Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → Users → Sodaware
| Year | LD | Theme | Game | Division | Rank | Ov | Fu | In | Th | Gr | Au | Hu | Mo | Co | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 29 | Beneath the Surface | Splodey Boats | compo | 167 | 3.66 | 3.68 | 3.03 | 3.84 | 3.89 | 3.17 | 2.83 | 3.47 | 64 | |
| 2012 | 23 | Tiny World | ineptia | compo | 308 | 3.18 | 2.73 | 3.35 | 2.46 | 3.53 | 2.02 | 2.19 | 2.70 | 100 |
Took me a few tries to realise how things worked, but a clever concept. At first I thought you had to push people off the edges, but then I figured out you have to guide them to the center. Having the population tilt the world added a nice challenge, although it gets a little tough. Looks great too!
I like the concept, although it takes a little while to find anything. I found two people within the first few moves and then nothing for the rest of the game.
Really cool concept! The only suggestion would be to display the key codes for spitting colours at all times. I forgot which button did which at times and had to spit things at the wall to figure it out. Apart from that I thought it was a really original concept that has a lot of potential.
As others have said, the movement is way too sensitive. Otherwise it's a fun little game, although I would have liked to have seen a few more gameplay elements. I liked the graphics though - very cute :)
Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to write a comment - I really, REALLY appreciate it! I'll try and answer questions / comments as best I can:
* Undo -- It was planned but I ran out of time. In hindsight it should have been more of a priority.
* Sound -- Yeah, it sucks :(
* Slow -- Each move takes 1.5 seconds to execute, so plenty of room to speed it up. The way things work at the moment meant I had to make every move take the same amount of time to stay synchronized.
* Path overlay -- I like that idea. I use a silhouette of your robot instead of an arrow, along with a glowing trail or something.
* Minimum moves -- Originally you needed to fill the queue before you could move. I left it out for testing, and never put it back in. Whoops.
I'm currently working on an improved version that I hope to release once voting closes. All this feedback has really helped :)
Nicely done. I liked that you had to balance switching between colours to make sure your planet didn't disappear. It gave the game a nice difficulty curve, and meant you weren't punished too much for letting the wrong colour through. Very enjoyable :)
I really liked the idea! It gets quite challenging later on, but it's fun to see the new messages as they appear. I think with a little polish, such as adding a proper character and some platforming elements, could turn this into something really fun.
Really fun! Seeing as hitting rocks is pretty much instant death, I would have preferred an engine upgrade to a hull one. Digging up the last bits of oil to get the mass extract was a real chore. Other than that though, it was fun digging a huge pit and escaping at the end.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, until the bit with the tiny platforms. The "speaking" was a nice touch, and even though the graphics are low-fi they have a lot of character. I just hate those pixel jumps ;)
Pretty satisfying to smash the tanks and kick people out of the way. It's a little weird when you stand still (as the clouds move but the grass has no indication of movement), but it was fun. And I love how happy all the little fellas are!
I liked the day / night transition as you run around, as well as the random element to which area would come up next. It's rather difficult, but still enjoyable.
Great job! It ran quite slow on my machine, although it was still playable. It also gets quite hard to see things once you get large, but that adds to the challenge I guess. Good music, and the opening / closing cutscenes were nicely done.
Not much strategy required, but quit relaxing to watch the different teams fight it out. With a little work it could be fun, and the destructible terrain is a really neat feature.
Looks great, and I like the central mechanic. Shame it's so short, but it's really well done!
As others have said, a little pause (and maybe a flash/fade out) of blocks before they disappear would help people visualise what's going on. Also, if you fire a block and use the scroll wheel before if hits it will fly off into the abyss and you'll have to restart. Otherwise I really enjoyed this, and thought it was an original take on things.
I really liked the idea of building the level you were going to play. Would have liked more powerups, but otherwise is was pretty solid. Very impressive for your first try!
This is a really polished entry. Great graphics, and the gameplay is innovative and quite challenging on the harder difficulties. Great work, and I'd love to see the concept taken further.
Maybe a running score would have been nice, but I really enjoyed playing it. Looks and feels great, and it gets really frantic when you have to start juggling shooting enemies, stopping the planet and not overheating.
I found the controls made my hand ache after a while, but otherwise they were a nice change. I liked way you get upgraded, and turning into the big guy was a nice surprise. Would have been nice to have some way of losing, but otherwise really fun. Love the sax too!
