel of the game, and the little visual and mechanical effects for all the spells are very cool.

War of the Necrocaster by TomisGreen 2024-05-03T18:37:40Z

Very good and surprisingly mechanically deep entry! Music and graphics were great, and the amount of interconnected features and things going on is very impressive. I think there's a bug where mana is transferred between rounds, so I was able to get through it pretty easy... unless upgrades are always meant to transfer? The general balance and flow could use some work, but overall a great effort. Nice job!

LD56 — Tiny Creatures

Vox Regis by Sheepolution 2024-10-09T09:24:45Z

Very solid entry! The sense of atmosphere and perspective is amazing, the humor was appreciated to lighten the mood a bit, and the mechanical push and pull was quite a bit of fun, too. I do wonder if the timer was a bit long, but it wasn't too bad. Graphics were great, putting aside the town assets- I looooove what you did with the title screen. "Tiny creatures" feels appropriate both in terms of how the king looks at the subject, and how he explains his powerlessness in the prologue.... I feel like there's some good food for thought here, similar to some of Nicky Case's stuff. Great work!

TINY PACK by xk_the_name 2024-10-09T08:57:14Z

Amazing entry! It's hard to find anything novel to say since there's been lots of great comments already, but I'll do my best.

There's so many mechanics squeezed into a compo game, and so artfully done... I love the cute little dice animals, and how you were able to theme their abilities, as well as the general conceit and feel of recruiting the creatures.

The gameplay is a great take on a Slay the Spire/Dicey Dungeons/Balatro-type thing, and felt very comfortable to get into as a fan of the genre. There's some extremely smart and economical game design here- for instance, the idea of giving the dice their own "energy values" when letting in/out of the pack is great and really make recruiting/dismissing feel dynamic and smart throughout the game.

And, lots of great artistic choices and little effects to make the game feel polished and well put together, too. Great work!! I would definitely play a sequel/spiritual successor to this someday.

Adelie - When We Were Young by Meep 2024-10-21T07:08:48Z

Excellent entry! I love when Adelie comes back to visit when rating games. :D

The movement (and visualization of such) feels really great- it's easy to ski around the playfield, and it's definitely possible to thread the needle and avoid hazards. Like others said, it has similarities to Magic Garden, but it's definitely more of an evolution and different take on the 'cash in' mechanic than a copy. The 'leftovers' becoming hazards is really creative, and the fact that the fish aren't grid-based adds an extra layer of trickiness. Also, the sound effects and music in this one are fantastic- and not just because of the inspiration taken from the penguin's namesake, hehe. And, lots of great visual touches that work with the gameplay to make things feel very tactile and responsive. (I love Adelie's spin!)

Tiny Inc. Repair Shop by iovorobiev 2024-10-09T09:35:42Z

Lovely little entry! I love how much personality you gave the world and the little creatures. The puzzles were a little tricky and seemed kind of broken, but that just made it more charming! Haha... graphics and audio were a great fit and I really liked the whole package. Very nice little ending screen, too! Great work.

PS: I realized I forgot to shout out some of the more subtle things like the graphical transitions and how snappy and smooth the controls are. I guess they were so well done I didn't even notice until I thought about it for another moment! Very very good work on that and making it feel seamless. :)

Tiny Inc. Repair Shop by iovorobiev 2024-10-09T20:01:29Z

@iovorobiev For some of them, it seemed like I was able to put a creature onto the power⚡ before pressing the button, which seemed to defeat the puzzle for a few of them. I tried not to do every time, but for some puzzles I just dragged the creature onto the power⚡until they stuck and I could have them walk over to the battery. It just seemed, design wise, like I was kind of finding an unintended solve, rather than finding a clever solution.

Pot Life by chuckeles 2024-10-07T06:07:54Z

What a cool little entry! The magnifying glass mechanic is really awesome, and really brings forward the feeling of the creatures being, well, tiny! It's also cool to be able to move the magnifier over to peek at the entire pot, then go back to surveying. Watching to see who the trouble makers were was really fun, as was seeing all the general antics. The graphics are simple but very fun- the little angry faces cracked me up. I could see some sort of fleshed out deduction or resource management game being really awesome like this, or maybe a "peek into a world" sandbox-toy thing. Great work!

Pot Life by chuckeles 2024-10-07T08:37:00Z

@chuckeles That's how it goes with game jams, eh? The vision is definitely there!!

Purrfect Drift by Rewzu 2024-10-21T08:21:04Z

The visuals are very good and fancy looking for only 48 hours, but I can definitely see how it's possible- very efficient use and reuse of assets! The movement does a great job of making me feel like I'm a little cat scurrying around and trying to scrabble around furniture, although it's a little too easy to get turned around and lose ground to the other cats. The sound effect for bumping into things is doing a LOT of heavy lifting and makes the game feel more alive, but more sound effects/feedback would be nice. (Imagine, say, sneaker squeaks for all the running, and long sliding sounds for the drifts!) Amazing work on getting randomized tracks/layouts in, along with randomizing starting position and cat color. This is a very fun entry, and a great technical achievement as well! Great work.

