Surface Tension by twistedshield

made by twistedshield for LD29 (COMPO)

This is Surface Tension - the result of 48 hours of chaotic jamming! There's still a few bugs, but I had a lot of fun making this game, so I hope you enjoy it! :)

Avoid bullets, destroy the 'surface' of each level, and defeat your enemy! 8 levels of intense fun (well, the 8th level repeats itself if you beat it, so it's technically endless..?)

Press X to change directions (or to PLAY from the menu)
Press Z to pause/unpause

Android version available! Updates for mobile include:
- Restart from the level you died on
- Improved GUI
- Improved player feedback

Future Updates!
Here's a list of things I plan to improve in the next version of the game.
- More levels!
- Improved graphics (sorry, I'm not an artist...)
- Improved audio (including some background music)
- Start game from any level you have already reached
- Awards for losing no lives/destroying all boxes
- Minor changes to the AI to better scale difficulty level

Thanks again to everyone so far for all of the awesome feedback! Please keep it coming! :)

Web (Unity)	http://twistedshield.itch.io/surface-tension
Android (Updated)	https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twistedshield.surfaceTension
Source	http://www.twistedshield.com/SurfaceTension/SurfaceTensionSource.zip
Original URL	https://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=33860

Ratings

Coolness	100%	1
Overall	3.41	340

Audio	2.48	704
Fun	3.56	165
Graphics	2.81	785
Humor	1.99	885
Innovation	3.44	299
Mood	2.74	777
Theme	2.56	1018

Feedback

matthias_zarzecki

28. Apr 2014 · 02:42 UTC

Love the circular and streamlined movement!

orangepascal

28. Apr 2014 · 07:51 UTC

Love how simple you made the gameplay with just one key, adds to the challenge . Nice! :)

DragonXVI

28. Apr 2014 · 07:52 UTC

Nice simple one-button gameplay, nifty! :D

John Drury

28. Apr 2014 · 07:53 UTC

Quite addicting.

manabreak

28. Apr 2014 · 07:53 UTC

Very nice little game! I'd love to play this on my phone, would control nicely as only a single touch would be needed. :)

zedutchgandalf

28. Apr 2014 · 07:58 UTC

This is great! I love the simplicity of the mechanics :)
And difficulty ramps up just right.
Really great! Well done! :D

DustyStylus

28. Apr 2014 · 08:36 UTC

Cool concept, minimal controls. Nice work!

darkflamejam

28. Apr 2014 · 08:48 UTC

Great fun game! Would prefer a continue and a life system but fun!

rorycooke

28. Apr 2014 · 08:50 UTC

I think you have got the difficulty level spot on

cinnamonmelonpig

28. Apr 2014 · 09:59 UTC

The game was funny, I would have liked to restart at the level that I died on. Great job!

NeiloGD

28. Apr 2014 · 10:01 UTC

Really awesome! Simple, easy to play, addictive, and a PITA.

fserb

28. Apr 2014 · 10:12 UTC

I really enjoyed this game. Great job.

CustomPhase

28. Apr 2014 · 10:13 UTC

Pretty interesting thing. Some music would be good.

Techblogogy

28. Apr 2014 · 10:51 UTC

Simple and cool

Romko Pidstryhach

28. Apr 2014 · 11:16 UTC

Awesome one-button idea. Like it.

adamwoolridge

28. Apr 2014 · 11:41 UTC

Simple but fun! Well executed.

Dooleus

28. Apr 2014 · 11:56 UTC

The health bar being yellow on white makes it really difficult to see peripherally - should be yellow on black or something high-contrast like that. The sprite works is decent, and the SFX are about the same - what really kills it for me is the lack of music. Good gameplay, but weak thematic interpretation IMO.

microapple

28. Apr 2014 · 12:08 UTC

Challenging but fun! Controls a little difficult to master.

Doubstract

28. Apr 2014 · 15:52 UTC

I like mechanics, but it's very hard for me

PaperBlurt

28. Apr 2014 · 16:00 UTC

Puzzle games always rate high in my opinon!

Elforama

28. Apr 2014 · 16:20 UTC

Awesome game. I found myself trying to beat my high score.

mactinite

28. Apr 2014 · 19:41 UTC

I really like the simplicity of the controls. A lot more to this game "beneath the surface". ;)

bombjack

29. Apr 2014 · 10:04 UTC

wow! hard and fun! great game.

jomacel

29. Apr 2014 · 10:12 UTC

Great game! Easy to play. I enjoyed it

kyyrma

29. Apr 2014 · 10:23 UTC

Cool game. Would have worked great in the one-button compo. Personally I'd like it better if the movement and shooting were given to the player. Congrats!

spotco

29. Apr 2014 · 11:32 UTC

Really fun (and a very original idea!)
Not ever a fan of repeating levels when dying though...

MintArcade

29. Apr 2014 · 11:38 UTC

Nice one. Very addicting ;)

01101101

29. Apr 2014 · 11:40 UTC

Cool concept and pretty well made. Would work great as a mobile game ;) Nice job!

DMinsky

29. Apr 2014 · 11:42 UTC

Fun yet simple.

PapyGaragos

29. Apr 2014 · 11:55 UTC

Cool concept. I really like the simplicity of the controls.
With more polish you might have something here

lief

29. Apr 2014 · 12:11 UTC

Solid basic gameplay, nice addictiveness

howieV (binarygirl)

29. Apr 2014 · 13:13 UTC

great little game.. i love the simple mechanic :)

Lyje

29. Apr 2014 · 15:31 UTC

This is fantastic. Basically Super Hexagon with a gun and dodging bullets. Surprisingly balanced - constant struggle of choice between dodging/surviving and destroying the surface to get through. I love it!

fullmontis

29. Apr 2014 · 16:42 UTC

Very interesting idea! Minmalistic and yet requires strategy! Graphics and sound effects are a little bare bones but that's to be expected for 2 days of work. All in all I enjoyed it.