Just the right amount of challenge to keep it interesting, and it took me a few tries to make progress. A little audio/visual polish would be nice, but it's still fun to play.
Nice graphics and idea, although I would have liked to see a little more added to the gameplay (powerups or abilities). Collision detection was a little picky at times, but otherwise this is a really solid entry with some great potential.
It's a shame it's so short, because the idea is really cool.
I really wish this had sound or music, but other than that it's excellent. Great fun, a nice mechanic + upgrade systems, and even a nice (if a little sad) story.
Really nice concept & presentation, and I like the little delivery messages at the top. It was a little hard control at first, but you get used to it after a while.
As others have said, a speedup button would have been nice. A little polish on the user interface side would make a big difference. The underlying gameplay is solid though, and some of the puzzles were quite tricky. Especially the bug exploit one - but I felt super smart when I finally solved it!
The first part with random bullets made me think it was going to be easy...how wrong I was. Nice take on the "bullet hell" genre. It would have been nice to use the moon as a shield, but it's still fun without that.
A good demonstration of how a few simple rules can come together to make something fun. I like the fact that you only use food when you move, so you can plan your moves a little better. The zooming out is a nice touch too, and having the growth marks stay on the screen gives a good sense of scale. Simple, but fun!
Love the art style and overally mood, and liked how the world expanded as you went along. The jetpack felt a little weird to control at first, but other than that the controls were nice and responsive.
Fun to play, but got difficult REALLY quickly. A little bit of balance tweaking would help, and maybe some random powerups (pause the police, make you faster etc) would add a little spice.
Great job for a first time! I really liked the way it unfolded as you went along. A really great learning curve, especially as the dish resets when something new is coming (like the dopplegangers).
Kept getting eaten by the big red fish, but otherwise it was fun. Quite challenging, especially the bigger fish getting dropped in at the top. Sound was a little sparse but did enough. Reminded me of games on the Amiga :)
Not bad for a first time entry! The clouds in front were a little distracting to begin with, but you quickly tune them out. Gameplay isn't too difficult, but I like the way you slow down as you take damage - it gives you a chance to recover.
Everything is really polished, and even though I'm not any good, I thoroughly enjoyed playing it :)
Apart from the slow intro, I really enjoyed it. The graphics were quite unique, and the "tiny world" theme was captured nicely.
Completed it on my first go, so it's certainly possible. Took a while to get things balanced - those bears will eat everything! Graphics are simple, but work really well with the gameplay. A bigger brush for filling things in would have been nice, but it's still great fun to play.
Love the graphics and sound, really adds a great atmosphere. Nice shield mechanic too, although I found it quite difficult at times (mostly in areas with more than one bullet colour).
I couldn't get it to run in Firefox (the fairy would just disappear as soon as you clicked anything), but it works in chrome.
Collision detection is a bit tricky - even brushing the corner of a sunny area will kill you. The concept is good though and I like that you can only carry so many teeth at a time.
I hate that ride so much. Made me smile, although I would have liked a little more game (multipliers or different weapons). I can't help thinking a full 3D rendition of the ride with arcade light guns would be the best thing ever.
Really enjoyed this! The presentation is great, especially how the music and visuals change from day to night. The first time it rained and left a puddle put a smile on my face. I would have liked to do more things with the volcano, but everything else is excellent.
I really liked the way it blends the two areas together. At first I just thought the planet could only take a few hits before exploding, but once I left the turret I realised what was happening. It gets pretty frantic between turrets as the enemies spawn so fast, but otherwise it's good fun.
I really enjoyed it, even though I'm terrible at spelling games (especially when there's some pressure). Adding a little bit of a difficulty curve and some polish would turn this into something really great.
It's a little tough to figure out what's going on when you first start out, but after a while it makes sense. Love the name and opening titles, and the graphics are nicely detailed and fit together well. One of my favourites so far.
It definitely needs a better tutorial, but once you pick how it works it's fun. Perhaps start by teaching how to put together a few easy molecules (water) and then bring in new elements (such as clicking again to double the connection). This is a really solid entry though, and well put together. Good work!
Love the graphics and concept. Once you get the hang of how the world rotates it's quite fun. Really, really difficult though!
The physics are a little clunky and it's rather short, but I really enjoyed it. Love the grahics too!