About Crayons and my garden by velvetlobster 2024-10-21T07:23:02Z

A wonderful little experience, it reminds me of the best of the Flash-era "game-like experiences" I would stumble upon when I was younger. I love, love the music and the visuals. I think the dialogue was bugged for me- I would press the interact key, and it would show the dialogue for just a second before dissappearing. I was able to read some of it by screenshotting, though. I'm not sure if there was any sort of progression for talking to the leaves, but it was very nice to just fall down and watch my Y coordinate go up. :)

thankyou.gif

Airstriker by Scribbl_Games 2024-10-09T08:20:26Z

Great, funny entry! The gameplay creates the feeling of having to remotely defend against the aliens well, and the feel is very consistent. You did a great job of putting in some subtle touches, along with extremely UNsubtle touches, to produce some very funny moments: The character's walk cycle, the slider noises, the just-frustrating-enough keypad system, the screen rattling explosions... I laughed out loud a few times, and I really enjoyed the time I spent with the game. (Even though I couldn't end up beating it...) I will echo a previous commenter that it would have been nice to have a way to see the codes while playing. Also, it took me a few plays to notice I could walk around, even though it was in the instructions. Overall though, an excellent entry! (Also- I couldn't rate you in mood, but the atmosphere is very cohesive and you did a great job.)

Wizard | Spec Ops by badbons 2024-10-21T07:58:09Z

Miraculously entertaining. This game is essentially just slowly deleting butterflies with a static sprite that you move over a giant patch of tiled grass, but I was smiling the whole time and beat the game with every character. You did amazing work with the wizard voices, and there is *just* enough polish to make things feel playable. The bar that shows how many butterflies are left is very useful, and always having the 'BACK' button accessible is good quality-of-life stuff. Overall, great little entry- thank you for making it.

Little Frog Big World by Fipmotron 2024-10-10T06:52:45Z

Superb little entry! It reminds me of old favorites like Super Crate Box. There are some parts that were a little confusing to me, but after reading 1finiteloop's comment above, I was able to experiment more and figure some things out... (Spoilers below!) - as mentioned above, you can buy upgrades by exiting to the menu and going to the shop - flies with pink bodies will poison you and deal damage over a few seconds - I saw three creature types beyond flies. (The second one could definitely used better telegraphing, but was a fun surprise, as was the third!) - If you upgrade tongue length, and you catch a pink fly, you can delay taking damage by just holding out your tongue. You can also then use it sort of like a lance to fight enemies, which is simply incredible. If you catch all the flies, no more will spawn until you pull back in your tongue, I think.

Lots of fun little quirks and emergent things going on, and well put together, too! Great work. (PS: And, not to let my imagination run too wild, you could do some incredible things with the whole "holding onto flies and then cashing them in" sort of thing, especially when the thing you're using to grab flies is also your form of attack!)

Gobbo Freakout by Seth L 2024-10-09T09:46:28Z

Very cool concept, but I unfortunately had a lot of technical issues and wasn't really able to get far at all. The jump wouldn't work right, and my arrows wouldn't fire... Maybe something to do with my high-refresh-rate screen? I witheld any ratings, but I want to give you props for the cool classic-style low-rez artwork. I love the texture on that gnome beard!!

LD57 — Depths

Cast Iron Hammer Golf by HacksawUnit 2025-04-10T00:10:16Z

Thanks to those who've played so far! :)

@mateusboga Don't worry! If you miss the grid with an ingot, you lose 1/2 of a mulligan but it is placed back into the queue just like if you had cleared it.

Gemsweeper by Defrag 2025-04-17T04:50:30Z

Cool entry! I liked the presentation of the gameplay and how the grid and numbers interacted with movement, resource collection, etc. and it had me thinking of what else could be done with the mechanics. I think having some way of puzzling out key/treasure location using those same strength numbers could have been interesting... maybe all of the numbers within a row or column added together make up the respective number on the sides? Maybe the rate of terrain could also be indicated or puzzled out in that way... (Or maybe it already is, and I didn't notice? Hehe...) Just a really cool set of mechanics/rules to play and think about. :)

Anyway, the title into tutorial into gameplay transition was well done and fit the theme really well, and it's nice having information on how to play within the game itself. The visuals are very clean and do a lot of heavy lifting to ensure the game is readable and enjoyable. This entry could have ended up being "just numbers", but the theming and care taken to create a little world is appreciated. Polish like the strength numbers changing colors, "dust" particles, and little grunts also helped a ton. While I generally liked this one a lot, I think making the progression feel more meaningful would have helped make each mine feel more distinct, even if it was just changing the tileset or colors a bit. The orange resources becoming scaffolding could have also been clearer. That aside, great work, and a very interesting entry.

