Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → RamChops Games
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 56 | Tiny Creatures | Little Guys! | jam | 393 | 3.69 | 3.59 | 3.21 | 3.64 | 3.50 | 3.42 | 3.43 |
This feels like one of those games you would play on an arcade cab. I enjoyed it!
P.S. Your penguins are really cute and I want to pet them
This point-and-click adventure is really neat. You're right, these robots are friend-shaped!
I found the ending really funny, and I love it! It caught me off-guard, but in a good way. I did actually laugh out loud when it happened, so that's a job well done!
I should note though it was a bit hard to click the robot leg in the first robot's scene because of the small sprite, but overall I do like the game!
Hi, there seems to be a DoNotShip folder in your game file, is this intentional? Anyways, onto the game itself!
Love the game! It's reminiscent of those rage games that you see in the mobile game ads where the guy in the ad plays poorly (I am that guy). Definitely one of those games where the early game is a bit hectic but once you get the gist of it you're in.
I like the concept, and this was a fun game! Third map is pretty challenging considering its size, but not too difficult. Sometimes it felt like the inspectors find the bugs while they're off-screen, haha.
Love the old computer/ OS-based theme you're going for, it's a pretty neat aesthetic! Though, I do have one small pet peeve:
I always forget the cost of buying location-specific buildings (Houses in the Village, Sawmills in the Forest, Mills in the Field, Archer Towers in the Castle) so I would have to double back multiple times to make sure I have enough resources to buy them. This wouldn't be a huge problem on its own, but with the loading time between areas (like AlxJE mentioned) this could add up to a lot.
Despite that, though, this is still a great game with neat gameplay. It's very satisfying to see numbers going up while your knights/creature tap on the resources nodes. You can definitely build upon this idea to create something bigger!
Alright, I finally completed the game! I like the idea of splitting yourself with blades and rejoining with pools. There's also what I consider as a lot of content for something that was made within 48 hours. The art here is also solid, I love the sunglasses on the slime!
I agree with kernon on the camera that it did feel a bit weird when the camera tries to focus on the midpoint between all the slimes. This causes the camera to also fall when some slimes fall while others stay on a platform, which might cause even more slimes to fall from being distracted by the camera falling.
I also found a minor bug where if you use a whistle in the middle of the blade right when it would cut you, the whistle will get stuck, the slimes will rotate, and you won't be able to use the whistle anymore. I've included the screenshot of the bug here as well.
Screenshot 2024-10-09 171709.png
Overall, though I do like the concept. It definitely should be explored more!
Nice hand-drawn doggy! It's a shame I'll have to give him the fleas... He seems like a good boy.
The fleas' unpredictable jump and movement makes it so you have to account for this whenever you make decisions in a level. I think this is a good take on the platformer genre!
Not sure if this is intentional, but I found two levels with easy solutions that considerably trivializes the level: - A level with a sawblade moving up and down can be cleared by just holding right. Some fleas may die, but eventually the dog will get enough fleas. - A level with an obstacle course in front of the haystack where the wolf sits directly above the haystack can quickly be cleared if the fleas jump through the tiny gap and bypass the entire obstacle course.
That said, I quite enjoy the audio here. It's just the same 16 beats over and over again for the entire game, but it's so catchy that you forget it's looping until you sit down the write the review.
Awesome work out there!
These little alien guys are cute! I like the sounds that they make when I pick them up with my cursor. The music fits the theme of the game as a chill alien beach game, as well.
I like that the sound where an alien is drinking seawater can be heard from offscreen, because seawater is bad for them. It's a cue for me to go check the beach and drag anyone drinking seawater away... You know that meme where a mom is holding her two kids back with leashes? That's what I feel like when I see Xindle grab a straw. Wasn't fast enough to save them though, RIP.
This is an amazing game and I like it. More ways to interact with the aliens (like giving them headpats) would be nice, but doing this much for a compo is already a lot. Well played!
TSA Agent: Hawk! Like that tiny skateboarder Tiny Hawk from a Ludum Dare entry?
Tiny: Exactly
TSA Agent: Cool, I wonder what he's up to these days
Tiny: This
I like the lore bits you hid away in the mixtapes, as well as the voice overs. "What is Tiny doing???" "Right on, dude!"