Fun concept, although the map was a little large so finding the infected cells was a little hard. Maybe a mini-map like Defender (and a cool alert sound) would help locate things. I liked that ramming red cells would damage them eventually, so you can't just ram them to be invincible. Added a nice layer of strategy to it.
I like the music, especially the way it changes when more meteors are on the way. A fun mechanic, although I found the controls a little uncomfortable (especially strafing). Really nice though, and a few tweaks to add targets (create X planets, create a square planet, create a planed of two types etc) would really help add some icing to the cake.
Harder than it looks, but fun. The kittens were a neat addition :) Got a little laggy with a lot on screen, but doesn't detract from the gameplay too much.
I really like the music and graphics. Gameplay is fun, and the central mechanic is easy to pick up. The ending was a little abrupt, but otherwise a solid game :)
So far the highest I've managed is 319. The thrust seemed a little too powerful at times (you don't drift too much), but otherwise I really enjoyed this.
I'm not normally a fan of games that are so hard I want to pull off my face, but this was pretty fun. For some reason I'd really like to see something like this combined with a "rewind" feature like Braid. Probably because I'm really bad at these games :)
Super easy, but I liked the way you had to capture asteroids to shoot them back. The final boss made me smile too :)
The flying was a little too slow for me. It would have been nice to have something to do on the planets, and maybe some more obstacles to dodge. The concept is good though, and I really liked the ending :)
Wow! This plays great and looks even better. Reminds me a little of Pang crossed with Asteroids, but the rotating playfield is a nice twist. Really solid entry - small, but perfectly polished.
An interesting concept, if a bit lacking in presentation. Couldn't figure out what to do at first and accidentally smote a settler. Could be fun with a few additions (tasks for them to perform or basic resource harvesting / converting).
I like the multiple endings (even if they're a little short), and the puzzles are fun, if simple. The particle fires and the hammering animation are a nice touch too.
Took the first try to figure out that shooting willy-nilly was not a good plan. Really well polished, and even though the main character is a bit freaky looking it was fun to play. Nice sense of humour too :)
I think with some chunkier graphics and a much smaller board this could be really impressive. Maybe start with one really small world and build up to make it more challenging. Definitely room for improvement, but there's a huge amount of potential here.
Powerups or different movement patterns would have added a little variety to the stages, but the boss fights were a nice addition.
Quite difficult, but still enjoyable. It might have been more balanced if moving the house didn't damage existing connections so much (or damaged them less if you moved it slowly or not so far). Still a great game :)
I quite enjoyed it. The graphics aren't great, although they made me smile. Once there were 3 enemy fish feeding time was pretty much impossible. It would have been nice if you could lead them into the net. With a few little tweaks like that it could be a lot of fun :)
Controls are a little floaty and unresponsive at times, but it was fun to play. Gets a little hard to kill everything if you get a weak weapon, but I liked the layout and moving UFO (just a shame you can't blow it up).
I liked the way the theme was integrated and the overall level structure, although some of the levels were a little bland. I would have liked the ship to have a little momentum or something to make travelling a little interest. The soundtrack was excellent though, and I played through to the end. I think with a little more time this could be really fun. Good job!
Difficult to rate as there isn't much here, but the idea sounds interesting. Hope you continue to work on it :)
I know it's not finished, but here's a couple of thoughts on possible improvements:
* Some kind of pointer to the planet. Space is rather big ;)
* Distant objects in the starfield (like a tiny galaxy or nebula). Because the stars move so quick, there's no frame of reference to figure out where you are. Something in the background that scrolls much slower would be a big help to finding that planet.
* Retro rockets - Flying up to the planet and then whizzing by because you took too long to turn is a little frustrating.
Also, even when you're not firing the engines, the direction you're pointing affects your speed. Not sure if that's deliberate or not.
It's an interesting concept though and I hope you'll get a chance to add the things you wanted :)
Obviously a little more polish would be nice, but for a 4-hour entry it's extremely playable. Some boards are a little tough, but the underlying mechanic works really well (and makes you feel super-smart when you finally beat a puzzle). Great sounds too ;)
Wow. Really well designed and incredibly polished.
Nice graphics and a fun concept, I just wish there was more to it. Really liked the multiple endings too.
The graphics work really well, even though they're simple. Makes me think of something I would have stayed up to play for hours on my old monochrome monitor.