DorfSlinger by gdman 2025-04-17T03:56:26Z

Excellent little entry! The presentation feels extremely "classic LudumDare" and is very charming. (I love the music especially.) I liked figuring out all the mechanics and puzzling out how to make progress, and stumbling upon the end goal was a lot of fun. The control system of the slinger is well presentated, and a nice way to do it instead of the classic "click and drag" style I've seen before. Also, the way that Dorf himself bounces off of things, while the pickaxes do the actual digging, is an interesting touch which makes the game kind of pachinko-esque. (I also looove the spinning duel wield pickaxes...) Lots of great stuff, good work! :D

LD58 — Collector

Cut to Pieces by Sheepolution 2025-10-23T21:31:24Z

An amazing entry! The art is gorgeous, and the gameplay is extremely well-implemented and seemingly bug-free for my playthrough. I loved the humor and mood of the entry, and the timing and tension with Sr. Hector's appraisal is great. The music sets the mood perfectly and sounds great, too. I imagine getting all these mechanics to work and making them feel good to use was no small feat! There's a little bit of "meta-challenge" in trying to figure out what the game will accept and wants me to do, VS what I would want to do if I could trust the computer to act like a human, but for a jam game the "solution restrictions" are well within the bounds of what's reasonable. Having the "❌" and "✅" hints went a LONG way in reducing frustration, but I did end up peeking at 100thCoin's playthrough for hints so I didn't get hit with a game over in case my alignment was off. 😅

The game overall reminded me a lot of Scribblenauts and Professor Layton- something about this game just screams "high-budget third-party Nintendo DS release". I would love to play a "full" version of this, or some other take on the concept! There's just so much potential and ways you could mess with the mechanics- spelling words, requiring more "mashing up" of different objects, having more discerning clients, needing to match colors, etc. But! Even just what's here is extremely well done and well polished. Great work!

Fume: The PC Gaming Simulator by alaah 2025-10-23T23:09:53Z

Cool little entry and some fun parodies going on. I didn't actually notice the flucutations in the sale prices much, and I wasn't sure why I was starting with no money? But, at least I was able to get some modern classic indie games with the power of time travel. ;) I think this game would have been way weaker if you didn't nail the Steam aesthetic. The borderless window with custom controls, the tab-based navigation, button scheme... really good job. It's crisp, and... uh, filling. Crisp and filling, like a delicious apple with all-natural unsalted peanut butter.

Hatterdashery by Alchemic 2025-10-24T15:55:03Z

Cool entry! It was fun to collect the hats and make a giant stack, and I liked how wearing them gives you an extra hitpoint like in Sonic the Hedgehog. The 3D graphics are charming and I'm impressed by the amount of different projectiles and hats. I think having some smaller, easier enemies scattered around could have been cool, as well as enemies that require more hitpoints. (Although maybe there are some hidden deeper in the map I missed!)

stackofHat.png

Dream Together by senior_sigan 2025-10-23T22:54:28Z

A very mysterious entry that rewards creative thinking and exploring the mechanics! It was a bit of a puzzle to even figure out what was going on, but once I did I really liked using the mechanics in this bite-sized little level. The final flying cube, toilet, room thing (?) was a little weird, but once I stacked both players by the toilet, I seemed to win? I thought I grabbed all the cat cubes, but it says I only got one... weird!

As much as I like the graphics, I think there's some pre-existing asset use going on, so I will not be rating based in Graphics. But! The overall vibe, feel, and design of the game is pretty great. I love the stacked TV's as the checkpoints, and the "warped mirror" barriers are really cool looking, too. Controls feel pretty great once you get used to them, and I didn't notice any obvious glitches or errors. Thank you for including a single player option!

Invasive Spectral Projectiles by HacksawUnit 2025-10-07T03:24:20Z

@gonutz

I really did do it all in 48 hours! Well, besides some very barebones (no pun intended!) base code. Construct2's very forgiving visual code editor and "behavior" system made it easier, too... but it was still a UFO-load of work!! And, while making games (and all sorts of stuff!) is my burning passion, it is mostly a hobby... for now!

Anyway, if you'd like, please feel free to read on for some more thoughts.

I am very lucky that everything kind of went right this LudumDare. I was very prepared with snacks and all my chores done, and I was able to hit the ground running in a way I don't always get to. The idea came to me straight away- I wanted to make something spooky, and I was hoping for a theme that could work for a shmup since I've had an itch to make one. So, a skeleton witch collecting up enemy powers in spooky areas was right up my alley. (I have a longtime passion for skeleton wizards and witches! I love Halloween!!) I was also unusually decisive, and most of what I worked on made it into the game- no changing concepts or art style halfway into the first 24 hours. I also went into this LudumDare with wanting to cram as much into this game as possible. My mindset was, "I want this thing filled to the brim!"