Game is a bit fast paced and sometimes I feel jumps are a bit hard to gauge. Maybe it's just me, though. Also, one of the mixtapes seem to be bugged, after collecting it the sound will replay until finishing the level. I think it's the one in the lab?
Overall a bit difficult, but still a pretty fun game!
I feel like the art style fits this type of game well. I also love that twist where another bug is added and you now have to play the levels again in reverse with two bugs and more monsters. I was on the edge of my seat!
A few notes, though: - As tuism has said there's no way to know how much you have charged, or even if you are charging at all. Some change to the sprite to show that you're charging would be nice. - The hitbox for the playable bugs feel a bit weird. Sometimes I feel like I should slide past a corner but performed a charge roll against the wall instead. This becomes prevalent in the stage where you have to jump through a 2 block wide gap while running away from ghosts. - I feel that the sound at the end of the game doesn't fit the ending, it feels a bit too chaotic.
Overall a good concept that can shine a lot more after a bit of post-jam polishing. Great job on the compo entry!
This is one of those games that you have to sit down and set aside while you let it run on its own, occasionally interacting with the buddy to care for them. It's just like the real thing! I like my virtual desktop friend. They're cute, you can dress them up, give them furniture, and even interact with them a bit!
The strap slightly bouncing when shaking the device is a subtle but nice touch! ~~Don't ask me how I know that, I definitely didn't shake the device expecting the buddy to get a bit dizzy~~
Picture of my guy right before they graduated. Hope you live a good life out there, buddy. Screenshot 2024-10-08 034615.png
I like this game's art. These little blobby guys are pretty cute! I also like how they wiggle their little feet as they're being picked up.
As for the user experience, I found it a bit difficult to scroll through the entire help menu to find the relevant microbe for the level because there's a lot of entries there. Wish there was a way to filter only the result you want/need, or that the data is shown in a more compact way.
In conclusion this is a good concept and a quick, fun puzzle!
I like your game's name first of all! The ant puns in the cities' names are pretty funny too. Gameplay is solid and cohere-ant as much as I tried. I played on all three maps on the Normal difficulty, as well as touched a bit of Insane Mode in Ant-stralia. That name indeed wasn't for show, haha... I ant-icipated losing, and I was right --- I was completely ant-nihilated by the enemy AI.
Ironically, I found that the South Ant-merica map was easier than the Eur-ant-sia. Maybe it's the infighting between two enemy factions in South Ant-merica, maybe it's the Samurai Ant's strong ability in Eur-ant-sia, or maybe it's a bit of column A and B.
Would it be redund-ant to comment on how I like the ant puns again? If so, I will conclude this review here. Maybe I should have been a bit more hesit-ant before I overloaded this review with all these ant puns. They're way too abund-ant!
Glory to the Ant-pire!
Great fighting game, reminds me of the old arcade beat-em-ups. Mixie is really pretty!
While I have no problems playing the game as I have a controller, I feel like having keyboard support is also important, as it lets as many people access your game as possible.
I also felt like the shield ability gained after defeating the beetle meant to counter against the ant's sword wasn't as useful as the dodge ability that was meant to counter the beetle's charge in the first place. Sure, successfully blocking the ant's sword starts a special animation and stuns the ant for a bit, but you still take some damage. I myself prefer dodging out of the way and landing a few hits between dodges and didn't use the shield much at all. Fortunately, most attacks in this game are well-telegraphed and easy to dodge save for a select few (the fly spit and the beetle's toss after the dodge confusion) that you either just tank or eventually learn to work around anyways.
Great work!
It's a cute game, I like the meteor ending! In the universe's scale, we truly are all tiny creatures... (I haven't found the other ending yet.)
I also find it a bit funny that the blobs will always try to summon a demon to get rid of me no matter whether or not I stomped any blobs in the any of the levels. I guess they just feel intimidated by the ominous hovering giant foot, lol
@noobman64 That changes everything, wow... I like this game even more now!
You know that video where it goes:
"Let me see what you have!"
"A knife!"
"NO!"
Yeah, this game is basically that clip, but add in window climbing, snakes, and several counts of OSHA violations as well. The contrast between the cheery music and the cute art against the subject matter and dark humor are also a good fit.