A family history browser and timeline would be cool, although I think a few more activities & things to make the timeline more interesting.
It's fun to see things progress once houses start appearing and the civilisation grows.
It reminded me a little of Super Crate Box. Really liked the graphical touches with the clouds, and the sight lines were a neat touch. Maybe a hint marker for the next coin would have helped, although the screen wrapping made finding coins a little easier. A couple of different levels and perhaps some enemies or abilities would make this a lot of fun.
I love the idea! Had some serious performance problems after a few minutes, but the core game idea was really neat. At first I thought I had to walk through tulips or something to collect them, but then I bumped into someone and it all became clear. Nicely done!
Fun game, with a lot of polish. Loved the animation of the little sucker guys as they fell. I was sad I could only have 5 turrets, so my plan to cover the world with them failed :( An upgraded bow would have been nice, and some more variety in the enemies, but the core game is solid and well built.
Some really nice puzzles, I just wish the display was a little bigger ;)
The momentum is a little off, which makes the early parts a little harder than they should be. Also, the controls were a little uncomfortable and I would end up hitting CAPS instead of shift. I do like the mechanic though, and I think with a little more polish it could be a lot of fun.
This made me smile.
I'd be interested to see what you had originally planned though.
This put such a dumb smile on my face, especially the ending :)
Really great presentation on this. Great music, without being overpowering, and the animations work really well. Gameplay is nice and smooth too, and I felt so smart once I figured out I could bounce food off the walls.
Really great presentation, and love the humour! The dog at the start made me laugh, and then it all just got stranger and stranger. I enjoyed watching the story unfold, and certainly didn't predict any of it.
My only complaint is that I didn't get the wear the crown at the end.
My poor scroll wheel...
Great concept and execution - a really innovative way of giving people the feeling of being tired from staying afloat.
I have a soft spot for old Atari games, and this captures the aesthetic almost perfectly. As RyanNeilson said, it would have been nice for the buried items to match the graphical style, but it's understandable why not given the time/resolution limitations.
Otherwise it's an enjoyable little homage, and a fun twist on the theme :)
Thanks for all the great feedback everyone, I really appreciate it!
Getting the progression right was something that bugged me during development. I originally had the sunset stage (with the mines) as mission 2, but I was worried it would be too difficult too quickly. I definitely screwed up there. But that's what I love about LD - you get to see your game from so many different angles.
Like the idea, I just wish it wasn't so difficult. The enemies are large, and then the other tiles (instant death, reverse controls etc) make it even harder. Would have been nice to have some positive powerups.
Other than the difficulty, it's quite a fun concept that nicely mixes platforming with memory matching puzzles. Love the graphics too :)
As others have said, I probably would have changed up the "hit" sound to be a little gentler on the ears. Other than that the presentation is really slick - the audio is quite soothing, and the slowly changing background is a nice touch.
The core gameplay is all there and quite fun, even with the basic graphics it has. It definitely has a lot of potential!
I only have two (very minor) complaints. The vertical movement of the ship feels a bit too smooth - it doesn't move in the same pixel size as the horizontal scrolling so it doesn't feel quite like a 2600 game.
It's also a bit too easy - there's no real penalty for hitting the walls. Maybe having it deplete O2 would have made me more careful.
I hope I don't sound too harsh because I really enjoyed playing it! The art is great, and even though the sound is simple it captures the feel of the old 2600 games pretty well and doesn't get annoying.
Should have read the headphone warning before playing - made me jump the first time a Weeper appeared (and then it promptly killed me). The music is nice though, and it's definitely a game that has potential :)
This was a lot of fun. The constant clicking got a little tiresome after a while (holding to drill might have been better), but other than that it's a pretty solid game. The music is great, the sounds work well and there's a nice progression system - it was fun getting the upgrades and finding new items. Good job!
Took me a couple of tries, but I finally beat it! Great presentation, and even though it's entirely text-based it still has a nice feel to it. Good job!
Considering the game is made of 3 separate play styles, it holds together pretty well.
I would have liked the adventure part to be a little longer, but only because I'm fond of point+click adventures.
The falling section was really well balanced. The only improvement I can think of would be to have some form of indicator as to where the next block is coming from (like that horrible level in Battletoads).
The Robotron part was fun, although I'm not sure why I won :)
All in all, good job!