It also helps I finally learned my lesson and got the splash screen, title, tutorial, menu/gui, etc. done a good chunk of time before the deadline. (I usually struggle with this a lot.) The order of what got done was also very impactful- I was forced to cut things like the boss battles and the forest level (it got merged with the castle and bog!) and some enemy designs because I saved those for last, but I didn't actually lose time trying to implement them and backing out. I have also gotten very adept with Construct2, and I've learned all sorts of time saving tricks like using sinewaves to move things around in creative ways, making sprites out of many parts, reusing objects in creative ways, etc. ([See this post for an example!](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/58/invasive-spectral-projectiles/cheap-liquid-effect))

It was kind of a situation where so many lessons from the past 10+ years all just kind of clicked into place. It might have also helped that I couldn't sleep, and I got more man-hours out of it, but I would have traded the fatigue for a guaranteed 7-8 hours of good sleep if I could do it over! There's probably tons of other factors too... I think shmups are very adaptable and easy to scope up and down, for instance. (I should really write a proper postmortem! I keep thinking of more things to say...)

Anyway, thank you for your enthusiasm and for playing! I am sorry it was an awkward control scheme for your keyboard. I think in this case, adding control options is within the spirit of the compo, so I will try to add that within a few days. (Without adding any meaningful content/polish!)

(And, hopefully this wasn't too long, hehe.)

Invasive Spectral Projectiles by HacksawUnit 2025-10-07T03:52:31Z

@alaah

Great feedback, thank you! I have some tidbits in response if you're interested.

I intended the game to be health-based (like in, say, Cave Story) but this might be a different use of the term I'm unfamiliar with? While there's no healing in levels, the hearts refill every 'swap break', and you can trade the pickups for an extra heart each swap break.

The player hitbox *is* specified in the tutorial, but I don't blame you if you just jumped into the game! It should have been more obvious at a glance- a little flashing frame over Theia's noggin on hit could have helped...

The bullet-start was an oversight I didn't have time to fix, but the moment in the Haunted House was an extremely funny happy accident, which I embraced instead of moving the bat a little.

I might not know what you mean by the "arcade way", but if its letting the player keep score/pickups from before the level when continuing, well... I wish it worked like that! But I ran out of time to log what the starting totals were before the level to reset back to on continue. 😅 I should have planned on implementing it that way when implementing the score system, but alas.

And, yes, I'm very happy with the red bat design! ("Heart bat" is a great nickname for 'em.) They *ended up being a bit of dynamic difficulty- if you're low on hearts you can try to avoid them, but they can also create funny and exciting moments when hit by mistake. Their "bullets' power" is also funny because, being a spreadshot, it's a little too good at hitting sleeping bats, especially in the Haunted House. And, they're a good challenge for those who are trying to go for a huge score, especially when the fragile pinecones are nearby, hehehe...

All other feedback, I have no, uh, feedback-back for! Haha. But it's good feedback regardless! Thanks again for playing.

Invasive Spectral Projectiles by HacksawUnit 2025-10-15T18:26:01Z

@wouter52

Only two pink magic bullets can be on the screen at once. This is a bit of an old-school genre convention that I find really fun, and in this case was inspired a lot by the game Ninpek (UFO 50). If you get close to enemies and fire at them, your shots will connect sooner, so you can fire more. I wish I added an extra indicator for this, though, so it's more obvious what's happening. Also, the collected enemy bullets' power was intended to make up for this, as they have no such limitation.

In terms of the music, I mostly used FL Studio! It's a great "DAW" software which comes with lots of instrument plug-ins and effects. I just kind of hummed to myself a little bit (I used the starting part of the classical piece "Toccata and Fugue" for inspiration, and then let it develop from there for all the tracks) and then transcribed it, and then kind of built off of it. I also used the Gameboy music software LSDJ for the Game Over track. A special note, the swap break music is 120 BPM exactly so it would be easier to sync up the dancing! :)

Thanks for playing!

Bibli-otter-phy by Mathstr0fficial 2025-10-23T22:27:55Z

A chill, laid-back game that still manages to feel like it has stakes! I loved swimming around as a little otter and seeing all the cool sea creatures. The feeling of progression was nice without feeling like I was totally underpowered in the beginning, and the collectable library decorations are really the secret sauce here, I think. I think it is crucial to the game design and really spices the whole thing up to make the place you return to feel like it has its own identity which you can shape.

This game reminds me a ton of the UFO 50 game Porgy, except much more balanced- and going for a different kind of vibe, of course. The quality of life features like running out of air draining HP instead of an instant game over, and being able to retrieve your "ghost" (?) to get back dropped items, are EXTREMELY appreciated. This game could have VERY easily felt like a slog (*cough*, Porgy, *cough*) but you did a great job in making sure things feel snappy and fair. On that note, making the "final" collectable relatively easy to collect with a small-ish number of upgrades was very kind for those wanting to kind of 'get in and get out' while still giving incentive for those with the time to go for a fully decked out library.

