Downward Frog by GogglesKitty 2021-05-01T14:49:56Z
Cute and mesmerising, and how is it both peaceful and stressful at the same time :D
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → SilkyPantsDan
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48 | Deeper and deeper | 👥 | Fathomless | jam | 405 | 3.82 | 3.49 | 3.95 | 4.13 | 4.05 | 3.36 | 2.88 | 3.43 |
Cute and mesmerising, and how is it both peaceful and stressful at the same time :D
Very well executed concept - though it can be a bit hard at times (due to trying to remember what you killed). Music was on point for the style of the game. I loved that a couple of the enemies had different death sounds, and feel this you be a good addition to each one (From memory the yellow and red enemies had the same death SFX) - I found this aided in keeping track.
Awesome work!
Notes:
- It was a bit difficult to determine the players current health, and took a few plays to notice how the model would deteriorate - The text on the play field would blend into the game a bit, making it difficult to read. Though after a while it became apparent what you needed to do. - The falling segments were a bit jittery on WebGL (minor issue really)
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This is how I felt as I just kept getting smaller and smaller, but there was always something new to find. Also ham - I am ham. I shall dream of ham tonight...
Great work on the surreal experience!
Visually awesome, and took a bit to get used to the controls (as others have mentioned with move/attacking).
I noticed in one run the elevator and shop text seemed to have swapped, and I did find it funny when the skeletons had blocked each other a couple of times (walking into each other)
Awesome entry!
I WILL BE BACK TO FINISH THIS ONE!
Love the mechanics - hard, but not _seemingly impossible_. I did have to stop after a few (*cough* 10 *cough*) attempts at length 3 to make it across the platform gap as I should really be working instead of gaming :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
Art styling, music, sounds - all excellent! I hope this gets a proper release in the future!
Thanks for the feedback @dominikscholz - we will take that on board for future ideas as well (we didn't want to make the game too easy, and might have overcorrected :S)
Thanks everyone for the feedback - and sorry about the difficulty (our level designer is a sadist).
We are considering to work on this further after the Jam, and will be taking all the feedback into account! :D
Thanks for the thread @curtis-pelissier - we did implement some grace time in regard to jumping, but some of the rest there would be good additions.
@itsboats - thanks for the feedback, and the tip with the box colliders - will definitely have a play with that setting later. The main reason for the circle collider was to help the player 'roll' onto a platform if they just missed the edging, but this might work with the radius setting too.
It's also nice that you managed to get the bug in the same spot I had, and I'm 99% sure I know exactly what the issue is there too (fwiw it's to do with detecting the direction a player moves through a portal).
Thanks all again for the feedback, and the experience! We will definitely be back in October for more jam fun!
We are (slowly, between other work commitments) continuing the project based on everyone's feedback, and will be posting updates both here and on Twitter (@bananafistgames).
@dominikscholz @thatnoobles @goggleskitty @verygenuinecraze @xjazzaxx @bangkerpow @zombree @jamie @divford @jhax @szymski @dark @jiangche @wizard @jasontherand @salier @akronsus @seanarooni @videt @sli @aeveis @vsi @chrisco @phoenix @deepak @threeli @dudelesha @curtis @ultimatewalrus @curtis-pelissier @codeman1010 @ramble @andrewkennedy @itsboats @antonishig @gamefive @villanelle @etrealjunior @koolruz @dob @ddrkirbyisq @tengusheath @maple @saintchristopher777 @wilsk @pndaa @sunblast
Great game - would love to see this further expanded on! Loved the art styling, and the game text and music is superb!
Only issues I came across - and only mentioning in case others have the same:
* Had set the resolution a bit lower than full screen, and noticed a couple of spots where the text overlapped. * Mac build has a permission issue (we also noticed this in our game) and is a straight forward fix to add
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Awesome little platformer. I did have some trouble with the floating platforms (I think it was more a triggering thing) but worked it out in the end.
Love the sounds, and the water effect is great!
Great job - and under time pressure too!
I had a problem with some object _seemingly_ not disabling collision? but it could have been lost in the piles of debris
Awesome work!
Great entry! I played the Web version, and had an issue when I tried to select Options (screen went blank and I had to reload) but other than that it was fun :)
I think adding some further items as others have suggested would be a good addition, and I had a few moments where I was blocked by enemies and couldn't jump on top of them to kill them - but otherwise a solid effort legend!
Very interesting idea, though it was a bit difficult to control and seems to be very dependent on luck? (Though maybe I missed something somewhere)
It seemed when ever I hovered over the top or bottom building blocks the game would scroll, which was a bit disorienting. It would also be a good addition to add a quit button - either as a menu option or hitting escape
I'm really interested to see where you were going with this idea, and I hope you continue to work on it and flesh out a demo a bit more!
Great little game, and the progression is great too. Only suggestion I can think of would be to make mercury also reset your heat sheilds? (I found no matter what I would die soon after launching again)
Great job!
Awesome game, and loved the puzzles. The pie one stumped me for a bit (as I thought all the buttons were needed) but worked it out and got to the end!