No comment can explain this game. It was certainly an experience :)
I remember seeing your updates during the compo and making a mental note to check out the finished product. Even though it's a little short, I'm glad I did.
Really, really nice presentation. The artwork looks excellent, and the game as a whole feels really polished. The music is nice and subtle too, which helps set the mood.
Please release a post-compo version with something in the treasure chest. I need closure!
Really nice homage to Ecco! The music has an awesome Mega Drive feel to it as well - how did you do that? Maybe a more relaxing tune would have worked better given the atmosphere, but it was still a nice throwback.
Controls are almost perfect, and I like the way it just throws you in and you have to figure things out (just like Ecco).
It would have been nice to have an end sequence of some kind, but given the time constraints I completely understand. Really good entry!
Some of the enemy placement is a little cruel, but overall the level layout was quite good (if a little challenging). Was nice to see some variety in the level obstacles as well, like the trampolines and the levers.
Might be nice to have the controls listed on the game's page so they show all the time. Took me a while memorize which buttons did which :)
I think the speed of the projectiles needs a little tweaking - it took me quite a few tries to get the timing right. I like the idea though, and using the oxygen as a health mechanic (rather than a separate health bar) works quite well.
Plus it has a pug in it :)
Congrats on your first LD!
Plays really fast and smoothly. It took me a couple of goes before I figured out how to dive deep enough to get most of the fish.
Really like the presentation, and the neat touches like the moving clouds and the bubbles. There's a nice satisfaction to getting a dive lined up and scooping a whole bunch of fish in one go as well.
Really nice idea, just a little bit buggy. A few times Willy would spawn under the platform, or would fall through the floor/bridge even if it was there.
I love the presentation though - really nice and clean.
As others have said, it's very slow to get started, especially if the nutrients are a long way from the start. A speed-up time option might work well, or maybe starting with more resources to help build the initial tree.
It's a great concept though, and I think with a bit of polish and balancing it could be really fun!
I liked it! Nicely presented, and a good dose of humour. Especially liked the intro, and running around questioning everyone was fun. Liked the ending too - is there more than one?
My only complaint is that there isn't much freedom in the dialogue - you can't leave a conversation once it's started, and can't go back and talk to someone again (or if you can, I couldn't figure out how).
It's certainly and interesting take on the theme :)
Graphically it's pretty solid. The cloud animation on the planets is a nice touch, and the talking/facial expressions work well.
Gameplay wise it would be nice to have some clues about each planet's personality, and maybe dividing them up into solar systems rather than just a long line. It definitely has potential!
Looks great! Love the little ducks and the water effects.
It's a little hard to figure out when to dive, but other than that it's good fun (although I'm not very good at it).
There's a couple of places that could use some polish (the tiny font and making the intro skippable), but it didn't detract from the actual game. I really liked the graphics and animation, and they gave the game a nice cartoony style.
It might have been nice to be able to move the lure left and right, or at least have the guy run a little faster. Sometimes I would try and be smart and catch a fish that just appeared at the other side of the screen, but I was too slow to get there in time. Or maybe I just suck at it :)
It took me a few tries to figure out how to defuse things (I didn't realise it needed a double tap), but after that it all made sense. I like how the detector works, and the gradual colour change helps a lot.
The movement and turning speed is a little slow for the larger areas. Might have been nicer to have a run/sprint key (although I can see why you'd want to move slowly in a mine field).
It has a nice look (reminds me of Ecco the Dolphin), and some of the level design is quite tricky (in a good way). My only real complaint is that the movement is a little stiff. It would probably benefit from having some form of acceleration and momentum to make it feel more natural. Other than that I really enjoyed it!
Apparently I would make a pretty bad fisherman :) I managed to get to about 500, but kept running out of time (or getting boots by accident). It's a nice and simple concept thats well executed.
Not bad for a first game with Phaser, especially in the time frame. Definitely has potential. It might be a good thing for more squeamish players that there's no popping effect :)
It was a little hard to move the seeds around (especially for the higher requirements), but it was fun to gather them up and see what would grow. With a little refinement it would work really well on a touch screen.
I really enjoyed it, even though its very difficult. Reminds me of a classic arcade or 8-bit game.
Simple, but well executed and fun.
First time around I got killed by fish. Second time my guy flew out of the water at the end and hit the top of the screen, so he could never deliver his goods :(
But after that I got much better at it. Good job!