The stat upgrade tablets were also fun, although I wish there was a way to tell what the tablet gave you before you grabbed it... although, maybe that's removing too much of the mystery. Being able to drop items to swim back faster could have been nice, too, but might have been weird to implement. Oh, and implementation wise, everything felt great, the various transitions and text pop outs worked well, and the library especially is just wonderful to play around with. All in all, great work!!

PS: I forgot to mention the art! Great sprite work, especially with all the unique decorations and options for customization. And, seeing all the tablets show in the library really sells the theme. :)

Hop, Skip, Jump by Jeremy Ryan 2025-10-23T21:49:23Z

Awesome little entry- wait, 5 hours!? Wild!!! You did an excellent job, ESPECIALLY with the time constraint. The presentation is nice, and it feels responsive. I like that the game makes it very clear when you can't move, does a little "nope!" sound and effect when you click anwyay, makes the line turn yellow when you can collect something. There's even a little animation on the level transitions! It's again impressive that it's all in there with only 5 hours.

The puzzles were fun and well designed, and I didn't feel like I had to brute force them or anything. I was enjoying the game, but was a little annoyed that there wasn't an undo button, until I realized there *IS* an undo button and I just skimmed over it. It's a nice feeling to wish for a feature and realize it's already in the game and staring me in the face, haha. I don't think a game has ever made me think so explicitly about "wiggle room" like this game does... a few degrees to the left or right with your first line can make or break the puzzle!

Gems of Kaine by MateusBoga 2025-10-23T23:29:10Z

What a diabolical logic game, with such a great atmosphere! You did a great job making this game feel intense despite being a genre more commonly associated with chill, laid-back vibes. It took me awhile to figure out the rules, and it would have taken me MUCH longer without the hints, so thank you for providing those. Having to restart completely on making a mistake is very brutal, but it fits the game's mood perfectly.

I liked that the music resumed at a different point every restart, it kept things fresh and made long runs feel more impactful. The graphics are nice, and I like the spooky red highlights that appear when you make a mistake, with the spooky laughing. I could never get past level 7, but I appreciate the difficulty and what you're going for.

PS: Thanks for having an undo button, too! Would have been much more painful/frustrating without it.

Little Solar Panel's Trial by Nwoknu 2025-10-23T19:38:08Z

Such a cute entry! The crayon art is wonderful and implemented well, and the gameplay is great. It reminds me of Game & Watch gallery style games. The difficulty ramp-up also being a bunch of funny events makes getting through the game fun, although I wasn't able to get past level 5- brutal! I wish there was an indicator of how much energy I was collecting, but doing it based off of the "vibes" is sort of cool too. On that note, the implementation of the sunlight effect and background gradient is excellent.

Squish ! by Starlex3000 2025-10-22T22:43:45Z

This entry seems really cool, but I couldn't figure out how to progress the game. :( I can tell there's other mechanics going on (snowflake on the pink slime?) but I just don't know how to activate or interact with them! I tried throwing the builder slime into the pink slime, throwing the builder slime at the nest, and explored areas to west and east, but nothing really did anything. I *did* have some fun exploring and figuring out how to traverse with both slimes, though... I guess this entry ended up being a bit of an introspective "hike-'em-up" for me!

squish_Running.gif

Loaded Dice by Phoenix Fireflower 2025-10-06T02:29:03Z

This is a great, snappy little deckbuilding game! Very well polished- the sound effects are good, and interactions feel smooth, satisfying, and mostly effortless. (Although I had to unlearn my "left-click to unselect card" muscle memory!)

In terms of gameplay and strategy, the amount of variety here is great- lots of cards, unique enemies, and all of it bug free in my playthough. The tutorial was greatly appreciated, too. I am very impressed with the amount going on here, especially the shop implementation.The push and pull of sacrificing cards for HP VS saving them to get more back later felt good. And, the little "bonus round" for getting money was a nice "cool down" for the fight and incentivizes thinking ahead and not just spamming right click.

It took me several tries, but I did finally beat the boss. I really liked the boss theme, and it's that there's a victory theme as well. It made the game feel really complete!

As for the art, I really like the regal color pallet- adds a lot to the sort of "enhanced sword and sorcery" vibe going on. The enemy designs are fun as well, and make a lot of sense with the mechanics of the enemies. (The siren is very funny game design.) Great work all around!

Misc: I liked how big combos had the sound go up, up, up! I also noticed I needed to zoom in and out my browser a bit at first to make sure everything fit on screen. Eventually it worked without issue, but may be worth checking out.

The Collector's Horde by YaakGold 2025-10-23T19:19:46Z

Really cool and inventive entry! I would actually LOVE to play a full game like this. Collecting powerups and dealing with the enemies and then going through the door when ready is a lot of fun! The powerups were cool, and I liked needing to be careful around the sides of the area when really fast/good-at-jumping to aviod the game over border. The art is simple but very charming and has a great feel to it- great animation! Audio would have helped a lot, but things still felt pretty responsive regardless. Very ambitious entry and a lot of fun. :)

Screenshot: collector.png

Hamster Seed Rush! by Johnathan Peres 2025-10-23T20:16:02Z

A cute unassuming game with a real mean difficulty! It feels like there's two difficulty layers- the simple seeming back-and-forth wheel-based gameplay progression (which I think is cool and charming in its own way) and figuring out the physics-based platforming quirks. Jumping becomes a puzzle unto itself, as does seed management and working around the slightly mysterious damage system of the traps.

