Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Sauski
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 53 | Delivery | 👥 | Comedian Keith | jam | 561 | 3.60 | 3.68 | 3.66 | 4.06 | 3.63 | 4.16 | 3.76 |
| 2018 | 43 | Sacrifices must be made | 👥 | Effigy | jam | 471 | 3.47 | 3.12 | 3.44 | 3.53 | 3.26 | 2.95 | 3.09 |
| 2018 | 42 | Running out of space | 👥 | The Kessler Problem | jam | 113 | 3.91 | 3.59 | 3.96 | 4.25 | 3.95 | 3.81 | |
| 2017 | 39 | Running out of Power | 👥 | Electro Swing | jam | 357 | 3.45 | 3.12 | 2.95 | 3.95 | 3.96 | 2.13 | 3.52 |
| 2017 | 38 | A Small World | Shrinking Feeling | jam |
The enemy AI is a little too easy to exploit by just going in circles firing backwards towards them. It's hard to get out of this habit once you see it's effectiveness. Maybe making the enemies slightly faster if they live too long would have worked well. Otherwise great game!
10/10 would fly off into space randomly again.
The game has a great natural difficulty curve as the board becomes harder to manoeuvre as more lines are added, it really captures the theme brilliantly! Where I started to struggle was with the addition of the extra colours, I found there just weren't enough of one colour to start clearing lines within 5 moves once the board filled up. Truly an endgame for the puzzle game aficionados!
The game really evokes that scared nervousness and feeling of being overwhelmed when you start a new job. You try to pretend you know whats happening but really you just deleted Lightmans requested file to make space.
@sylvie @nandelind Took me a little while but I got the hang of it. When you jump onto a platform that is a different colour than the one you jumped from, all platforms of the colour you jumped from disappear. Basically you can only be on a set of the same coloured platforms once. Starts to get especially tricky when they start changing colour!
A great core mechanic that really rewards developing skill with it. Successfully finds that rare "easy to learn but hard to master" sweet spot. As my confidence grew I found myself chaining my Teleball throws rapidly, only to realise I'd lost track of my orientation as my next throw sailed into the black hole. A great experience!
It's great to see the theme so heavily incorporated into the gameplay! The game could be a little punishing though, requiring significant backtracking after a mistake. I think i missed the jump onto the chair about 5 times. It's a testament to the quality of game that I kept at it until I made it though!
Definitely a mind twister! Especially when you've got three peoples actions to plans out, infinite rewind certainly makes it feel less punishing. The game feels like it would lend itself well to a mobile version! One slight frustration is that it's not obvious you can't hand a cat off or bounce a cat across to another character. I got stumped on one of the earlier levels because I couldn't figure out why my cat kept drowning in this position:
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Obviously the puzzles require it to be this way, but as it seems intuitive that you would be able to catch a cat, a clearer explanation on the limitation would be good.
@max6333 Perhaps an additional line on the death screen would be enough. Something like "Cats must land on an empty square"? You'd only have to display it when it was the cause of death, so it shouldn't be too much additional text for the player.
It's like Tetris with a backstory! Although in Tetris you never have to make the heartbreaking decision of whether you let Moose or Claire die...
I wouldn't worry about your ideas not turning out as you'd hoped, Game Jam's are a time for unbridled experimentation! It's impressive you managed to produce a coherent and enjoyable game given the setbacks.
Download links added!
@jackw899 Patience and careful launch power are the keys to success! 40 satellites.png
@mrserp Thanks! Our initial plan was to have more elliptic orbits with varying eccentricity, but we struggled to calculate the correct periapsis and eccentricity from the launch parameters. We could do it confining the launch to a single plane but that seemed limiting, so circular orbits it is!
@reax When you say fun with the code, I'm guessing you found our git repository :P Thanks for being honest, I've taken your score out.
The main game mechanic has a lot going for it, it's fun trying to strike a balance between keeping enough of the platform intact whilst having enough ammo to survive. Unfortunately some interface bugs and omissions get in the way of enjoying the heart of the game.
Brilliant Physics! There's something very satisfying about the way the car slides into hooligans, and watching the fountain of bodies created by the ball explosion is memorising!
Blatant case of false advertising. I came in expecting the world's *worst* tower defence, instead I got an enjoyable experience! It felt a bit scripted however, usually one of the most nail biting parts of a TD is building more towers as the current wave is being killed, by only awarding money at the end of a wave you miss out on some of those nerve racking last ditch effort moments.
Nice use of the theme, it's exactly how my head feels during the last stages of a game jam :P
A truly unique experience. Something tells me Paul is a ladies man....