At first I thought the teacher was moving too quickly and was a bit hard to control, but after getting to the level with like 25 kids? Yeah I could see why the speed is that way. You need it to keep the little tykes in control.
By the way, I think I may have gotten stuck in the tutorial once (right in this spot), but I restarted it and it was okay. I did feel like the tutorial font was a little bit too small and a bit hard to read, but it did do its job in explaining the game well.
Screenshot 2024-10-09 164044.png
Now that this review is done, I've got to---TIMMY NO THATS A LIVE WIRE---
Chill vibes, and lots of plushies! Wish IRL crane machines are as generous as this one, lol
I especially like the jingle it plays when you drop the crane!
Screenshot 2024-10-07 095302.png
Nice rhythm game! A bit short (there are only two enemies to fight), but good concept. I like that hitting the keys correctly plays the melody of the song.
Is the info button on the main menu supposed to do anything, by the way? I clicked it and nothing happened.
IN PHYSICS ENGINE WE TRUST
I like how you incorporated the theme itself into the level design and graphics. Not only that the playable character is the tiny creature, but the stage, as well as obstacles and intractable objects are tiny creatures, too! That's a very nice touch.
While I can see what you're trying to do with the the physics-based platforming puzzle in this game, I also feel like some of these puzzles are basically just praying the physics "break" in the exact right way in order advance to the next room. Sometimes I see the level and I understand what I have to do, but the physics of the blocks just wouldn't co-operate with me. At the very least, being generous with checkpoints and the restarts did help to alleviate that somewhat.
Overall though, great game!
I like the vibes of this game. It feels like a treasure hunting game where you would follow clues to find the treasure, only this time the treasure is replaced by tiny creatures...and you exterminate them. I also like how each time you play a level (reloading, failing and retrying, etc.) the hiding spots for the creatures are different. Some of these clues are pretty clever, and they reflect the client's personality well, especially the kid in Level 2 who had descriptions such as "a boring room", "the smiley room", "the room with the fun carpet", to name a few. The AEUGH the creatures make before being squish sound satisfying to me, as well.
A job well done for all of you!
You know Tim Follin? The guy who made an absolute bee-st of a soundtrack for a Pictionary game? Well, this bee game has that, and much more. Love the soundtrack, love the art, love the gameplay, love the bee sounds, love the bee names. There's bee-sically a lot to love about this game!
I have a few small note though, in that it's sometimes a bit difficult to see the space your enemy hornets or wasps are currently occupying as they sometimes ambiguously hover somewhere between two hexagon cells. Also, sometimes it's hard to tell how much honey you need to spawn a new bee, because I would see a full bee over the "Spawn Bee" button but nothing happens when I click the button.
Despite all its flaws, it's still an enjoyable experience. You'd bee-ter bee-lieve it, this is a pretty neat game!
I quite enjoyed the hammy voice acting for the wizards, it's quite humorous! "Sorry, there will be noooooo mercy today~"
I also like how you reused the water sprite surrounding the island for the Water Wizard's water magic as well, that's a pretty smart move. Also Fabric Wizard is definitely something new. I imagine his power to be tearing fabric of realities. You could make an entire game out of this concept!
Some things to note: - I feel like the green bar that shows level progress lies to me, even if I do know that the unfilled portion is very small. I feel like it would be better if I could see a number on the bar. - Fire wizard's unlimited projectile length also makes it very easy to cheese the game with him. Nothing is stopping you from standing in the middle of the screen and spamming fireball in all directions until all the butterflies are gone.
Anyways, as for why they're hating on butterflies, maybe they're trying to prevent a butterfly effect... or maybe they're trying to cause it?
I like how the four gods you picked are in direct conflict with each other. Ares wants war and Dionysus wants love. Heph wants technology and Artemis wants nature.
There were a few bugs with the sprites. The ones I found are: - During the section where you talk with the four gods before you actually create the planet, when you choose a god to talk to it would briefly flash "Image '(god name)' not found". - Carbon, Water, Heat -> Add worms -> Leave things as is: Dionysus' sprite disappeared and it says "Image 'dionysus neutral' not found" - Heat, Carbon, Water -> Give the aggressive species tools -> Smite the aggressive species: The speaker is Artemis, but the warning label says "Image 'ares' not found". This happens for several textboxes.