Routing out the path to victory takes a lot of trial and error, and leads to a lot of fun discoveries. For instance, you can't jump while on top of seeds, and trying to walk on them ends up putting you on a little seed conveyor belt challenge. And, if you lose all your seeds and can't break the glass jars, you're "soft locked" out of progressing unless you have double jump. Plus, you better be good with your timing at the end, or you'll end up in the infinite falling zone where hearts won't be able to save you. Reminds me a lot of "Kaizo"-style games!

These oddities and "strange difficulties" are some of my favorite quirks of LudumDare games, so I hope my observations don't come off as insulting. These quirks wouldn't be very fun at all if they randomly broke the game (as opposed to predictably!) so I must give appreciation to how nicely the seeds bounce around. They are just random and bouncy enough to be satifying to spit, but they never clipped through the floor or anything in my many attempts. (They *do* go through walls, but I consider that a feature!)

Gameplay aside, the art and animation is very cute and cohesive. I'm not always a fan of non-aligned pixels ("mixels") but you pull it off very artfully here. Great colors, too.

Unfortunately, despite my appreciation for the game and many attempts, I was never able to pull off grabbing the final seed. Since the seed falls into the "infinite falling zone", it won't reappear, and jumping after it doesn't do you any good, either. So, you have only one chance to pull it off, and if you fail, you have to start allll over. A slightly sour ending, but not enough to take away from the unexpected excitement I got out of it. Thank you for your entry! Give the hampster lots of seeds for me.

Screenshot: hamDemo.png

1 of 8,031,810,176 by torte478 2025-10-06T02:30:07Z

A little gnome-like creature stumbles upon a hole in the wall. Inside, they find a trophy, and a corridor an eternity wide. They set up some kind of shop to make use of what they found, acquire tools to make it easier, and then... I wonder what it was all for?

I really liked how the game explores the idea of a really, really, really long index. (I have a fondness for media that deals with sorting information and how you navigate them!) You also gave me just enough of a chore for you to get your point across without me close the game- the hint at more forms of transportation through the gui elements was good, too. The emergent "push your luck" element with not crashing into the wall was also a fun surprise. Very strange wonderful little entry.

Misc: This game reminded me of the book "All the Names", which deals with a different kind of extremely long index.

​Treasure Thrower by AStrayRae 2025-10-23T18:01:12Z

Very fun take on the "do stuff at a big horde of enemies" genre! Controlling/accumulating a huge pile of stuff while keeping away from the enemies was fun. I didn't notice too much of a difference between the different items, but I imagine if I played for longer I could probably try to do some sort of diabolical cannon ball build where I'm wiping out the "boss" (?) creatures in one hit by flinging my stuff halfway across the map... hehehe.

Having more things going on to break up the flow would have been nice, but only so much time in a compo. What is here is quite nice- there's a good amount of content here and lots of lovely pixel art, too. Oh, and there was a fun "emergent gameplay" quirk that happened with the sink item- I think it draws in enemies, so there was this giant wad of stuck items and enemies following me until I was able to crack it open. That was really cool!

LD41 — Combine 2 Incompatible Genres

Rock Paper Discord by Sheepolution 2018-04-24T00:36:15Z

At first glance, this seems like a non-entry. But when you start getting into it, this is really a game about meta-gaming, and about testing the limits of what you can do with Discord itself. Seriously interesting entry.

PE@CE by bwalter 2018-04-23T23:58:16Z

The aesthetics here are great, I can't adequately describe how cool this game looks. I love the flips and swirls the @ makes when leaping around! The ASCII steam and debris scattered around were other really nice touches. Unfortunately, I feel like the controls hold it back just a little bit, the player was a little too slippery to make this game feel as great as it looked. Besides that though, great work.

Turn-Based Invaders from Space! by HacksawUnit 2018-04-24T18:13:08Z

@bloodyaugust Thanks for playing! BTW, you were losing because aliens got to the bottom of the screen. (Ideally would have been communicated better!)

Dragoon Drop by jhandsy 2018-04-27T01:18:29Z

Woah! This is fantastic. While a little slow to play, this is a great execution of a great concept. Graphics are excellent, music is a perfect fit (got an Earthbound 2 vibe!), didn't catch any bugs in my playthrough. Would definitely play a 'deluxe' edition with some quality of life tweaks!

Witchbeat by dragonxvi 2018-04-23T23:48:05Z

Wow, incredible that you were able to do this in just 48 hours. Sounds, looks, and controls great, the music's especially good. First entry I've played, but I feel like it's going to be one of my favorites already!