"10/10 Game of the Year" - IGN
The change in momentum at the top of the jump feels like it happens too quickly, it gives the jump an odd feeling. If you're planning on updating or making a platformer in the future, and aren't afraid of a little math, check out this video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG9SzQxaCm8
Fantastic game that fully incorporates the theme into its gameplay. You really do feel like you're running out of space, each warehouse upgrade offering only a temporary reprieve. Brilliant stuff.
Did you consider having the display for the required goods closer to the outgoing trucks? It would reduce the likelihood of incorrectly loading a truck due to misreading the requirements. Having to look across the screen frequently certainly adds to the frantic pace of the game, but removing this slight inconvenience would allow for greater focus on the core gameplay mechanic, which is incredibly engaging.
A great use of the theme. I found myself mashing the arrow keys frantically at the end trying to repel the unseen attackers. Certainly an engaging experience!
Unfortunately the game launches to a black screen for me. I'm running on a Dell XPS 15 (2016) with Windows 10 and this happens regardless of the resolution I use. Not sure if this thread would be of any help, seems like other GMS users have run into this issue and fullscreen was the culprit: https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/solved-game-launches-with-black-screen-for-some-people.28972/
Truly this game is set in some dystopian future, where a faceless omnipotent rubber band wielding lifeguard struggles futilely to save what is left of humankind from their ritual suicide. This is the only conclusion I can come to based on the inability of these overweight clones to not drown nearly immediately after entering a pool, even with a flotation device. I tried, but in the end I couldn't save them all, is this a bleak picture of humanity's future?
A rare look into the world of the overlooked heroes of the RPG genre, backpacks. When I lose something from my backpack, now I'll know why, it's because my backpack fat fingered the damn Hatchet and knocked everything out! A truly engaging experience.
Simply gorgeous game! There's something strangely majestic about the way he slowly rotates when thrown, seemingly ignorant of the exploding sun chasing him down and his imminent doom. Great sound effect on failure as well.
A great game where you can't help but feel responsible for your own death. Trying to stay calm and collected so you can neatly dispatch of slimes is a real test of skill, especially when the techno flight of bumblebees music kicks in! Every time I died I couldn't help but mash the replay button, telling myself this time I wouldn't be so disorderly with my slime killing.
Fantastic depth for a Jam game! It certainly brought out the city building perfectionist in me. Although I must admit I sent myself bankrupt Homer Simpson sanitation commissioner style the first few attempts. Perhaps a clearer idea of the continual cost of buildings and trucks would have helped, but I guess that comes with experience!
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I kept getting distracted by the gorgeous visuals and rolling of the edge!
Fun Game! I like the minimalist art style, conveys all the information you need with nothing wasted. The downwards velocity on the jump feels a bit too linear, if you're not afraid of some math: youtube.com/watch?v=hG9SzQxaCm8 is a great video on jumping mechanics. Looking forward to seeing you next Ludum!
Certainly more stressful than any other town building game I've played! A nice evocation of the theme, although perhaps having the abyss move towards the town would be more thematically fitting. I somehow managed to bug the game and got a Shaman Tent stuck on my cursor which put a slow but sure end to my poor town. tent.png
@max6333 I disagree! The water level is continually rising, limiting your "space", and your size becomes a hindrance as you get bigger you can't fit through some of the fences, requiring you to take an alternate path to reach a juicer so you can shrink yourself.
Very enjoyable game, though it can feel a bit punishing because as you get bigger you get slower, increasing the likelihood of getting shot further.
Reminds me of Viruses in the Mid 2000's. There was a sense of pageantry when your computer got infected, none of this modern "secretly mine cryptocurrency and avoid detection". Back then it was all about shovelling as much crap onto the infected computer as possible. I didn't think I'd get nostalgic playing this, but it happened! Great entry!
Humans Eat: Wolves Wolves Eat: Humans
Isn't the circle of life beautiful?
Great use of the theme, I also really felt that I had a tangible impact on the ecosystem and that the ecosystem was internally consistent, so great work there. But my god, using the A & D keys to spin the camera as well as click to move all in a third person perspective? I don't think you could have broken more conventions if you'd tried!. I spent the first 30 seconds running in a circle!
I tried to see if I could cheese it by favouring one strategy exclusively, and I couldn't survive without taking a neutral approach, so great work on balance!
After failing at the double river a few times I was ready to give up on our pompous hero, yet when I did manage to sacrifice myself I felt a tinge of pride. I believe it's the mark of a great game that it's able to evoke involuntary emotional responses like that, so well done!