* Clock input was a bit annoying - you could only click on the edges to move up, and if you clicked too much it was a long trek around again * The walking sound could be dropped a little, it was a bit loud
Great concept and implementation, though gets a bit samey after a bit. Once suggestion might be to ignore the enemies from the damage pools, as it makes the game a bit easier than possibly intended. Also add an exit button please :)
Other than that - a solid entry!
Great puzzle game, and in 72 hours - Wow! Music was great, and can see myself coming back to this one!
The art, the music, the environment - just wow!
And the leaderboard - now I want to see if I can top my score!
Great short puzzle game, and beautiful illustrations! It seems like there is a larger story to be told here, and I hope that it might get it's chance post jam.
Only thing I can say was "missing" was a way to exit the game after (other than Alt+F4)
Great entry!
Love a fun bullet hell game! I had a problem with the audio when it first started, and it was a bit hard to tell what I was meant to shoot at (maybe flashing the enemies to indicate damage?).
It was also a little jarring when I died (?) and would spawn back in the center - some UI to indicate how much health I had would be a good addition.
A little short, and a bit easy but loved the atmosphere! Maybe adding some additional sea life to avoid or moving mines could have made it a bit more challenging?
Anything but 'boring'! :P Great game, awesome backing music, excellent VO, and _just_ difficult enough to have me saying "OK, just one more go.."
Only suggestions I have is to add a way to exit the game, and having some sort of cool down/limit on the slow down effect
Controls work great - though I had initially excepted some inertia (not sure if this would make it harder though?)
Played via Web and didn't notice any lag at all - great entry!
A great and charming experience - was a joy to play :) Music was soothing and reminded me a lot of the first time playing Minecraft (digging endless tunnels in a trance).
As others have mention, other than fleshing out more gameplay (Procedural Generation in < 72 is great!) I only had issues with the lag every now and then, and this then causing the mining to slow.
Mini-golf with Spaceships! - what's not to love! Great concept here - well, really great all round! I hope there is more of this to come!
Great game - though I did get lost in the visuals a little (wasn't sure what each button did etc). Wanted to steer clear of the comments, but I see there is a lot down here too ;)
Voice acting and music is really well done, and the gritty art style really fits in well!
I had to stop playing as it was making me hungry!
Game idea is fun, though I did get into a state where I was waiting a (seemingly) very long time with no customer to fill. Agreed that it took a bit to figure out where the order had to go.
Playing with a trackpad, it was a bit difficult to drop the items into the tray - would be cool if I could drag the basket and drop them from there too?
Sorry to hear about the code loss - as it looks like you had something really cool going here! I love playing as "Thing" from Adams Family!
I agree on the mix of styling - the pixel art seems a bit too 'bright and clean' compared to the more gritty 3D models. I also managed to find a couple of holes in the collisions near the final level transition that allowed me to get outside the world (or was this a _feature_ to go deeper? :P)
Could definitely see more expansion on ideas for 'things in/under the couch' too
Loved the atmosphere, and great mechanics too. Definitley adding this to come back and play more of later (gotta get all them pearls!)
An awesome take on a the Match-3 genre, and gets very hard to put down!
Feedback: * The delay between when the tiles clear, and the next round of clearing is a bit long * Stopping the player from moving tiles when they are being cleared (I managed to move one that was meant to clear - still worked though! :thumbsup:) * In between the tiles clearing, the board moved forward a little. * It was hard to know exactly how much needed to be cleared before the bunny could escape - not in a bad way though. It always seemed like I thought I had more to clear before I could free it, but then it triggered anyway?
LOVE IT! Will be coming back to continue playing (Spikes are NOT my friends)
Played the WebGL version on MacOS - and was a bit blurry on the main screen, but fine on an external monitor. I think it might have been something with the high DPI settings (Just a note for next time).
My thoughts while playing: - Why do I have an egg? - This must be what a pinball feels like - These things shooting from the wall are annoying - No, I take that back. The eyes with tentacles are annoying. - (While being juggled by 3 eyes). What is the egg? Maybe _I'm the egg?!_
Great entry and wicked atmosphere!
Love the animations, and the Single player - two characters mechanic is awesome. I don't really have much to add that hasn't already been said: * Indicator for which character is active * Swapping character mid action/elevator would be a good addition (esp for speed running) * Sound effects would be great, though understandable under time conditions ;)
I think you've got a great idea going here, and would love to see where it can go!
Suck a great game to play at the end of a day, and lose yourself in the music and sounds! Great concept and amazingly polished!
I felt like I was in the twilight zone - great entry!
The only bit that was _tricky_ was the light switch puzzle, until I realised what it was doing. Awesome work!
Great concept - loved the gfx and sounds. Still a bit confused on how the gems worked (though I think a bit more playing and reading others comments will help there), and I had issues with attempting to move, jump, and fire at the same time.
Other than that - great entry!
Art and sound are awesome, but as others have said it was a bit difficult to determine where I was meant to go (other than down) and why I couldn't attach to some surfaces
Interesting take on the theme, and VO is great! Took me a bit to work out how best to attack, and how the powerups worked. Great entry!