BIRKANOID by MateCziner 2018-04-27T01:03:07Z

Amazing graphical work here. The gameplay is really satisfying, but I found that spamming 'up' as fast as possible was the most effective strategy, since you'll end up with tons of extra balls in the playfield. That aside, great entry.

Flappy Blocks by Radical Dog 2018-04-27T02:47:36Z

This is a nightmare. I love it.

(More serious feedback: Loved the little story beats. Controlling the blocks was sooooo tedious, but that's sort of the point, so I really appreciate how annoying it is. Music was serviceable, but got grating after a little while.)

AsteroidCraft by schsam 2018-04-24T00:44:06Z

Really cool idea, great execution! Would definitely play a version of this with a few more twists. Maybe upgrades and a way to make new ships? That aside, great entry, lots of fun.

LD59 — Signal

Operation Alien Translation by Sheepolution 2026-05-07T22:37:12Z

Amazing entry! The art is gorgeous and the animations and snappy and very responsive. I love the character designs/dynamic and the little details like Area 51v2 being too cheap to buy software.

In terms of gameplay, it's a great exercise in memory/nmenomics. I had a lot of fun coming up with my visual interpretations of the symbols. At first I named the symbols based off of when they appeared (first, second, etc.) but then I got the chance very early to corret this once I realized what I had to do, which was fantastic design. The game almost functions like a magic trick... it's astounding that by the end I was able to remember all the symbols meanings and I felt amazing! And the ending is great. I wonder if the big guy was abducted or turned to dust? :O Maybe he's getting therapy for his anger issues on the UFO...

I agree with @mathstr0fficial that this etry is a bit one-note but I think for how long it is, it goes on about as long as it should. A bigger version with additional twists where you actually have to start putting together actual sentances/divining grammer based on new signal information using the nonsense you already wrote, but I think this is good for the scope of the Jam. :)

PS: Excellent music, too!

Winnerman Scams a Game Show by 100th_Coin 2026-05-07T21:41:14Z

Fantastic technical achievment and a pretty fun entry, too! Laughed at loud at Winnerman's expressions and general attitude. Seeing your dynamic music return was fun and helps convey what 'state' the game is in. Many of the technical and 'flow' aspects I would bring up have been mentioned by other commenters, so I won't go over them again, but I will say the final cherry bit was a great 'comedy through design' moment.

Also, just general props again for the technical aspect here. You implemented an entire keyboard interface, physics basketball (even if it didn't seem to matter if it went thru the hoops), slot-machine, shoot-the-target, on top of all the interstitial animations, and it all feels pretty effortless. AND, they all work with the frame manipulation system. Just, amazing work.

Remote Mars Raider by Mathstr0fficial 2026-05-07T20:15:47Z

Cool entry! I was finding the controls a little frustrating so I ended up watching 100th_Coin's playthrough to see the rest of the game. Most of the gameplay/control comments and recommendations I would mention have already been written by other commenters, so I'm going to focus on the other stuff.

I really like the mix of art styles/aesthetic. The classic-style pixel art displayed on the noise-y screen helps sell that it's a different location being broadcast, and I like the textured lines of the surrounding environment. Giving plenty of healthpacks was a good choice, and keeping the danger level relatively low on the bottom was a good call.

If you were to explore this concept further, I think having moments where actions on the top screen introduce distractions, hazards, benefits on the bottom screen could have been cool! Like, a "projector" that kept the codes on-screen, or finding new codes which allow new movements. But, this is still very well done for a compo entry. Nice work!

Fillmore's Island by Jeremy Ryan 2026-05-07T19:57:10Z

Cute little game! Good audio and music, and nice progression. I liked the small details like the shadow properly appears above "higher" terrain like rocks and how Filmore keeps an eye on the drone. The zooming-out camera also felt really good and has a nice payoff at the end. :) Nice work!

ludumscope by yopox 2026-05-07T06:48:31Z

Fun entry! Finding the signals was fun, and the little clues sprinkled around for the special ending added some good intrigue. I think I got stuck at the main menu somehow when I first started, but restarting fixed it. I definitely think some audio feedback would have taken this over the top, but you still did a good job of conveying the feel of the game despite the lack of audio. Nice work!

Digital Squirm Processing by GuyUnger 2026-05-07T06:27:00Z

Wonderful little game that does a really great job at teaching a real world concept without feeling like having to do homework. I mostly already knew about the concepts in the game, but I never quite realized what bitcrushing was doing behind the scenes! I'm really glad to know that, now.

Besides the magic of learning, the graphics and interface were excellent and felt very responsive. The "worm as signal display" is very charming and there's lots of little subtle and helpful guides (like the graph lines that appear on some adjustments) which make "tuning" the worm a lot easier.