Really unique use of the theme! Initially I though it would be super easy, I mean we're just manipulating 2D shapes! I soon realised how wrong I was, and ended up having a really great, challenging time. Just some minor things that upped the frustration that if polished out could make for a great release.
- I swear these was a wall that was fully white. - At some points it didn't seem fair that the shape had to match the hole, rather than just fit through it, but I can see why this would be necessary for balance - The inability to re-add vertices after removing them felt unnecessarily punishing - My eyes physically hurt from the pulsating background
I never thought a block in a cape could so accurately capture the mannerisms of a vampire. The way you've made it lean forwards, while simple, immediately evokes the vampire feel. Well Done!
I'll admit I thought this was just gonna be a simple "Press Left or Right to Win" affair, but the attention you've placed on the physics makes it incredibly playable & addictive. Not to mention the sound effects!
I really like the combat, feels like a carrier in Starcraft, which is great!
I managed to get into a state where I had negative drones, didn't impact the game though as I could spawn more, I was holding space and mashing two as fast as possible when it happened. I died shortly afterwards :P
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I couldn't quite figure out where the signal was coming from, but I did figure out that you could mash Enter to sacrifice many, many ships...so success?
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The music, effects and voice lines were great! Excellent use of the MGS detected sound, hit me right in the nostalgia. Little Disappointed you didn't record a "What was that noise?" voice line to go along with it :P
Fantastic use of the theme, great to see the theme being used to set the entire mood of the game! I struggled a bit at the start trying to capture my first victim, and I had some Benny Hill moments hiding under the bed in plain sight, but once I began to grasp the mechanics I was thoroughly enjoying kidnapping sacrifices!
>The game didn’t turn out to be as we planned.
It never does, but that's part of the fun!
I'm not sure it was intentional, but the fact that if you press the crouch button while jumping you have to repress it after you land, rather than being able to hold it messed me up so many times!
So I get home from work, I find my energy company has charged me a late fee despite sending the money from my end on time. I put this misfortune aside to play some Ludum Dare games. I did not expect to have this bleak reality I occupy mirrored back at me. 8/10 would whimper again.
Certainly an engaging game with a "one more go" aspect to it, I found myself crying in frustration when I miss timed a jump, but it's a mark of a good game that it's able to evoke such engagement. An escape menu and the ability to mute would have made for a slightly easier user experience, something you'll definitely need to consider for the next Jam! :)
Certainly ambitious to create an asynchronous multiplayer for a game jam. The idea of stealing villagers from other players evokes that early 2000s async online multiplayer vibe. Unfortunately I ran into some issues that marred the experience, hopefully if I detail them they provide some useful insight for tweaking your tech!
- Touching any island would freeze the game for 1/2 a second - I managed to head straight at an arrow (such that it wasn't moving) for a good 5 minutes without seeing an island, not 100% sure that was intended. I gave up before reaching it and the arrow disappeared after a bit. - I never actually found any villagers to steal, I estimate I visited around 15 islands, although they may have been repeats of a smaller set. I'm guessing based on the scoreboard that they're concentrated on a single user island?
I'll definitely be back to check and see if my villagers have been stolen!
A simply brilliant use of the theme. I don't think even if I sacrificed a sheep to God (or Abraham) for divine inspiration I could have come up with anything as comedically incisive as this.
I really like this idea, I remember my dad and I used to have a bedtime ritual where I would give him 3 random objects, and he would have to weave a story from them.
I wonder how you evolve this to have some form of "competitive" or "quality rating" aspect, it's a bit too easy to just keep introducing new concepts in non-sequitur ways, which ends up just being a race to spit out the cue without much thought.
Just thinking, but maybe the objective could be to obscure which cue cards you've been given, and the audience has to guess - but if they guess right, you lose. E.g. "weave in the concept of a Toad without anyone noticing".
I just kept spinning in circles and it just kept working! Maybe not the most engaging way to play the game but damn it was mesmerizing, good work.
Great take on the theme! I had a lot of fun with it, but I really struggled to find the right locations. Often it seemed like I was just a couple pixels off, but then with multiple black holes everything would get slightly disturbed and get way off target.
Some way to more easily visualize the impact the black holes have would have been useful (e.g. drawing their gravity well with a gradient to indicate strength)
I won't repeat what everyone else has said - there's obviously some room for polish :)
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that when you restart, you have to go through the dialog again. This pushed me from playing further as I didn't want to wait (I think I probably would have played another couple of rounds) - consider making the restart path a fast path in the future.
As others have said - visual were fantastic. For me, the gameplay was tough to understand completely. The lack of in game feedback left me wondering if I was doing well or not, then I got as score at the end and had no idea how my actions had really contributed to it.