There were some issues with the text in the Heat, Water, Carbon -> Give the carnivores tools route. The text fell to the bottom of the screen. There were also a few typos here and there, I can talk about it if you would like.
There are many funny moments in this game! My favorites include "sexually charged sentient pieces of coal", the disco party ending, and the ending where Garbanzo ends up as a god.
Overall a pretty nice visual novel!
You're right, that fly doesn't sit --- it slowly drifts down. I personally find the slow drift useful in navigating tight spaces! I probably won't repeat the points about the game that others have said already, but I do agree that time management and knowing your limits is important in game jams. And hey, you learned something new, and I think that's a win!
I look forward to seeing the post-jam version!
Thank you everyone for your kind comments so far! Also sorry about the audio @theyflower, I'll probably patch it in a post-jam update. Thanks for notifying!
@dashvirus Hi, thanks for your feedback! Your suggestion for a more strategic, non-time based game is spot-on, so I think I might implement it as an alternate game mode in the post-jam version.
As for the bottom row levels, which level do you find particularly unforgiving? I wanted to make sure whether it's the same one I'm thinking of, or if it's something completely different than I expected.
Oh, I like this insect battler game! I'm already a fan of tower-defense style games myself (like BTD6) so this is right up my alley.
That said, a few notes: - Sometimes it's a bit difficult to tell friends from foe, because enemies use the same sprite as we do. - In the placement menu, it's difficult to tell apart insects you have already placed and insects you haven't placed yet. - There is a bug (no, not one of our units) where the first time you buy an insect the game would claim you have no units even though the insect card is right over the text that says so. - There is another bug (still not our units) where if you replay already cleared levels for resources and you win, you will advance to the next level anyways.
Overall, though, you did do great and it was satisfying to watch my wall of beetles hurl rocks at the final boss. Well done!
Welcome to the wonderful world of Game Dev! I hope you've enjoyed developing your game as much as I have enjoyed developing mine.
That said, let's move onto the game itself. I like the detail you put in the magnifying glass where when you hover over the ants it actually zooms in.
Overall pretty short but fun game, as the ants will quickly swarm the ice cream faster than you can burn them.
Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff in the future!
P.S. In GDScript, calling `get_tree().reload_scene()` would cause the scene to reload itself. You can use this for your restart button next time!
Great ant game! It's like playing Chicken with raindrops. The music's pretty neat, as well!
2024-10-07 (3).png
Nice infinite runner game with charming artwork! I struggled a bit with the double jumps at first (I keep getting caught on platform edges), but I eventually got the hang of it.
As for the level design, I personally feel like certain enemy placements are a bit unfair and can catch first-time players off guard. For example, placing an off-screen spider right over a mushroom where you're set to bounce into it, or being shot at by an off-screen red spy card while standing near the edge of the screen. Eventually you get used to it and accept being wary of random bouncy mushrooms and being near the edge of the screen as part of your strategy.
Oops, gotta get moving now, or the Red Queen will have my head! Once again great job on your game!
This is a very neat puzzle! I enjoyed figuring out the rules for each of the Tiny Head through trial and error. These are the rules I discovered during gameplay: https://pastebin.com/NaWx52aZ (EDIT: Placed the rules in this link to prevent spoilers)
Some of the smaller levels intended to teach these rules to me, and it did work somewhat... but it did take me a long time to get there. Maybe a hint to expedite the process like loco has said would be a good idea? Speaking of the smaller levels, I find that the small mid-game levels are less forgiving than the large 5x5 levels at the end, as there isn't much room to avoid neighbors that don't like each other.
I'm personally 50/50 on the Baby crying. On one hand, it *is* funny and I can imagine streamers would have funny reactions to it the first time they encountered it. On another hand, it does get old after a while and you end up cursing under your breath after you accidentally put a Baby next to a Zombie.
It also felt like the game looped back to the first level after you finish the last level. An end screen that shows that you have cleared all the levels would be nice. The ability to see your progress (how many levels you have cleared out of the total number of levels in the game) would also be pretty neat.
All that aside though, you've made a really cool puzzle game. Good job!