I also liked that you gave the worm some personality. Having it feel more like a friend was telling me this stuff instead of just coldly trying to match the pattern went a long way! Thank you to the worm. :)

This is a great little game as it is, but I could easily see a full-scale game teaching more concepts with this concept if you wanted! Worms teaching about delay, reverb, chord basics... maybe even visual stuff like RGB color codes, noise generation, pallets? At any rate, great work!

Coverage by DecadeDecaf 2026-05-07T20:51:11Z

My face lit up when I realized this was like the UFO 50 game Avianos!! I love Avianos, so it's going to be very difficult not to compare this game to that game too much in my commentary, but I'll try my best.

The cellphone-music is very clever and is just chaotic enough without being too annoying with all the chimes. I like what you did with the themeing, and the 2D side-view battles are very dynamic and feel fun to watch without taking too long. Having the clamshells act like birds and the burners act like missiles was clever, as was the naming of all of the different "plans".

The AI, as you say, is not very good at the game, but I won't hold that against the entry too much. It's nice to have a way to play single player, and the visualization of the cursor was a nice touch. The random selection of choices is a little frustrating sometimes- I think it would be nice to have always-avaliable "staple" options like moving units. But, that may be a design choice to force strategic choices.

Overall, very ambitious entry which I think sticks the landing. I could easily see this being expanded with distinct "carriers" that have their own abilities, different "regions", etc. if you wanted to. Nice work!

Round-a-doodle-doo by Fupi 2026-05-07T07:38:14Z

Great little Game & Watch style game! I played for about 6 minutes until I got my fill. I really liked the graphics, the audio, really everything is very cohesive and there are lots of nice little details and bits of polish. Also, the game has a very early 2010's webgame vibe- this would have blown up the flash game sites back in the day!

As noted by another commenter, there should probably be a little something more to add difficulty once the player gets far enough into the game to prevent it from feeling stale. Making the signal lights break after too many inputs is really good at preventing ⬆️➡️⬇️⬅️ spam, but additional hazard types (or maybe a penalty for making the chicks 'rush' when taking away crosswalks?) could have made the gameplay loop a little more resilient and make getting further more difficult. But, of course in a jam that sort of thing doesn't always make it in! ;)

Also, as an aside, the gameplay/conceit reminds me of the old GBA game "Digidrive" (which is a big compliment, I love Digidrive!)

Overall, a wonderful little one-screen action game. Great work! :)

Trouble in Telegraph Town by Theg 2026-05-07T22:21:21Z

Really interesting take on the theme and a cool way to tell a story. I think I may have run into a bug near the end, because after I sent signals from the remaining tower, I was told to put in the UNDO signal as well as to hit ENTER, and the game ended abruptly. But, a lot of potential here with a little more polish and some QoL additions. If there was enough stuff going on I could see a really excellent story told with this setup. Thanks for making this entry!

Trouble in Telegraph Town by Theg 2026-05-07T22:21:21Z

(accidental doublepost.)

🐶ㅤ by thyoi 2026-05-07T21:54:36Z

Very cute fun little game! The gameplay was a little simple but it was a lot of fun to pile up a bunch of pillows on Tempura's head, and the twist at the end was great. Also, phenomenal visual design, art, polish... I loved being able to click the 🐶 in the title. And, the random Gaster Blasers completely caught me off guard and made me laugh. :) Nice job!

WAVESHAFT by mircal 2026-05-05T17:20:38Z

Fun little tower defense game! The aesthetic and feel is cohesive and there's good visual polish- I especially liked the visual effects when choosing what to place next. I had some fun setting up things to defeat the enemies, but eventually I got to the point where enemies couldn't damage me anymore due to all the amethyst and I could probably go infinite. I also am not sure what the package that appeared by the "People Spawner" did.

Extremely Loud Frog Toy by peppersalt07 2026-05-06T06:12:44Z

Incredible game and deceptively powerful instrument. I love how the simple act of circling the mouse and adjusting hand positioning changes the dynamics of the sound. Here is some bad frog metal.

https://on.soundcloud.com/mDjTSRTwSGCnJLIuE6

Mesh Operator by Agao 2026-05-07T05:56:40Z

I liked the paper-cut-out style art, and the music was nice. Unfortunately, like the commenter above noted, the game stopped running sometime around level 2. I also wasn't sure if there was supposed to be a reward or penalty for ignoring the traffic signals.

Shiplogging by CreeperXD 2026-05-07T07:11:24Z

This game was a little too stressful for me to properly enjoy. 😅 I am not sure if I got the whole gameplay loop, but to me it seems to be as you described: - Jot down and encode the most recent boat's ID. - Then, hoist both the ID and the characters 'ORI' to request the info for "origin". - Quickly scramble to decode the boat's message using the flag chart while inputting the decoded characters in the other screen. - Then, do this again for DEST and ERVD.

This was just too much for me within the time limit. I think slower ships (at least at first!) and a transparent "mini" overlay of the flag codes could have helped make the game more accessible. That being said, I'm sure someone who already nows this stuff by heart from time on the sea could probably do pretty great. :)