Also, unsure if it was a _bug_ or just bad luck - I had a case where I attacked and was attacked at the same time, and had my entire health bar drained (Seemed the attack got stacked or something? Saw a lot of damage strings)
One word for that hit SFX - Chunky! It really sounds like you're hitting them hard!
Love the concept and hope you are looking to continue. Would make an awesome rougelite with the shop system, and possible upgrades?
I see this as being almost a mix of an FPS and Bullet hell game combined - will be back for more later for sure!
Just when I though a 'Tony Hawk' game couldn't be improved - annoying people and fake phone calls!
Definitely a bit of a learning curve here, but once you get the hang of it you'll be saying 'Ok just one more,this time I've got it!'
Such a great entry, and so meditative (though I keep getting lost in breaking block I *eventually* forget to swap sides!
It might be nice if the screen would speed up a little if you get to the bottom (~2% or something), as I found I would happily sit there until it was time to swap.
There is so much room for growth in this idea - power ups, enemies, different levels of blocks etc - but understandable to get it done in 48 hours, this is solid!
Awesome work!
Nice idea, and very meditative. I can definitely see a solid game forming from this.
I played the Web version, and found the controls a bit unresponsive - I would think I got a root to stop growing, but it would continue, or I would try to get a node to split and it wouldn't. I also found a few of the instruments in the music a bit loud with headphones on. But these are minor issues.
Great work!
Love the concept, and my feedback is similar to others as well. I wondered if it might be an idea to have a bonus if the player keeps a good tempo? i.e - get a good rhythm and it hits further, miss a beat, or go slow and it hits softer?
Awesome work all the same!
Will be coming back for this one - added to the personal library ;)
The main thing that got me on my initial plays was not really knowing _where_ I was meant to deliver, other than a direction. Maybe just knowing if I'd gone past it might be enough?
Solid entry nonetheless - great atmosphere and sounds!
Such an amazing concept, and I hope you continue to refine this. One suggestion I had - while floating in space - was an indicator to the 'nearest' planet (which could be far away still) as it can be hard to know where to go to refuel on Oxygen.
Great entry - only question I have is "How to silence the ambulance?" (if you can, that is). Loved the sounds effects, and the dog almost had me wake my entire house with laughter!
I hope you are looking to take this further!
Thanks for reminding me I need to go to the Dentist!
(also thanks for the awesome entry too :wink:)
Feedback: * It's a bit hard to line up the left overs with the bacteria when you have it on the side (though could be as intended) * Initial loop is slow, and can get a little frustrating * Can be a little disorientating in the menu as there's no cursor - but it's quick to work out. Might be a nice addition to also use Space instead of mouse click?
First off - I'm going to have the Bee Gee's stuck in my head for the rest of the day!
What a great entry - I played the web version on Mac, and the main things I noticed was the page kept wanting to scroll when I tried to move (could have just been Firefox?) and when I went full screen, it seemed the scan line effect got lost somehow all very minor.
Gameplay wise - I'm not really sure I could fault anything, sure it's difficult but I kept coming back for more. The music and sfx were on point, and the graphical stylings awesome.
I was dreading playing this (in a really good way), I had seen others streaming and knew I had to give it a go.
I'm so glad you are looking to continue development - this is a solid gem here and I will be back to play more! I'm not sure if there were meant to be sounds, but I only got the music playing. It would also be nice to have a way to exit other than trusty Alt+F4. But these are minor issues in an otherwise great game! Congrats!
Great little game, and would love to see this expanded upon! Music and art style is great.
Main points of feedback:
* The character jump was a bit too 'floaty' * I had issues with breaking the vertical walls - it took a while to realise I was too close to them and I needed to step back a little * On the final level I missed one of the platforms, and could not get back up - meaning I missed the gem there :( * MacOS build had permission issues - this can be fixed quite easily before rezipping ``` cd
I feel triggered to go see my doctor and have my ears checked out! Awesome execution, and really good art!
Only issue I can across (playing on web) was after extracting the moth, I couldn't see a way to reset and try again other than resetting the page
Just wow - not only do you hit the theme in the "drill deeper" sense, the mechanics themselves are also a lot deeper than on the surface! This is a great mix of strategy/puzzle - as going in blindly will end up dead in a short time.
Sounds and Music are on point, and give a nice relaxing mood to the game, while the stress of managing both your fuel, health, and time/moves keeps you on the edge.
Feedback: - (Minor) I didn't understand the damage mechanic until now. I read it as "you will be damaged every 10 tiles" not "you will be damaged if you move > 10 tiles in a move" - I had an issue where I couldn't collect any ore - I'm assuming this was the Cargo getting full? (I didn't read all the notes before playing). Maybe having the window fill as the cargo does would be a good indicator to the player?
I do hope you continue working on this, will be one to keep an eye on :)
I love the art style, and trying to sort the papers as fast as possible is a bit stressful (though addictive!)
Would love to see this on mobile as well :D
I did have an issue with the MacOS build though - I had to go into the package and set the executable to user executable:
``` cd ~/Downloads/mac.app/Contents/MacOS chmod u+x nine\ to\ five ```