Raiyumi

29. Apr 2014 · 16:57 UTC

Simple, but fun. and really cool concept.

gingerbeast

29. Apr 2014 · 17:07 UTC

A really nice simple game! Love the one button control, well done!

Logun

29. Apr 2014 · 18:16 UTC

Simple and nice ! :)

ninjacharlie

29. Apr 2014 · 18:34 UTC

Awesome! This is my favorite minimal game made this LD. I wish the loading time between levels was less ('cause I die a lot). The AI is super smart though. Can't beat it :P

Good job :)

theengineers

29. Apr 2014 · 19:30 UTC

Awesome. Best controls ever.

MSaul

29. Apr 2014 · 20:03 UTC

Minimalist and fun. I really appreciate that game.

aaronjbaptiste

29. Apr 2014 · 20:54 UTC

Perfect example of a simple game mechanic that works really well. Such a polished game, super congrats to you sir / miss !

IAmSpencer

29. Apr 2014 · 21:33 UTC

pretty hard but great fun. Would love to see this on mobile, nice job! :)

Oddly Shaped Pixels

29. Apr 2014 · 21:43 UTC

Super addictive! The simplest mechanic for a great game, really well done!

Roman Kornev

29. Apr 2014 · 22:33 UTC

Awesome game for such simple concept! The AI is definitely a plus!
The sound effects could have been a little bit better though.

Lucio

29. Apr 2014 · 22:50 UTC

This is genius game design. And it only uses 1 button! The simplicity of the mechanics is brilhant. Well done, sir!

pansapiens

30. Apr 2014 · 03:09 UTC

I enjoyed chilling out any playing this - a simple premise that works well. I'd probably have played for longer if there was a life or checkpoint system, since repeating the earlier levels got old after a while - but I guess this would be more of an issue if there were more levels. Would work great on mobile, being a single tap control scheme .. great stuff.

danidre14

30. Apr 2014 · 03:52 UTC

Not a bad game, but difficult to control.

Thorig

30. Apr 2014 · 08:39 UTC

A simple but great game! Improve the graphics and release it for mobile. I would buy it.

wdebowicz

30. Apr 2014 · 12:04 UTC

Love the simplicity!

SoupWithBits

30. Apr 2014 · 15:14 UTC

Quite hard :( I couldn't get passed level 3. I liked the simplicity. Wanted to see more levels. Practice, practice, practice, I guess. Otherwise loved the gameplay. Could go on a phone *hint hint*

SaintHeiser

01. May 2014 · 05:22 UTC

Not bad. Fresh bullet hell idea =)
But it's bad to pull down player to the end after death.

gikdew

01. May 2014 · 08:46 UTC

Nice and fun game! very polished!

Miltage

01. May 2014 · 12:25 UTC

Pretty cool, and a unique concept. Don't think I've seen something quite like this before.

I would have liked to have been able to retry the level, instead of starting over from scratch. After a dozen attempts or so I managed to get to Level 5.

tomvert

01. May 2014 · 13:16 UTC

I love one-button games ! Quite hard, I wish you'd add more lives, or a checkpoint system (it was boring to start from the beggining each time). Otherwise I love it :D

Rad Star

01. May 2014 · 20:50 UTC

Nice and original game, good job :)

hyouko

02. May 2014 · 02:03 UTC

Simple, hard, fun.

Pixlexia

02. May 2014 · 02:28 UTC

The gameplay is really simple and fun! The controls were hard to master at first but I got the hang of it after 2-3 levels. I'd love to see more content added and please do make a mobile version! Good job, keep it up.

Andrew Shouldice

02. May 2014 · 11:35 UTC

This is a great one button game idea! Nice work. The difficulty curve feels just right for me.

Caridorc

02. May 2014 · 12:14 UTC

This game is simple but fun. BUT The Permadeath (you must restart every time you lose is very annoying).

GeorgeBroussard

03. May 2014 · 08:44 UTC

Solid game! I had a lot of fun with it. Only got to level 6. The mechanics were fun once you got into it. Would play 50 levels of this but would want the game to save per level :)

GamerTaters

03. May 2014 · 09:04 UTC

Really interesting concept. Super simple to pick up, hard to master. Nicely done!

Catman

03. May 2014 · 11:35 UTC

Cool game with a nice, simple mechanic, reminds me of super hexagon. Smooth design, good job!

petey123567

04. May 2014 · 22:10 UTC

Just needs some juice like flashes and camera shakes to pump the gas -- solid design!! :)

ahmeni

05. May 2014 · 09:51 UTC

Very nicely done!

Jupiter_Hadley

09. May 2014 · 11:01 UTC

Challenging but fun game. I included it in part 16 of my Ludum Dare compilation video series, if you'd like to take a look :) http://youtu.be/ruvs0qoO4zU

ActionRemix

09. May 2014 · 19:56 UTC

I made it to level 6 - wow this is hard.

MaesK

11. May 2014 · 19:14 UTC

Awesome game! With a single button, you have been able to create a fully working game mechanic, and it is fun!

Audio is great, graphics are good, and it may lack only one thing: explosions :D

udo

13. May 2014 · 13:53 UTC

The Flappy Bird of breakout games: everything with just a single button/action, I love it!